This paper explores perceptions of entrepreneurship and innovation to discover why UK students did not engage with enterprise activities at their universities. A study involving 84 international and national university students identified stereotypical perceptions of terms such as ‘innovator’ and ‘entrepreneur’, ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘innovation’, associating values and emotions with the development of these constructs often ignored in research on enterprise intent. There were differing perspectives on the drivers affecting engagement across international and UK students. It also emerged that the development of new interactive media technologies had influenced the process of constructing meaning for these terms, creating and reinforcing stereotypes rather than changing them.
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