Indian students lead in dreaming about their own startup

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Indian students lead in dreaming about their own startup

INDIA

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A recent study has revealed that Indian college and university students exhibit strong entrepreneurial aspirations, with almost a third of students already identifying as budding entrepreneurs and some of them actively working towards launching their businesses by the time they graduate – a proportion that surpasses the global average of around a quarter of students with such aspirations.

In addition, around one in six Indian students intends to become a founder immediately after graduation rather than seek employment.

Indian universities are at the forefront of fostering an entrepreneurial environment, rating highest among leading startup ecosystems globally, according to the first comprehensive survey on student entrepreneurship in India conducted by the India Chapter of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS).

Entrepreneurial intent

Indian students demonstrate the highest entrepreneurial intent worldwide, scoring an average of 4.6 on a seven-point scale, compared to the global average of 3.7.

The GUESSS project is a major global research initiative that surveys student entrepreneurs in 57 countries for insights into the entrepreneurial spirit, intentions, and activities of students worldwide. It was first launched in 2003 by the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, but this is the first time India has been involved.

The survey conducted in India between November 2023 and February 2024 gathered responses from 13,896 students enrolled in higher education institutions across the country.

It examined entrepreneurial spirit by exploring the intentions and activities of students, including their career preferences, entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes, behaviours, the university environment, and respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics in order to map global and national trends in student entrepreneurship.

“India is already the third largest startup ecosystem in the world and boasts the largest youth population globally. Tapping into the entrepreneurial potential of our youth will be crucial for the country’s growth,” lead author of the GUESSS India 2023 Report, Dr Puran Singh, associate professor at the School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, told University World News.

“But do our students prioritise entrepreneurship? Are they considering it as a career path? Until now, we lacked data to understand our students’ entrepreneurial mindset,” Singh said.

Aspirations evolve over time

With contributions from IIT-Mandi research fellow Dharmender K Yadav, the report released this week found that approximately 14% of Indian students intend to become founders immediately after graduation, closely matching the global average of 15.7%, according to the study.

But entrepreneurial aspirations evolve over time, with 31.4% of students planning to start businesses five years after graduation, close to the global average of 30%.

While 69.7% of students initially seek employment after graduation, the figure declines to 52.2% over the course of five years. During this time, the proportion of students aspiring to become entrepreneurs rises to 31%, up from 14% at the time of graduation.

Around 38% of students are engaged in venture creation, with 33% in the early, nascent stages – outpacing their global counterparts. However, only 4.8% of these ventures progressed to the revenue-generating phase, indicating “significant potential for growth”, according to the study.

Support from universities

Indian universities rate highly in fostering an entrepreneurial environment, achieving a rating of 4.7 out of 7, the highest among leading startup ecosystems globally.

Almost two-thirds, or around 63% of student entrepreneurs, said they received support from their universities, with 26% of student ventures undergoing incubation at the university.

Singh, who also serves as the country delegate for GUESSS, emphasised that students’ increasing startup aspirations reflected growing momentum for entrepreneurship within Indian universities, likely driven by various policy initiatives in the country.

These include some 1,000 Institute Innovation Councils set up by universities nationwide. Every higher education institute is encouraged by the Indian government to set up an innovation council to include members from outside the Institution.

“Students have been provided with various opportunities and platforms to showcase their skills,” Singh said. “Various departments have been actively hosting national and international hackathons and awareness sessions.

Startup India

“The government has made special efforts, particularly following the launch of the Startup India initiative, to create an ecosystem within universities and higher education institutions that encourages students to think entrepreneurially.”

Startup India was launched in 2016 to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and create jobs. The government’s National Education Policy (NEP 2020) also promotes entrepreneurial activities, emphasising that institutions should establish support systems.

According to a government statement in parliament earlier this year, sustained efforts have led to an increase in the number of startups, with some 117,254 recognised startups in India as of 31 December 2023.

“These recognised startups are reported to have created over 1,242,000 direct jobs creating signicant economic impact. There is at least one recognised startup in every state and union territory spread across over 80% of the districts across the nation,” the government said.

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