Member Article

Enterprise education brings big bucks

Young people who take part in enterprise education at school are twice as likely to start up their own company and earn a third more than their peers by the time they are 30, new research reveals this week.

The six-month study, which was carried out by FreshMinds research consultancy on behalf of enterprise education charity, Young Enterprise, shows that people who take part in the Young Enterprise Company Programme at school are more likely to start up a business, with 14% going on to start up and run their own company, compared to 7% of those who don’t participate in Young Enterprise. The research also showed that people who took part in Young Enterprise Company Programme at school generally went on to earn higher salaries later in life.

The research also showed that Young Enterprise Alumni are more passionate about their jobs than their peers, with 77% saying that they find their jobs fulfilling, compared to only 59% of people who didn’t take part in the Young Enterprise Company Programme. In addition, Young Enterprise alumni were more likely to say that they felt they had the skills and knowledge to actively choose a career on leaving school, rather than simply falling into a job.

Catherine Marchant, Young Enterprise North East chief executive, said: “Until now, there has been limited research on the long term effectiveness of enterprise education. So, at a time when the issue is so high on the political agenda, and there is little direct guidance to schools on how to spend the significant resources Government is investing with them, we are really thrilled that the benefits of Young Enterprise are now clear to see.”

The release of this research coincides with Young Enterprise North East’s current One Day Campaign, which is appealing to North East companies to get involved with enterprise education by giving up one day of their time, resources or profits.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .