What is SHINE?

Many higher education institutions around the world engage in entrepreneurial activities. However, these opportunities only involve a tiny percentage of the total number of students, academics, and societal stakeholders. There is a lack of understanding of how HEIs could scale up their entrepreneurial activities to engage substantially larger numbers of people. To address this gap, SHINE, with 42 partners in 29 countries, is investigating Scaling Higher education Innovation using the Entrepreneurial mindset

To date SHINE has generated a variety of resources that higher education professionals can use to stimulate their self-reflection and action planning in regard to the use of the entrepreneurial mindset in teaching, research and organisational transformation. These developmental resources include summaries of 17 webinars, 24 case studies, 2 workshops, and Mindset Behaviour Analysis tools or MBA tools.

Which countries are in SHINE?

Currently SHINE counts 42 industry and higher education professionals from 29 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia and the UK. The diversity of the partners means that SHINE crosses subject discipline, organisational, geographic, and cultural boundaries. The countries represented in SHINE are:

• 13 European Union countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain)
• 4 African countries (Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria & Tunisia)
• 4 Southeastern Europe countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia)
• 4 United Kingdom countries (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
  
• 2 countries in the Americas (Ecuador & USA)
• 1 Middle East country (Türkiye)
• 1 Southeast Asia country (Malaysia)

How does SHINE define the entrepreneurial mindset?

SHINE uses the definition of the entrepreneurial mindset devised by the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network.  The definition is distinctive because it is based on entrepreneurial behaviours. As an aid to memory, 1 essential entrepreneurial behaviour is allocated to each of the 7 letters in the word MINDSET.  The definition of the entrepreneurial mindset is available for [DOWNLOAD] in the following 16 languages:

[عربي] [中国人] [Deutschen] [ελληνικά] [English] [Español] [français] [italiano] [Nederlands] [Português] [ਪੰਜਾਬੀ] [română] [Русский] [Српски] [shqip] [Türkçe]

How is SHINE co-ordinated?

SHINE is co-ordinated by the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, an international community of practice for the entrepreneurial mindset with members in 107 countries. Entrepreneurial Mindset Education is a special interest group of the global Entrepreneurial Mindset Network and in common with SHINE its mission is to inspire people to make their unique contribution to higher education through use of the entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurial mindset is relevant not only to entrepreneurs but also to everyone around the world who is engaged in higher education including students, educators, researchers, professional services staff and leaders.

What is SHINE investigating?

SHINE is investigating 2 major research questions.

1 How can Higher Education scale up existing entrepreneurial and innovation capacity for the benefit of greater numbers of students and societal stakeholders?

2 How can Higher Education apply key concepts from entrepreneurship (i.e. entrepreneurial mindset, start-up and scale-up) to overcome the typical barriers to change management?

In effect the aim of the project is to investigate how higher education professionals can use the entrepreneurial mindset to improve teaching, research, organisational transformation and societal impact.

What are the latest SHINE recommendations?

To date SHINE has devised nine recommendations to higher education academics in regard to embedding the entrepreneurial mindset into the curriculum, teaching and extra-curricula activities. 

The existing 9 recommendations focus on research question 1 and are based on an analysis of the expert discussions and recommendations made during a series of webinars that gathered data from participants in 52 countries.

A further analysis of the webinar content will focus on research question 2 with the aim of generating practical  recommendations about the use of the entrepreneurial mindset for change management in higher education.

Recommendations 1-3:

Curriculum

1/9 Increase the number of learners who understand the concept and application of the entrepreneurial mindset by including a suitable learning outcome in the curriculum for every academic discipline.

2/9 Increase the number of learners by validating a curriculum, about the entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurship, that is inclusive and designed to meet the needs of a diverse range of learners.

3/9 Engage more learners by demonstrating how entrepreneurs and employers have contributed to the design and delivery of the curriculum, and therefore, showing how the curriculum will support a range of future career options, including employment and entrepreneurship.

Recommendations 4-6:

Teaching

4/9 Engage more learners through a pedagogy that is based on learning by doing, using practical projects that address real-world problems.

5/9 Engage more learners by facilitating risk taking and helping them to see failure as an opportunity to learn.

6/9 Engage more learners by being an entrepreneurial role model for them, demonstrating the value and application of the entrepreneurial mindset in the role of an educator (e.g., teaching, research, administration and community engagement).

Recommendations 7-9:

Extra-curricula activity 

7/9 Engage more learners by raising their awareness of the value of the entrepreneurial mindset in a range of careers including employment in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. 

