Stakeholder Engagement and the Enhanced Entrepreneurship of VET Graduates

Abstract

This study forms part of an ongoing research endeavour by the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology (MCAST) to map out and understand the entrepreneurial behaviours and actions that are particular to students who graduate after completing further or higher vocational education and who enter an entrepreneurial venture. An understanding is sought on how active stakeholder engagement enhances the capability of a Vocational Education and Training (VET) College to contribute positively and significantly towards the knowledge, skills, and competences of its students. Of interest to both the vocational and academic community is the linkage between educational activities and entrepreneurship. Ardichvili and Cardozo (2000) argue that learning activities and the subsequent knowledge acquired positively impact opportunity recognition and discovery. This follows on the lines of Autio et al. (1997), Krueger (1993), and Peterman and Kennedy (2003) in that educational activities influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions and the desirability and feasibility of starting a business. The research aims to understand how stakeholder engagement empowers the vocational educator to provide distinct enterprise-relevant advantages to the vocational student. Vocational education programmes offer a component distinct from the normal academic learning. Whilst the knowledge component is ever-present, as would be in any educational programme, skills and competences take on a new meaning, one that is not lost in enterprise behaviour. Skills are practical and transversal, giving vocational graduates an edge in understanding how to behave and make decisions in a dynamic business environment. Competences are stronger, particularly the competence of the vocational graduate to make decisions with autonomy and responsibility. The outcome of this vocational setting and the way that this is influenced by predominant stakeholders is of much interest to the researcher and to the academic and business community.