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Syeda-Masooda Mukhtar: Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK
Ray Oakey: Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK
Michelle Kippling: Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This article is part of a special issue of papers entitled "Papers from the 2nd Enterprise and Learning Conference", edited by Alistair R. Anderson and David Deakins.
Introduction
There has been considerable interest in recent years on the part of the UK Government in the ways in which further and higher education can play a vital role in achieving economic growth. This interest has manifested itself in a variety of policies, such as the Enterprise in Higher Education initiative, a part of the "Strengthening Competitiveness through HE" Programme, which will continue until the millennium. At the same time, private industry has taken similar initiatives through programmes such as the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), a project which exposes undergraduates to a period of action learning in small businesses. Various other government- and industry-led initiatives have been matched by a growing interest among academics who have been studying educational linkages between higher education institutions (HEIs) and local large and small firms (Harvey, 1996; Williams and Owen, 1997).
This focus of concern is further buttressed by the growing importance of SMEs as potential employers. The latest estimates show, for example, that businesses with fewer than 100 employees account for more than 50 per cent of non-government employment, and nearly 50 per cent of turnover in the UK (DTI, 1996). Moreover, firms employing less than ten people account for around 29 per cent of all non-governmental employment, and contribute around 13 per cent of total turnover.
Against this background, a basic underlying premise of the initiatives alluded to above, is the belief that there exists a mismatch between the aspirations of graduates, and needs of industry. In addition, it is believed that facilitating a link between these two interest groups will both help graduate employment and increase the efficiency of SMEs through better qualified and trained staff. In particular, it is thought that the SME sector needs to play a greater role in attracting and absorbing graduates if this sector is not to suffer skills shortages, particularly with regard to management expertise (Lynch, 1993). Moreover, on the supply side, graduate numbers are rising, with a doubling...