Be An Entrepreneur

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The ‘Be an Entrepreneur’ program is an initiative run by Fundació Escola Emprenedors that promotes entrepreneurial education. This program is part of Spain's wider efforts to provide concrete experiences of entrepreneurship education.
What are the main aims and objectives?
‘Be an Entrepreneur’ primarily aims to promote the entrepreneurial mindset among students, particularly those in secondary education in Catalonia, Spain. By drawing upon the experience and inspiration of active entrepreneurs, the program strives to help students discover their passions and develop their teamwork, public speaking, English, and computer skills. By leveraging innovative methodologies, it seeks to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship and business knowledge that will carry through with young people beyond the education and into adult life with the long-term goal of generating more successful startups and entrepreneurs in Spain.  
How does the program work?

The 'Be an Entrepreneur' Program is designed to inculcate entrepreneurial thinking in students at the secondary education level. The program adopts an innovative methodology and comprises 13 practical classes. These classes focus on helping students develop a comprehensive business plan and teaching them vital skills such as teamwork, public speaking, English language, and computer proficiency.  

An integral part of the program is the provision of firsthand insights into the entrepreneurial journey, brought to the classrooms by real entrepreneurs. By bringing real entrepreneurs into classrooms, the program provides students with firsthand insights into the entrepreneurial journey and equips them with the necessary skills to navigate it. The program is delivered is primarily aimed at secondary schools but also extends to vocational training and universities. The program implementation also involves collaboration with both public and private school systems. 

Because the program is taught entirely in English, an assessment is carried out before the program begins to determine the English level of pupils. Based upon the results of this, the program materials and expectations are tailored to the pupils’ ability and inform a realistic set out of outcomes in each instance. While these outcomes vary from case to case, generally they include for the pupils to achieve the following: 

  • Discover their passions and interests 

  • Encourage creativity 

  • Improve teamwork 

  • Develop the ability to speak in public and lead projects 

  • Facilitate decision-making and critical thinking 

  • Promote English and computer skills 

  • Allow pupils to approach businesses 

  • Promote solidarity  

  • Help pupils grow and mature, with real world experiences 

What is the overall cost?
There is no available information about the overall running costs of the ‘Be and Entrepreneur’ program, however, it is knowns that the program is sponsored by Barcelona Activa and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona through its “Professional Life” initiative. The Fundació Escola Emprenedors also accepts donations – both financial and in kind – from private donors and schools.  
How was it implemented?

Fundació Escola Emprenedors is a private regional foundation in Spain that is dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship education. It is comprised of entrepreneurs and business professionals from different sectors. It offers external support to address challenges faced by teachers and institutions in implementing entrepreneurship education and the main objective of the foundation is to contribute to the personal and professional development of young people in their community.  

The ‘Be an Entrepreneur’ program was launched in 2007 following national legislation known as the “Act on Education” that was passed in to law in 2006. This law introduced entrepreneurship to the legal educational framework for the first time which led to entrepreneurship being position as a compulsory subject and taught in a variety of forms in primary and secondary schools.  

What impact has been measured?

Since the program was launched in 2007: 

  • More than 250 individual programs have been delivered 

  • 1,500 companies have participated 

  • 5,000 pupils have participated across 60 schools 

However, Fundació Escola Emprenedors do not track the students after the delivery of the program. This means that there is no available information on how many students that have participated have gone onto form businesses. Consequently, it is not possible to measure the program against its objective of promoting an entrepreneurial mindset amongst young people.  

What lessons can be learned?

The fact that this program is taught by active entrepreneurs and entirely in the English language sets it apart from other programs in the region.  

In addition to this, student feedback has been seen as key in ensuring that the initiative delivers on its intended outcomes. It is seen as important that entrepreneurship education activities need to be flexible in how they fit around the existing formal curricular. They need to have a distinct approach that allows students to feel both that there is something special and outside of the norm in the way they are being taught, but also that this is embedded as part of their education and not a gimmick or less important than other classes.  

CURATED BY

Tom Hancock

Research Associate
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United Kingdom