This post seeks to build upon from my previous blog post entitled ‘What is your problem?‘ in which I highlighted the practices of simulation and problem based learning as a means of introducing and progressing a personal understanding of the role and value of enterprise skills amongst students across a range of disciplines at Cardiff University. A key benefit of the approaches used is their ability to evoke quite individualised responses to the discipline contextualised enterprise learning experiences in which students engage. In doing so, deeper levels of personal insight and comprehension are engendered by learners – exactly the type of self awareness, industry specific acumen and practical mindfulness expected of an enterprise and employability aware graduate making the transition from higher education to a professional career path.

But don’t take my word for it. What follows are extracts from reflective pieces written by students from engineering and physical science disciplines who took part:

“At the time of commencing the  module, I was confused as to the relevance that enterprise and commercial awareness had to my degree . . . It soon became apparent that in the post-degree economic working environment, a knowledge and awareness of commercialisation would stand me in good stead for any career path I choose to follow.”

“A section of the course I found most interesting was the research on patents. . . In reference to the pharmaceutical industry in particular, I found how the law limits or prevents certain patents interesting, because as a result, some companies mark up prices to retain profits. This I found especially interesting as it is relevant to my degree. The pharmaceutical industry employs a high number of graduates and so such knowledge will be beneficial to me, but more so that I identified this as an area where I may actually want to seek further employment.”

“Having analysed my personal learning outcomes of these sessions I now feel I have significantly developed my skills in enterprise and improved my understanding of of business and entrepreneurship as a whole. Most importantly I have learned their relevance to my professional career and therefore developed an ambition to further improve and develop this skill set in preparation for the challenges I will face in my professional career. This understanding will be essential to me in professional life and I am not yet entirely confident about many aspects of it, I will therefore need to continue to put into practice what I have learned to develop these areas further.”

“As a science student I enjoy applying scientific principles of logic and analysis and was pleased to find similar principles in the process of a feasibility study, in that specific criteria, such as viable market, production and distribution cost are applied to a concept to establish its commercial viability.”

“I now have a basic grasp of what I need to set myself up as a self-employed worker or commercialise an idea of my own, alone or as part of a group. In this way my job prospects have improved and I am no longer constrained to work the job roles made available by employers but instead have the knowledge to go about creating my own.”

“I think commercial awareness is a key requirement in any professional career as ultimately any business is supplying a product to a customer. Previous to the report, I may have skimmed over this; thinking everyone has natural ‘commercial awareness’, where in reality what arose from the class is that I did not have much understanding on this topic . . . On this aspect I have significantly improved my understanding of the vastness of business entrepreneurship.”

“I now possess a better understanding of the process of commercialising an idea and have developed an understanding of Intellectual Property, marketing techniques as well as general business practices. I also have a more thorough understanding of the type of companies that operate within the UK and can appreciate how the size of the business can affect the structure of it. Whilst obtaining commercial skills during the module, it has also improved some of the softer skills that are needed in industry such as self-confidence and communication skills.”

“One aspect of constructing the feasibility report I found most beneficial for me was working in a pair. At first I did not like the idea of it, especially as we had different ideas on what the product would be. I had a plan of what I would do and wanted to just pursue my plans. While it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience, as I eventually had to go with my partners’ idea, in the end it turned out that there was far more to write about, and that as a project it was a better idea. . . Not only did I get higher marks but I learnt how to work better in a team. . . I can now fully appreciate the benefit of working in a functioning team as you get the best ideas from more than one person which eventually makes the whole project better. . .This is an extremely useful experience for me as it has shown me how to come across better in assessment days and in an actual workplace environment, where cooperative and functioning teamwork will be essential.”