Science graduates 'should be encouraged to start a business'

Science and engineering graduates should be given more encouragement to set up their own businesses, according to the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE).

NCGE chief executive Ian Robertson says that while a number of graduates have launched their own businesses - there is a lack of encouragement for science and engineering entrepreneurs.

"There is a strong presence of graduates in the creative and design businesses but we need to encourage more science and engineering graduates to be setting up high impact businesses," he comments.

The NCGE, established in 2004, is an organisation aimed at encouraging university leavers to launch their own businesses and raising the profile of entrepreneurship.

A study by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit last year - revealed that graduate business owners are most likely to be male, have qualifications in arts or humanities subjects and have parents who are entrepreneurs.