Sign up for IDEA’s Engaging with Entrepreneurship Programme to gain practical experience, learn transferable skills for the workplace, and access entrepreneurial training and funding opportunities. Whatever you’re studying at the University of Oxford, you’ll need to build skills for your future career path. If you want to enhance your employability, get some practical experience and learn useful transferable skills for the workplace and beyond, sign up for IDEA’s Engaging with Entrepreneurship programme. Engaging with Entrepreneurship will help you find the path that works best for you. Are you an undergraduate looking to demonstrate your transferrable skills? Are you a DPhil researcher looking to build your career outside of academia? Are you a staff member looking to demonstrate your professional development? The programme is tailored for you. This curated programme offers a selection of activities and opportunities relating to entrepreneurship within Oxfordshire, with distinct pathways for participants to follow. This is delivered in collaboration with skills development platform Inkpath, a University of Oxford spinout.
How do I sign-up for Engaging with Entrepreneurship?
You have three options for signing up for Inkpath and download the Inkpath app.
- Access it via the Web App
- Download it from Google Play
- Download it from Apple Store
Check out our helpful Inkpath How To Guide for help with creating an account, adding an affiliation, signing up to activities and joining online activities.
Read our FAQs:
- What is Engaging with Entrepreneurship?
- Who can participate and why should I participate?
- How does Engaging with Entrepreneurship work?
Why do we need Engaging with Entrepreneurship?
As part of this programme, we are collecting diversity demographic data to help us provide equal opportunities for all. We want to make sure that the activities and opportunities provided by the University and regional partners are inclusive and equitable regardless of age, gender, ethnic background, or ability. The data we gather will help the University of Oxford identify barriers to entrepreneurship for underrepresented groups, and help us create a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Oxford. We welcome her, him, them, EVERYONE to join the IDEA community.
Who can participate?
The programme is open to all staff and students at the University of Oxford.
Why should I participate?
Being part of Engaging with Entrepreneurship will help you to develop valuable business, tech-related, and creative skills through both expert-led and self-directed activities. Through the programme, you can discover, complete, and track activities from a variety of providers across the University of Oxford and beyond. If you’re an undergraduate, you may want to build skills to enhance your employability, get some practical experience and learn useful transferable skills for the workplace and beyond. If you’re a DPhil researcher, you may want to explore your entrepreneurial side and build your transferable skills in collaborative working, creative thinking and innovation for your career beyond academia. If you’re an academic or researcher, you may want to understand the research commercialisation process and stay attuned to the latest developments relating to Oxford startups and spinouts. If you’re in Professional Services, you may want to identify clear pathways for professional development, with certification and profiles that allow you to clearly demonstrate your professional achievements.
Helps us support you, but you stay in control
Inkpath is your tool to guide you in your own development throughout your career and entrepreneurial journey. IDEA will use it to signpost you to content and opportunities that are relevant to your entrepreneurial journey and also to analyse the uptake and feedback on our provision, but your notes and reflections are your own and you can keep any of your independent activities private if you prefer. The information below can help you get the most out of Inkpath and you can also view videos demonstrating how to use main features.
Easy to access, helping you to structure your professional journey
You can access Inkpath via a mobile app or on the web, and the platform allows you to assess your skills and set your own goals. It will then direct you to relevant employability training provided by the University of Oxford. As you log your updates, Inkpath will automatically track your progress to help you:
- · Undertake training to support your professional journey.
- · Undertake the essential activities needed for setting up a new business.
- · Prepare for key business activities, including pitches to investors.
In addition, Inkpath provides a weekly email summary of upcoming activities which you have shown interest in, or which may be relevant to you.
How does Engaging with Entrepreneurship work?
Engaging with Entrepreneurship features four pathways helping you through your entrepreneurial journey from gaining employability skills through to developing a new idea or venture.
You can sign up for or participate in any activities or opportunities you are eligible for, or relevant to your skills or experience in the Engaging with Entrepreneurship schedule, or you can follow one of four different pathways: 1. Total beginner? Want to understand the basics about employability and entrepreneurial mindset? Choose the Inquiring pathway
2. Interested in entrepreneurship? Want to learn new tools and techniques for developing a new business idea? Choose the Discovering pathway 
- Have a new idea? Want to start a venture? Choose the Experimenting pathway
- Growing a business and leading a team? Want to understand how to drive growth and access investors? Choose the Accelerating pathway
As you complete activities associated with each level, you can earn virtual badges as well as prizes (University of Oxford hoodie anyone)?
Your Goals
Each training features a set of goals that support the development of entrepreneurial competence in any setting. These goals include:
- · Developing Your Business Awareness
- · Communication and Storytelling in Business
- · Working with Ventures
- · Introduction to Social Enterprise
- · Finance and Growing Your Venture
You can also set up your own personal goals, populated by activities provided by IDEA, your own activities, or a mixture of both. For instance, you may wish to develop your pitching skills for future investors, and as part of your goal, you could add your pitch slide decks to your target. Each time you complete an activity, your progress toward achieving the goal will be updated.
All your employability training and activities in one place
All University of Oxford students and staff members have access to the Engaging with Entrepreneurship Programme on Inkpath through their University of Oxford email address. Activities available through Inkpath include:
- Workshops from a range of providers at the University of Oxford.
- Dedicated programmes focusing on employability and entrepreneurial experience, such as boardroom experience and mentoring programmes.
- Funding and pitching competitions within the University of Oxford.
- Self-directed online training offered by a range of platforms including LinkedIn Learning.
Your entrepreneurial journey with IDEA
Engaging with Entrepreneurship has been designed using The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp) and University of Oxford Employability Skills Framework. The University of Oxford Employability Skills Framework features skills that any employer looks for when deciding who they want to work with and hire for their company. These skills include communication, spotting opportunities, and self-management. EntreComp is a free, flexible reference framework that can be adapted to support the development and understanding of entrepreneurial competence in any setting. It offers a comprehensive description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that people need to be entrepreneurial and create financial, cultural or social value for others. All goals featured within support your development of the specific skills within both frameworks.
Sign up for Inkpath and download the Inkpath app.
- Download it from Google Play
- Download it from Apple Store
- Access it via the Web App
Read through the IDEA user guide for Inkpath for support whilst signing up to the Engaging with Entrepreneurship Programme on Inkpath.
EnSpire Oxford is a University of Oxford initiative to help connect people to the entrepreneurship resources they need, and to promote entrepreneurship across Oxfordshire.
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