Social entrepreneurship : developing robust hope in the next generation

The value of social capital that enhances others’ lives and assists in their development of skills and knowledge can no be underestimated. Moving away from a focus of entrepreneurship being purely the development of financial literacy skill the University of Western Sydney has focused on the development of social entrepreneurship. With the introduction of a unit of study – Learning through Community Service – we have seen a variation in the role of students and how they interact with their community. So by focussing on the skills that need to be developed to enhance the social capital of our university community, students are being required to work either within the university community, the local community or the world community. Through the development of a particular unit of study available to all undergraduate students at the University of Western Sydney, students work with a mentor to develop and implement a community project utilising the skills they are learning within their degree but also meeting the needs of the local community. This paper analyses the responses from the first cohort of students to undertake this unit, their reasons for participation, the experiences they were involved in and the outcomes of each of the different projects undertaken. At the beginning of the unit of study students completed a short survey giving details of their background and previous commitment to community service. The relevance and value of the development of the students’ social entrepreneurship will be discussed in light of the longer term value of the skills and knowledge developed