JCPSLP Vol 20 No 2 July 2018

Entrepreneurship in speech-language pathology

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resulting in the development of higher level planning, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills. Such skills are applicable across many settings and may be sustained for a longer period of time. In interpreting their findings, the authors acknowledged key limitations including common restrictions associated with literature reviews and meta- analysis, that is, the variable quality and rigor of the studies included. They also noted a high degree of heterogenaeity in the correlations identified warranting further analysis of high-quality research. Although grounded in business literature, the findings of this study have significant relevance for practice within the speech pathology profession. All SLPs have qualified as health professionals rather than business or economics graduates; however, the changing contexts and models in which SLPs work will necessitate a diversification of knowlegde and skills to include enterprise and entrepreneurship. The introduction of the NDIS funding reform is significant as the profession navigates a transition to privatisation of current services (Olsson & Johnson, 2016). This is supported by the Speech Pathology 2030: – Making Futures Happen report that also forecasts the majority of SLP services will be consumer driven, in private settings or corporatised (SPA, 2016b). In education and health an increase in fixed-term contracts rather than continuing positions is already in effect, which means that even SLPs employed in public settings are needing to consider how they employ entrepreneurial strategy when navigating employment negotiations and decisions. These findings also support the need for the inclusion of specific and explicit entrepreneurial training within entry level speech pathology programs to provide graduates with the skills requires to work in a “diverse and dynamic workforce” (SPA, 2016b, p. 27). References Entreprenuership. (2018). English Oxford living dictioniaries . Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ Olsson, C., & Johnson, T. (2016). Ethics and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology , 18 (2), 75–79. Speech Pathology Australia. (2010). Code of ethics . Melbourne. Retrieved from https://www. speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/SPAweb/Document_ Management/Public/Ethics.aspx Speech Pathology Australia. (2016a). Professional development guidelines for members [Poster]. Retrieved from https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org. au/SPAweb/Document_Management/Restricted/ PD_Guidelines.aspx?hkey=fe8fcee8-298c-4dda-aa72- b23944e03e09n Speech Pathology Australia. (2016b). Speech pathology 2030: Making futures happen . Retrieved from https://cld. bz/bookdata/8jZAsZo/basic-html/page-1.html

Martin, B. C., McNally, J. J., & Kay, M. J. (2013). Examining the formation of human capital in entrepreneurship: A meta-analysis of entrepreneurship education outcomes. Journal of Business Venturing , 28 , 211–244. Kate Bridgman Australian speech-language pathologists are ethically obligated to “maintain our currency of professional knowledge and practice” (SPA, 2010, p. 1) and to ensure that “professional knowledge remains current, relevant and evidence-based” (SPA, 2016a). Consequently, through the PSR and CPD programs, clinicians engage in clinically focused learning to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP). Thus, the relationship between “the investment” in education and training and the development of “human capital assets”, as marked by improved knowledge and practice, is not new to our profession. But what about entrepreneurship? Martin, McNally, and Kay (2013) completed a literature review and meta-analysis investigating: (a) whether entrepreneurship education and training (EET) lead to more people becoming entrepreneurs, and (b) if this EET leads to greater entrepreneurial outcomes. The English Oxford Living Dictionary (2018) defines entrepreneurship as “the activity of setting up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit”. While this study is not specific to allied health practice or education, the findings can be translated to the field, and are highly relevant as speech pathology faces significant health reform during the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). First, Martin et al. (2013) completed a literature review exploring the effectiveness of EET in increasing entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and outcomes. Based on the 79 papers that met the inclusion criteria, they found that engaging in EET correlates with: (a) increased entrepreneurship knowledge and skills; (b) a positive perception of entrepreneurship, and (3) intentions to start a business or engage in entrepreneurship type activities. Second, a meta-analysis of subset of 42 qualifying studies with an overall high number of participants (n = 16,657) found a significant, positive relationship between EET and entrepreneurial outcomes in general, likelihood to start-up a business venture specifically, and overall entrepreneurial performance. Third, an unexpected outcome was that “academic-focused” EET was more significantly correlated with entrepreneurial outcomes than “training-focused”. That is, training that included broader conceptual and theoretical content relating to entrepreneurship had greater outcomes than “content and context” specific training relating to immediate, context-specific business systems and practices. Martin et al. (2013) proposed that academic- focused training may be more dynamic and transferable,

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JCPSLP Volume 20, Number 2 2018

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology