Entrepreneurial Training at AIMS and Sciences Po

In recent years, Sciences Po and AIMS have both launched initiatives to improve their entrepreneurship curricula, hence their interest in the Bettering Entrepreneurial Training in Africa research project. AIMS Cameroon is currently preparing a revision of its entrepreneurial curriculum, while Sciences Po, led by the Center for Entrepreneurship, completed a survey to understand the entrepreneurial profiles of its alumni in Africa. Entrepreneurial curriculum in both institutions is detailed hereafter.

Entrepreneurial education at Sciences Po

Backed by the large network of teachers, partners, researchers and Alumni, the Sciences Po Centre for Entrepreneurship has three missions:

Raise awareness among Sciences Po students on entrepreneurship and technological innovation;
Incubate innovative startups;
Feed the public debate on entrepreneurship and innovation.

The year 2008, a seminal moment...

The year 2008 was a seminal stage in the deployment of entrepreneurial training for the benefit of Sciences Po students. Indeed, before this date, only students of certain Master programs could take courses relating to this subject. From 2008, with the creation of Sciences Po’s incubator and the Centre for Entrepreneurship, all Sciences Po students from any level have been offered the opportunity to take courses in entrepreneurship.

Click here to consult all the courses and programs of the Centre for Entrepreneurship.

An overview of the current entrepreneurial curricula

Each semester, 20 courses and workshops are proposed from beginner to advanced level. They range from initiation to entrepreneurship to design thinking, from pitching techniques to business plan drafting or computer coding. They are optional but endowed with credits and taught by specialists from the world of entrepreneurship and innovation. Each year, around 900 students choose to follow those courses on all Sciences Po campuses both face-to-face and online, an offer that has grown since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The evolution of the syllabus

The entrepreneurial syllabus and the philosophy of entrepreneurial training promoted by the Centre for Entrepreneurship has evolved over time. At the beginning, courses dedicated to entrepreneurship were very practical with topics such as business creation courses, accounting, etc…

Then, driven by ideas from Silicon Valley (the Lean Startup momentum, notably) and American universities, emerged a new paradigm shift: entrepreneurship could be taught. The courses’ offer then evolved to focus on entrepreneurial skills, the ones necessary to tame entrepreneurship and develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Techniques such as Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Canvas model building were added to the syllabus.

Today, the syllabus includes a new layer, aimed at helping students tap the potential offered by opportunities brought by sector, technological, economic, or societal evolutions (Biotech, blockchain, green Revolution, etc…).

The theory of change of the Centre for Entrepreneurship

The theory of change spearheaded by the Centre for Entrepreneurship rests on the etymology of the word entrepreneur, which refers to somebody who is able to have a control over situations

The syllabus therefore aims at equipping students with a way of thinking, solving problems and implementing solutions. They are expected to use that entrepreneurial spirit in the most diverse situations and sectors, by using notably the experimental approach (perform tests before deploying large-scale projects).

Through its research-action program, the Centre for Entrepreneurship also supports research on topics related to the study of entrepreneurship and innovation as socio-economic and political phenomena, notably on some specific groups (women, for example) or areas (entrepreneurial training in Africa in partnership with AIMS thanks to the support of the Mastercard Foundation).

Entrepreneurial education at AIMS

AIMS centers located in South Africa, Cameroon, Rwanda, Ghana and Senegal have developed various mechanisms to support students and graduates towards entrepreneurship, whether through courses or specific programs such as the AIMS Industry Initiative which builds and leverages industry partnerships to identify win-win opportunities for AIMS students and alumni as well as industry partners. These include short term work placements, internships and employment.