Social Entrepreneurship and Student Enterprise in Norwegian Social Work Education - does the Nordic Welfare State get in the way?

Social entrepreneurship and Student Enterprise in Norwegian Social Work education – does the Nordic welfare state get in the way? By associate professor Nils-Petter Karlsson, University College of Southeast Norway. ... [ view full abstract ]

Social entrepreneurship and Student Enterprise in Norwegian Social Work education – does the Nordic welfare state get in the way?

By associate professor Nils-Petter Karlsson, University College of Southeast Norway.

In USN's research strategy , an important goal is to “Contribute to innovation and added value in the public and private sectors”. This comprises entrepreneurial teaching, and the university college has won several international awards for student enterprises, mainly in the technological field. Increasing attention to the development of social entrepreneurship and social innovation internationally (Defourny et al, 2014; Andersen et al, 2016; Brandsen, et al, 2016)   has led to an interest to include these aspects in our Bachelor programmes in social work. The adaption of social entrepreneurship and social innovation as possible strategies to create a sustainable Nordic welfare state by the Nordic Council of Ministers further strengthened this process. Allocation of resources made the Department of Social Studies able to introduce these aspects into its curriculum in 2014.

Cross sectoral innovation camps were introduced to both first year and last year students, emphasising active participation by local public and private organisations as supplier of assignments and instructors. Curriculums are also undergoing change, introducing recent literature on the subjects as well as teaching. A special focus is on research and development, with establishment of the SESAM project. This includes scholars and practitioners, creates a favourable environment for activities for students and teachers, and has already won two contracts for development work during its first half year of existence.

Using USN’s experiences from student enterprises, we wanted to find out if we could create a social entrepreneurship student enterprise. National framework education plans for social work professionals imply relatively detailed demands concerning the contents of the respective programmes. Would it be possible to introduce the notions of social entrepreneurship and social innovation without endangering the candidates’ final degrees? In a Nordic welfare state such as Norway, will the introduction of entrepreneurship and innovation themes meet with disapproval in the practice field and among professionals?

USN students at the Bachelor programs Child Welfare Officer (“barnevernspedagog”) and Social Educator (“vernepleier”) do a 10 weeks practice placement and write their Bachelor thesis in their 6^th and final semester. As the first HEI in Norway, USN during the spring semester of 2016 introduced an alternative to traditional practice placement and Bachelor thesis work. This pilot project consisted of an integrated study program of 30 ECTS including the planning, implementation and testing of a student enterprise in social entrepreneurship, and the writing of a Bachelor thesis with documentation of the enterprise as well as professional deliberations. The department of social studies formulated learning outcomes and developed criteria that could meet the demands of regulated professional study programs.

The pilot project resulted in a successful student enterprise, study program innovation, and a valuable basis for further development. A small team of researchers followed it in order to secure good quality background and recommendations. Consequently, the USN was able to offer student enterprise as an alternative also for the study year 2016/17, incorporating a number of adjustments and suggestions based on these experiences.

The paper is based on:

• Social innovation and Social entrepreneurship theory with an emphasis on the Nordic Council of Ministers’ report TemaNord 2015:502 on initiatives in the Nordic countries,

• The strategies of USN on innovation and entrepreneurship

• Summary of research notes

• My own notes and experiences as a project manager

I intend to present development work on study programs for professional social work, and encourage other HEIs to take part in further development of such programs encompassing the implementation of Social innovation and Social entrepreneurship.

A special focus will be on the impact this pilot project on

• Students, teachers and education programmes

• Professional social work

References:

Andersen, LL., Gawell, M. & Spear, R. (2016) Social entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises. Nordic Perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Brandsen, T., Cattacin, S., Evers, A., Zimmer, A. (2016) Social Innovations in the Urban Context. Springer International Publishing.

Defourny, J., Hulgård, L. & Pestoff, V. (2014) Social Enterprise and the Third Sector – Changing European Landscapes in a Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge.

Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press

Hulgård et.al. (ed) (2009) Socialt entreprenørskab. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.

Kommunal- og Moderniseringsdepartementet (2017) Veier til samarbeid. Oslo: DSS

Nordisk Ministerråd. (2015). Sosialt entreprenørskap og sosial innovasjon. Kartlegging av innsatser for sosialt entreprenørskap og sosial innovasjon i Norden. TemaNord 2015:502. København: Nordisk Ministerråd. USN Research strategy: https://www.usn.no/getfile.php...