Bridging from University to Community – An Evaluation of the Effect of Student Outreach Work in Communities in Australia, New Zealand, China and the United States

Mueller J¹*, Thornton J²*, Wyatt R³*

1. University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand
2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
3. Breech School of Business, Drury University, Springfield, Missouri, USA

The global shift from a managed economy to an entrepreneurial economy has intensified the need and market for entrepreneurial education which involves all strata of community. While many community participants could previously rely on governmental help, those resources begin to become scarce. Entrepreneurship education has been identified as a critical factor in preventing future high levels of long term unemployment, and there is evidence of a strong correlation between educational level achieved and high income over a lifetime (De Faoite, D., Henry, C., Johnston, K., Van der Sijde, P., 2003). In order to create greater community involvement, academia must move closer to the reality of the work place. Greater collaboration between the academic and business communities has been advocated for many years (Cochrane, 1988; Forcht, 1991; Gabor, 1991; Goodlad, 1987; Orr, 1993; Portwood, 1993; Reed, 1993; Warwick, 1989; White, 1993). A need exists for more interaction between educational environments and external organizations so that current business thinking can be introduced into schools (White, 1993). The result is hopefully a more practice-relevant business education.

A new method of community-based business education has emerged in the past few years, SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise). SIFE students are empowered through an elaborate system of program design and personal involvement of business leaders, to teach members of the community about free market principles, enterprise and good governance. With the logic that teachers need to know a little more than their students, the SIFE students develop better skills and then transfer those to various community members. In 48 countries, 65,000 students from 1,800 universities perform millions of hours of community work each year, to teach less fortunate communities about business and how to harness its opportunities. Many entrepreneurial characteristics, such as self-confidence, persistence and high energy levels, cannot easily be acquired in the classroom (Miller, 1987), and this program puts students in front of senior business leaders, who evaluate the effectiveness of the student work.

It has been indicated that culture within a country can impact upon the level of acceptance of entrepreneurship (Saee, 1996; Lasonen, 1999; Van Barneveld, 2002). We therefore compare several countries to determine how effective this program is, in Australia, New Zealand, China and the United States. There is anecdotal evidence of significant community empowerment through this effort, and we will describe in which areas true knowledge transfer and empowerment occurs. Prior research suggests that individuals attending entrepreneurship courses have a higher tendency to start their own business at some point in their career then those attending other courses (Jun Li, Yuli Zhang, Harry Matlay, 2003), and we will test for a true improvement of business understanding and work skills among the SIFE ‘clients’.

The study conducted by Rae and Creswell (2000) concludes that entrepreneurship programmes should be designed with a greater emphasis on personal development, and we attempt to review how this program of empowering students to become entrepreneurship teachers can develop an appreciation among students for the needs of communities and effective ways to help.

The SIFE project scope varied greatly, including work with children, adults, start-up firms, governmental organizations, environmental businesses, etc., demonstrating the initiative of students to identify opportunities way beyond their usual sheltered environments. Students reported differing levels of personal outcomes. Chinese students are very happy with having formed new relationships, while New Zealand students report more skills development.

Project planning skills, public speaking skills and salesmanship were reported as areas where this program has bettered student abilities. We conclude that this specific activity heavily engages the students, not merely on a practical level but also emotionally, and stimulates entrepreneurship thinking and demonstrable performance. There is tangible evidence that community members have learned new skills, in all 4 countries we reviewed, in some countries with remarkable financial gains attached.

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