Recent trends in the job market have brought about a new turn of opportunities for the youth in planning their career choice. The mainstream paid employment market is saturated – not keeping pace with the surge of fresh graduates emerging each year. Under such excruciatingly harsh competition, it becomes logical for many youths to seek self-employment and thus start their own venture. This trend is both exciting and promising – as the young minds with immense energy and creativity – make the perfect candidates to start micro, small or even medium enterprises. It provides hope to unemployed youth, creates jobs and contributes to economic growth. Clearly, self-employment is a niche that needs nurturing and development.
East West University correctly identified this opportunity and established the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC). One of the primary purposes of the EDC is to offer the Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship Development (PGDED) program. Through this program EDC will have an opportunity to train and guide interested graduating EWU students to set up a business venture under the rubric of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). East West University is well placed to oversee the functioning of EDC as the University offers a wide range of specializations in many masters’ program across departments (especially, “Enterprise Development” and “Entrepreneurship Development”) in the Master in Development Studies (MDS) program.
More than a century ago, the work of Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter showed that entrepreneurship acts as the vital link between innovation and development. Since then, many economic theories and empirical models of entrepreneurship have been proposed. These have now found place in economic textbooks and journals, providing a solid base for academic research and practical applications. In Bangladesh, where the pace of new job creation is very slow, entrepreneurship offers an unparalleled avenue to produce a new generation of native experts who can help create jobs.
Against this backdrop, East West University runs the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) as a research and training wing of the university.
Objectives of EDC
- Assist in developing and nurturing students’ ideas into start-ups
- Assist startups and MSMEs in exploring and accessing funding opportunities
- Liaise with businesses and financial organizations on enterprise development
Activities of EDC
- Offer the PGDED program
- Provide training, mentorship and technical support for business development
- Organize seminars, short courses and entrepreneurship bootcamps
- Offer incubator program to develop start-ups
- Create internship opportunities for relevant EWU students
