A mixed-method course on entrepreneurship can boost students’ self-confidence and competence in launching start-ups, Renee Barnes and Margarietha J. de Villiers Scheepers, both of University of Sunshine Coast, write. The authors designed and piloted a college-level entrepreneurship course, attended by 26 journalism, design, and business students.

The course consisted of workshops, self-learning, creating a business plan, and eventually preparing a start-up venture. The students were surveyed before and after the course, and also interviewed some months after the course’s completion.

The surveys revealed that all student groups (journalism, design, and business majors) experienced an increase in their self-confidence as entrepreneurs. Furthermore, third of the students were still working on a start-up venture even after the course had finished. Interestingly, journalism students’ “entrepreneurial self-efficacy” was the lowest both before and after the course.

The interviews revealed that the students’ interest in becoming entrepreneurs had increased, just as their understanding of how much they still had to learn. The students also manifested a can-do attitude towards entrepreneurship: willingness to take risks, try out new approaches, and adapt.

The article “Tackling Uncertainty for Journalism Graduates” was published by the journal Journalism Practice. It is available online (abstract free).

Picture: Untitled by StartupStockPhotos, licence CC0 1.0.