Entrepreneurship study boom

A rise in demand for entrepreneurship courses has led to a proliferation in university courses in the area.

There are now 21 universities offering entrepreneurship courses, from more postgraduate certificates to in-depth masters and PhD courses, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Alex Maritz, a professor in Swinburne University’s Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, says he has seen a rapid rise in interest in the study of entrepreneurship in recent years.

“Entrepreneurship is the fastest growing academic discipline in the world,” Maritz told the newspaper. “There are now more positions vacant for professors of entrepreneurship in the US than any other discipline.”

A key trigger for the lift in interest is the realisation that a footing in entrepreneurship can be useful for staff within large corporates as well as for people looking to start or grow their own business.

“The purpose is not to open their own businesses, but to open up new businesses within existing big business, which we refer to as intrapreneurship,” Martiz says.

Another source of new demand for entrepreneurship courses are Gen-Ys eager to build their own business empires, according to Murdoch University professor of entrepreneurship and business innovation Michael Christie.

“There is a cultural shift in perspective about entrepreneurship as a real alternative to paid employment,” Christie says.