معرفی
Dr Kelly Smith is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Birmingham, recognized as a nationally prominent leader in enterprise and entrepreneurship education with significant international influence through policy development and professional organizations.
Her institutional leadership includes:
- Chair of Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) (2011-2013), where she spearheaded a membership growth campaign increasing UK higher education institution participation to over 90
- Trustee and Vice President roles at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) (2013-2019), serving as Vice President for Policy and Practice (2014-2015) and Vice President for Enterprise Education and Practitioner Learning (2015-2019)
Dr Smith's research focuses on embedding enterprise (problem-solving and idea execution) and entrepreneurship (venture creation) across higher education through both curricular and extracurricular pathways. She advocates for experiential learning models that position students as creative problem-solvers with viable self-employment career pathways, significantly influencing national frameworks like the QAA 2012 and 2018 guidance documents on entrepreneurship education in UK higher education.
Her policy contributions have been formally recognized through:
- Honorary Life Fellowship from EEUK (2012) for establishing the organization as a primary government advisor on enterprise matters
- Key contributions to the QAA 2012 guidance (which shaped the EU's Entrecomp Framework) and its 2018 Mandarin-translated update
- Co-authorship of the APPG for Microbusiness report 'An Education System Fit for an Entrepreneur' launched at the Houses of Parliament
Dr Smith has directed national strategy through government working groups including the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) young entrepreneur initiative and the European Commission's Evaluation of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes (EEEPHEIC), while building critical partnerships with NCEE, Vitae, and the Higher Education Academy to advance entrepreneurship education's role in economic development.