8/9 Engage more learners by offering regular opportunities for them to interact with industry speakers, employers from the local ecosystem, and alumni who can act as entrepreneurial role models.

9/9 Engage more learners by helping them to understand the range of positive and negative influences on their career ambitions e.g., the value placed on entrepreneurship by the national culture.

How else does the SHINE Project disseminate its findings?

A chapter about the SHINE Project appears in the book 'Entrepreneurship Education and Internationalisation: Cases, Collaborations and Contexts.' The editor of the book is Robert Crammond and the author of the chapter is Paul Coyle, both SHINE partners. The book is available to purchase from Routledge.

A Professional Development Workshop, using the Mindset Behaviour Analysis (MBA) tool for higher education academics, was peer reviewed and selected for the 3E2024 conference in May 2024. The workshop attracted 19 participants from 8 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

How does SHINE gather data?

To date the SHINE Project has organised 17 xCHANGE webinars, with registrations from people in 52 countries. Participants  have included: academics from a diverse range of academic disciplines, PhD researchers, professional support staff (eg enterprise projects coordinator, head of business engagement, head of the international office), entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, managers of SMEs, and incubator managers. 

What summaries are available?

Webinar summaries,  including links to short video clips of the speakers, are designed to be a useful resource for higher education professionals to reflect on and improve their practice. To step through all the summaries, click on the > arrow on the image for the xCHANGE Webinars. Then click on any image to read the summary online. There are also options to download or print a PDF.

How are webinars organised?

The webinars are organised on the premise that every participant has the potential to make a valid contribution and the aim is to capture as much of this professional expertise as possible. The emphasis on the practice of entrepreneurship education and on enabling a conversation, one which allows an exchange of views between the speakers and the participants. People are encouraged to speak openly, share observations and experiences, talk about what works and also, very importantly, what doesn’t.

What has been the feedback?

Feedback received from participants following the webinars included: 

• Beautifully designed forum with insightful speakers 
• A great atmosphere 
• It's been excellent 
• I’m really happy to be part of this team 
• A great conversation 
• Great forum that adds value for all 
• A highly relevant, tightly structured but still dynamic conversation.

What are some of the lessons?

Webinar participants have reported that the study of entrepreneurship is not confined to the business school. They cited examples of learners in applied science (architecture, business, engineering, health), social science (economics, politics, psychology, sociology), humanities (law, performing arts, philosophy, visual arts), and natural sciences (biology, chemistry, computing, physics). They were of the view that entrepreneurship educators need to be more inclusive, encouraging those with disadvantaged backgrounds, minimum financial resources or limited social networks, and those who may not see themselves as a potential entrepreneur. 

Who contributed the case studies?

The SHINE Project partners and members of the OECD EECOLE Network have contributed 24 articles to EXPRESS which is the online eZINE of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network. Higher reduction professionals will find a great deal of inspiration in these case studies which have been written by authors from many countries and cultures.  Use the > arrow to step through the case studies, read them online, or download or print a PDF.

What workshops are available?

SHINE provides a range of resources that support self reflection and professional development. Workshops are available to support a diverse range of professional disciplines at all levels in an organisation, including employees, new managers and experienced leaders.  The content is always tailored to the organisation's strategic goals and the participants' job functions. The workshops are inclusive, engaging, and impactful.  Formal input is brief and to the point. The majority of time is spent in practical exercises, group discussions and action planning. 

What is a Mindset Behaviour Analysis (MBA) tool?

MBAs are online tools that are designed to introduce the concept of the entrepreneurial mindset and its application in higher education. Each MBA stimulates a process of self-reflection, supports action planning and aids decision-making about future priorities.  

People from 30 countries in Asia, Australasia, Europe and South America have used one of the MBA tools.Student satisfaction with the MBA tool is 98%.

What Mindset Behaviour Analysis tools are available?

The range of Mindset Behaviour Analysis tools continues to grow. At the moment a suite of MBA tools are available for use in higher education:

MBA for students

MBA for educators

MBA for education leaders

and

MBA for PhD students

MBA for PhD supervisors

MBA for professional services

How can an MBA tool be used in the classroom?

An educator can use the MBA for students by inviting individual students to use the tool and then facilitating group discussions of the results. The MBA tool can help students to plan & deliver project work, research, assignments, pitches and presentations.

Download a factsheet for educators which explains how to use the MBA tool with students.