A visit to the University of Sydney Business School has paved the way for potential future MBA leaders, with a group of secondary school students from regional Australia inspired to consider a tertiary education by the Brilliant Business Kids Festival.
The inaugural Festival, hosted by an organisation called startup.business, brought about 70 students, teachers and family members to the Business School for a day with experts in entrepreneurship.
“We believe that holding the festival at such a prestigious and respected venue had an influence in creating a sense of trust in, and respect for, the event even though it had never been held before,” startup.business’ Liz Jackson said.
Startup.business describes itself as an education company designing entrepreneurial Learning in Action programs, based on collated data and research, which “educate aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs globally to grow themselves and their businesses”.
The students who attended the Sydney Festival had earlier taken part in a startup.business Young Entrepreneurs Learning in Action program which looked at solving local and industry-related agricultural issues using an “innovative and entrepreneurial mindset”.
“Through the program, students had brainstormed, tested, created and pitched a total of 63 business ideas addressing topics such as farm safety, animal welfare, reducing waste, access to water, land degradation, and technology to improve productivity,” Ms Jackson said.
“Many of the students who attended the Sydney Festival had not previously seen university as a career pathway as they had not ever been exposed to such a prestigious campus.
“Students left at the end of the day with a different viewpoint and a sense that the University of Sydney Business School was a place that is embracing innovation and new ideas and that tertiary education has evolved to meet the needs of their generation.”
Ms Jackson said the outcome this year was truly incredible.
“We saw young people embrace the true value of ‘Business Not As Usual’, the core theme of the Business School.”
