In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of fostering innovation and entrepreneurial mindset in higher education. Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) Deemed to be University claims to offer a specialised Venture Development course that aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and foster innovation among students. The course is developed by the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education (NUCEE) at Northeastern University in Boston and it focuses on introducing the intricacies of entrepreneurship, Sreedevi Devireddy, director, Venture Development Centre (VDC), GITAM, told FE Education. “It is a mandatory two-credit foundational and a completely hands-on activity-based course in Entrepreneurship and Innovation for all the first-year students at GITAM across three campuses, agnostic of the institute of their study,” she said.
GITAM claims to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset among its students through strategic collaborations with industry partners and ecosystems STARTUP INDIA and Northeastern University. Through these alliances, GITAM aims to provide its students with valuable exposure to real-world entrepreneurial experiences and opportunities. “GITAM-VDC is actively organising various impactful initiatives such as NU IDEA, HACKATHONS, SmartIDEAthon, Women Initiated Social Entrepreneurship (WISE), Future Entrepreneurs and Leaders (FUEL), open pitch days, and speaker series to foster an entrepreneurial mindset among our students,” Devireddy explained.
By integrating practical elements such as case studies and interviews with both successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs into the entrepreneurship curriculum, GITAM-VDC claims to incorporate real-world experiences and practical learning. “We provide educational field trips, enterprise projects, partnerships with local entrepreneurs, and an opportunity for students to shadow entrepreneurs for three days, all of which offer invaluable real-world experiences,” she said. GITAM-VDC asserted that currently it offers a single course called Venture Development, and there are no specific fees associated with it as it is included in the curriculum. “Ensuring that every student has the opportunity to engage with and benefit from the programme without any additional financial burden,” she claimed.
Entrepreneurship has been incorporated into the first-year curriculum across all schools at our university, including the School of Technology, School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, School of Sciences, School of Physiotherapy, and School of Nursing, starting from 2020. “Given the demographic dividend of our country, we need to create more job creators than job seekers. High time Entrepreneurship gets its long due position in the mainstream education system as National Education Policy suggests,” she stated.