The humanities impacting communities through entrepreneurship: A case study of student enterprise from a South African university

Abstract

The role of a university education is to transform and develop communities through the production of academically competent graduates and research, as well as through knowledge creation. However, research has shown that the level of unemployment in South Africa remains high despite the increasing number of graduates. The Faculty of the Humanities at a South African university has been intentional in impacting communities by inculcating a culture of entrepreneurship among students. In this article, I reflect on a case study of students from various disciplines, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, who have been mentored in entrepreneurship, have registered a business, and interacted with communities to provide identified services. I follow a participatory research approach to engage the students in a reflection on their relationships with the community members and on the impact of their interventions on these communities. I also analysed the data collected through a focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews to identify common themes and determine the attributes developed by students as they engaged in entrepreneurship. The findings from the reflections demonstrate the humanities students’ perceived value of entrepreneurship on communities’ development and graduates’ employability.