Dr Kelly Smith, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, University of Birmingham
Dr Kelly Smith is a nationally recognized leader in enterprise and entrepreneurship education with an international profile, having held Executive and Director-level positions with two professional academic organizations: Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) and Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE).
Kelly’s relationship with EEUK (when it was known as UKSEC) started in 2004 when they took up their first role in EntEd, leading the West Midland universities’ Technology Enhanced Enterprise Education project. Kelly took the opportunity to learn from more experienced colleagues across the UK and beyond through UKSEC’s collaborative work with the National Centre for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE; later becoming NCEE), which had been set up by the Government to promote entrepreneurship as a graduate career option and brought in international speakers and connections. Kelly became well- known in the field through attending events, asking questions, and sharing the work of the TE3 project. In 2008, Kelly was seconded onto the EEUK Board for her e-learning expertise and then became a full Board member and Junior Vice Chair in 2009, Vice Chair (2010) and Chair (2011), finally leaving the Board after completing the full term allowable by the EEUK Constitution in 2013.
During her term as Chair, Kelly oversaw a major campaign to build membership numbers which resulted in a rise of over 10% of UK HEIs to over 90. This resulted in being awarded an Honorary Life Fellowship of EEUK in 2012 by her peers, with the accompanying testimonial describing her as being ‘influential in establishing EEUK’s position as one of the UK Government’s organisations of choice when advice or consultation was required related to enterprise matters’.
For Kelly, It was important for the EntEd community to shout about the benefits of embedding enterprise (having ideas and making them happen) and entrepreneurship (new venture creation) through both the subject specific curriculum and extra-curricular careers. She wanted to ensure opportunities were in place to encourage students and graduates to see themselves as creative problem solvers who have self-employment and business start-up as appropriate career aspirations. Kelly initiated and worked with fellow Board members to further develop or set up new partnerships with organisations such as NCEE, Vitae, the Higher Education Academy, and the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship to input into the UK Government policy agenda on topics such postgraduate research student training and development needs, and consideration of for student and graduate entrepreneurship within wider local, regional, and national economic development through start-up and growth policies.
Outputs Kelly personally contributed to – through setting up mechanisms to collect community options and/or sitting on writing panels – included the Vitae enterprise lens on the research development framework, the QAA 2012 guidance on enterprise and entrepreneurship in higher education in the UK (updated in 2018), and the APPG for Microbusiness report on ‘An Education System Fit for an Entrepreneur’, which was launched at the Houses of Parliament. The 2012 QAA guidance was heavily influential in the development of the EU’s Entrecomp Framework. Kelly’s input into the QAA guidance can be particularly seen in the definitions for enterprise and entrepreneurship education, the explicit inclusion of extra-curricular support as part of the EntEd pipeline, and in the calls for experiential learning and reflection.].
In recognition of her knowledge and leadership, Kelly was invited to sit on the steering group for Government-funded support for student enterprise societies through the National Association for College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) and continued as this converted into a wider Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) working group for the encouragement and support of young entrepreneurs. She was also a member of the European Commission’s Evaluation of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes in Higher Education Institutions and Centres (EEEPHEIC) International expert Panel in 2018.
When Kelly’s term on the EEUK Board came to an end in 2013, she felt she still had a lot to offer the EntEd community at a national level. She was voted onto the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and became an ISBE Trustee (2013-2019), Vice President for Policy and Practice (2014-2015), and Vice President for Enterprise Education and Practitioner Learning (2015-2019). Kelly continued her work identifying and responding to relevant calls for input into policy reviews in partnership with EEUK colleagues and represented ISBE on the 2018 QAA EntEd guidance update writing panel. The importance of the QAA 2012 guidance had been recognised nationally and internationally and the 2018 update of the QAA guidance was initiated following a recommendation by the then Prime Minister Theresa May to the Council for Science and Technology. May recommended that future work looking to promote entrepreneurship in STEM graduates could build on the QAA 2012 work. QAA 2018 was also translated into Mandarin for use with and by Chinese educators following extensive use of the 2012 version across the world.
Dr Kelly Smith will be a valuable asset in promoting and advancing ISBE’s goals. As an experienced professional with a strong commitment to engaging in the Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education community, Kelly will foster collaboration and inclusivity within ISBE. She will encourage networking among members and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and resources, thus strengthening the ISBE community.
