Entrepreneurship Chair in Entrepreneurship
About the Chair in Entrepreneurship in Higher Education and the niche area
Professor Chux Gervase Iwu has a multidisciplinary background that encompasses degrees in Library Studies, Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Human Resources Management, and an advanced diploma in Management. Prof Iwu sits on the advisory/editorial boards of the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies (JEIEE) published by SAGE, the forthcoming Palgrave Macmillan Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship, the Center for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) of False Bay College, among many others. He served as head of the department of entrepreneurship at another university where he led a team that curriculated various entrepreneurship programmes.Prof Iwu researches the broad area of socioeconomic issues in emerging economies. A common socioeconomic problem in Africa is graduate unemployment. South Africa struggles with that as well resulting in the need for students to become economically active during and after their studies and subsequently pursue self-employment instead of paid employment. The university is an integral part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurship development in South Africa’s higher education is, therefore, a crucial agenda.
South Africa’s National Development Plan (2030) makes a fervent call for the reduction of poverty and inequality and further advises that to achieve those, there is a need to broaden opportunity and employment through economic inclusion, education, and skills, and thereby promoting mutual respect and inclusiveness as enshrined in the constitution. A further justification is drawn from the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which hopes to achieve broad-based, and sustainable economic growth by promoting policies that encourage entrepreneurship and consequently job creation.
The goal of the Chair is to realise productive entrepreneurship through research that leads to accelerated interest in entrepreneurship among students. Reaching a culture of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking among students, faculty, and the wider university community is linked to the university’s mission and goals, which promote entrepreneurial teaching, research, and community engagement. In achieving this goal, entrepreneurship research should uncover elements that support entrepreneurial uptake, and how these elements are embeddable in the curricula of business and non-business-related programs in South African institutions of higher learning. Research should also focus on ways to make entrepreneurship education an attractive field of study and how entrepreneurial projects and outcomes translate to improved standards of living for communities.
Realising productive entrepreneurship through higher education will therefore require building research capacity in the field of entrepreneurship and proffering ways to inculcate entrepreneurship in students across faculties. This will lead to a better understanding of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and ways to contribute to it and provide academic leadership of entrepreneurship-related activities within the University of the Western Cape. This suggests that a chair of entrepreneurship is instructive to meaningfully achieve entrepreneurial outcomes.
Entrepreneurship Niche area’s link to SDGs
While this niche area can find a home in any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is closely associated with goals #1 (No Poverty), #4 (Quality Education), #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and #10 (Reduced Inequalities).The UN considers quality education and sustainable economic growth crucial for developing economies’ advancement. The essence of quality education is that it broadens one’s chances of attaining decent work opportunities which in turn advance the economic growth of a nation. Achieving this requires the participation of various stakeholders. An important stakeholder here is the university or college.
There is a link between joblessness, inequality, and poverty in South Africa. The latest figures for unemployment in South Africa depict the dismal struggle to curb the triple threat of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Entrepreneurs have played important roles in reducing poverty, inequality, and unemployment. The outcome of entrepreneurial initiatives is found in small, medium, and micro businesses and so over the years, small, medium, and micro businesses have gained fame as noteworthy contributors to the economy of any nation.
To emphasise its national significance, the South African Department of Small Business Development coordinates, develops, and promotes entrepreneurship as a component of its effort to boost development and reduce poverty by creating employment opportunities. Universities, as part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, ought to be involved in the crusade to effectively motivate and prepare youth for entrepreneurship. Education is key to accelerating economic growth. Entrepreneurship development in higher education will increase entrepreneurial participation, and employment opportunities and decrease poverty, inequality, and unemployment. This is perhaps among the many reasons why creating an enabling environment and improving higher education curricula with content that advances an interest in entrepreneurship is important.
