Ah! Ha! Humour and sustainability in the development of entrepreneurial graduates

This study shows that both humour and sustainability offer a valuable contribution in terms of curriculum content within entrepreneurship education at the undergraduate level. Undergraduate students enrolled in RMIT's Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship program were surveyed to determine whether the inclusion of humour and sustainability in their curriculum were of value in the updating and development of a subject in RMIT's Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship (BBE) program which prepares graduates for the global marketplace. Graduates are challenged individually and collectively to meet economic, social, environmental, political and educational challenges (CSD, 2006) in today's dynamic workplaces and globalized economies. Yet, humour is disappearing from the workplace leading to decreased performance, lack of creativity, stress, anxiety, absenteeism, conflict and poor morale (Humour Australia, Ha! 2007). Furthermore, sustainable personal and business development is central to innovation and entrepreneurship and requires a frontal assault on the existing business paradigm. The paper shows the way in which humour and sustainability are valuable inclusions within a BBE program subject. Industry partnerships with Humour Australia (Ha!) and Closed System Development (CSD) provided the BBE students with 'hands-on' experience, tools and techniques of study with practical application to the world of entrepreneurs and business. This study utilized a multi-method questionnaire comprised of 24 items containing 9 open items, 9 closed items, and 6 demographic items. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS (Version 15) descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was theme category analyzed. A total of 74 undergraduate students were surveyed. The results showed the majority of the respondents strongly agreed that humour and sustainability, each with their relationships to entrepreneurship, would add value to an entrepreneurship program. Not only was this result original and contributes to the education of entrepreneurs but what was significant in this finding was that the population sample was comprised of first, second and third year students who were 'entrepreneurs' who own or plan to own a business or start-up, 'intra-preneurs' who either work in a large organization or intend working in one, and social entrepreneurs who intend working in the not-for-profit sector. Hence the findings hold significance across the three major areas of entrepreneurship fields and activity.