Mapping the engagement of alumni organisations in entrepreneurship education and support at UK universities

Alumni have a growing role in supporting entrepreneurship education in universities, but there is scant evidence about their actual engagement with these initiatives. We explored the alumni organisations affiliated to the 162 higher education institutions in the UK to provide insights into their activities in academic entrepreneurship and to understand whether the prevalence of their engagement with these activities is linked to parental higher education institution (HEI) characteristics and regional characteristics. Alumni organisations help their members to access networks of their peers to generate career, mentoring and role-modelling opportunities. Only around 18% of alumni organisations engage in activities to foster entrepreneurship by providing awards and funding and organising networked communities and events. In addition, alumni can also be involved individually in entrepreneurship clubs. Entrepreneurship support activities are more prevalent in alumni organisations affiliated to larger, more resource-rich HEIs that have developed a culture of entrepreneurship and technology transfer. Regional contexts are not relevant for alumni organisations engaging or not in providing entrepreneurship support activities. We discuss future research opportunities to investigate the antecedents, processes and outcomes of engaging alumni organisations in academic entrepreneurship and the policy implications for universities investing in peer support to build their entrepreneurial ecosystems.