For Italian university students, business enterprise is becoming an increasingly common choice. Generating value and making the business world more dynamic and younger, with exciting new entrepreneurial ideas, represents the great new challenge for the new generation of talent which – having finished their university careers – launch themselves into experiences with sky-high prospects for growth.
Confirmation of this post-university trend of entrepreneurialism is provided by the results of a fascinating research study conducted by the POLIMI – Politecnico di Milano. The study was designed to analyse the likelihood of alumni of the prestigious Italian institution to launch successful start-ups after university.
Massimo Colombo, Evila Piva and Cristina Rossi Lamastra have analysed data on the careers of over 43,000 graduates who passed from university to the world of work between 2000 and 2009. Around 3,000 of that number decided to found their own company, suggesting that the phenomenon of student entrepreneurialism, based on the POLIMI snapshot, accounts for around 10% of the whole. It’s a huge number that bodes positively for the future and confirms the growing trend for young people to gravitate towards creating new entrepreneurial ideas with bags of added value. The figures are testament to this: between 2000 and 2009, 3,500 new start-ups were launched, generating turnover of nearly €2bn by 2013. This has given a significant boost to the work market, with around 5,000 new jobs created.
Taking stock, then, we can state with some certainty that in recent decades, universities are becoming breeding grounds for talent ready to become fully fledged members of the dynamic global market. No longer are graduates mere chess pieces, as they often were in the past, but leading men and women capable of giving life to innovative – and successful – new businesses.
The data also showed that 22% of the start-ups were launched by more than one POLIMI student, demonstrating just how important university is in creating entrepreneurial teams.
Another particularly significant finding was that attending economics and management courses is vital for successful entrepreneurs to get ahead in the new millennium.
Having access to ad-hoc training oriented towards the acquisition and consolidation of entrepreneurial skills has become a key strategic asset for personal and business success.
It is for this very reason that the AMIE – the Advanced Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship – has been established. The AMIE is MIP’s Master’s course designed for all young people wishing to acquire the skills necessary to enable them to employ the proper attention and preparation to achieve their business goals.
The Advanced Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship is targeted at anyone wishing to learn to think and act like entrepreneurs and become innovative leaders.
The Master’s runs in collaboration with Solvay Business School and boasts official partners of the likes of Ericsson, HP and Italian Angels for Growth (IAG).
