Scottish Government

2 Overall Entrepreneurial Activity

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - Overall trends

2.1 The chart below shows how the overall proportions of Thinkers and Doers in Scotland has risen marginally (although not statistically significantly) between 2003 and 2005. As a result of this the proportion of Avoiders has decreased by two per cent.

Chart 1: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders 2003-2005

2.2 A similar pattern is evident in England, although the proportions of Thinkers and Doers is higher than in Scotland. It should be noted that the proportions of Thinkers and Doers in Scotland is similar to that in the North West of England (Thinkers = 10 per cent; Doers = 11 per cent) and Yorkshire & Humberside (Thinkers = 11 per cent; Doers = 11 per cent). In the North East of England the proportion of Thinkers and Doers is even lower than in Scotland (Thinkers = 9 per cent; Doers = 9 per cent). Thinkers in England are most likely to be found in London (16 per cent), with the highest proportion of Doers being in the rest of the South of England (15 per cent across the South West, South East and Eastern region).

2.3 Analysis by country of birth in the English household Survey shows that people resident in England but born in Scotland are no more likely to be Thinkers and Doers than those born in England ³.

Thinkers, Doers and Avoiders by Scottish Council

2.4 A breakdown of the proportions of Thinkers, Doers and Avoiders in Scotland is also possible. The table below shows this according to Council area. Please note that some of the sample sizes for individual councils are very small.

Table 1: Thinkers etc. by Council⁴

2.5 Higher than average proportions of Thinkers can be found in Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire and the Highlands and Islands, but of these results only those for Aberdeenshire are statistically significant. Angus, Falkirk, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire and Perth & Kinross have statistically significant lower than average proportions of Thinkers.

2.6 Doers are proportionately more likely to be found in Dumfries & Galloway, East Renfrewshire and Perth & Kinross (though sample sizes are very small at this level of disaggregation and only the last of these findings is statistically significant). They lowest proportion of Doers is in Inverclyde.

2.7 Because age is one of the key drivers as to whether a person is a Thinker or Doer (see next section), it is tempting to think that those Councils with older residents will have more Doers, and those with younger residents will have more Thinkers. The table above also shows the mean average age of survey respondents according to Council (unweighted). The mean age does not greatly vary according to Council, and certainly there is no discernable pattern with regard to younger Councils producing higher proportions of Thinkers etc.. Therefore it can be concluded that the reasons why some Councils have higher proportions of Thinkers and Doers is not related to age alone.

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - by age

2.8 As was the case in 2003, the young are more likely to be Thinkers than older people, and that older people are more likely to be Doers than younger people. For Scotland as a whole, 14 per cent of 16-24 year olds claim they are thinking of starting their own business, compared to just 4 per cent of those aged 55-64. By contrast, just one in twenty-five (4 per cent) of 16-24 year olds are already Doers, in comparison to 17 per cent of all those aged 35-64.

Chart 2: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders by age

2.9 The pattern according to age across England is identical with the young most likely to be the Thinkers, and the older people the Doers. However, the proportion of Avoiders is significantly higher among younger groups in Scotland compared to England ⁷, whilst the proportion of Avoiders amongst 55-64 year olds is the same in both countries.

2.10 One of the reasons why Scotland has a lower proportion of Thinkers among the young in comparison to England concerns its smaller ethnic minority population. Analysis of the SBS Household Survey data in England clearly shows that ethnic minority groups, particularly Black Caribbean and Black African groups, as well as Eastern Europeans, are much more likely than average to be Thinkers. This is particularly so among younger people from ethnic minority backgrounds, many of which live in London.

2.11 In Scotland it is people aged between 55 and 64 who are most likely to be Doers, in England it is those in the 35-54 year old age range.

2.12 The table below shows the percentage change in the proportion of Thinkers, Doers and Avoiders in Scotland from 2003 to 2005.

Table 2: Changes in the proportions of Thinkers, Doers and Avoiders: 03 - 05⁸- By age

2.13 There is some good news here in that the proportion of Thinkers has increased by 3 and 2 per cent among 16-24 year olds and 25-34 year olds respectively, whilst the proportion of Avoiders among these age groups has declined by 3 per cent in both cases. However, none of these changes are quite statistically significant at the 95 per cent confidence level.

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - by gender

2.14 Men are much more likely to be Thinkers and Doers than women. The 2005 survey shows that 12 per cent of men in Scotland as a whole are Thinkers, with 15 per cent being Doers. This compares to 7 per cent of women being Thinkers, and 6 per cent being Doers.

2.15 A similar pattern is seen in England where 14 per cent of men are Thinkers and 18 per cent are Doers, compared to 10 per cent of women being Thinkers, and 9 per cent Doers.

Chart 3: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders by gender

Table 3: Changes in the proportions of Thinkers, Doers and Avoiders: 03 - 05 ⁹ - By gender

2.16 Compared to the 2003 survey, there are slightly more female Doers, slightly fewer male Thinkers, and fewer Avoiders of both genders. However, none of these changes are statistically significant at the 95 per cent confidence level. In contrast, in England it has been seen that there are significantly more female Thinkers compared to 2003.

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - by age and gender

2.17 Combining age and gender together gives us a clearer picture of who is most likely to be entrepreneurial - younger males and females (aged 16-34) are more likely to be Thinkers than older age groups, while males aged 35+ is the group most likely to be Doers.

Chart 4: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders by age & gender

2.18 The same pattern is also evident in England, although the Avoidance rate among 16-24 year olds in Scotland is much higher than it is in England (90 per cent compared to 84 per cent).

2.19 There is no evidence to suggest that women aged 45 (or over) with dependent children are any less likely to be Thinkers and Doers than those aged 45 (or over) without children.

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - By educational attainment

2.20 The chart below shows entrepreneurial activity according to the highest SVQ qualification obtained.

Chart 5: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders by educational attainment

2.21 As has been seen in previous years, there is a clear link between educational attainment and being involved in entrepreneurial activity. In general, the likelihood of being a Thinker or a Doer increases with the highest level of qualification obtained, with those achieving SVQ level 5 ¹⁰ most likely to be Thinkers and Doers. However, those without any qualifications are almost as likely to be Doers as the population of Scotland as a whole. Exactly the same pattern can be seen in England.

2.22 There is a suspicion that this last finding may be influenced by age. In this survey 35 per cent of those in Scotland aged 55-64 have no qualifications, compared to just 6 per cent of those aged 16-34. We have also seen that Doers tend to be older.

2.23 When the data is filtered for 16-34 year olds only, those who left school without qualifications are more likely than average to be Doers than those who had qualifications (8 per cent of those with no qualifications are Doers, but only 5 per cent of those with qualifications). Conversely, those who have no qualifications are less likely to be Thinkers (3 per cent, compared to 15 per cent of those with qualifications).

2.24 The reason for this might be linked to the fact that many of those with qualifications are still studying, but it also suggests involvement in entrepreneurship through necessity.

2.25 Another dimension of this is that, from this study, those with the most qualifications come to enterprise later in life than those without any qualifications, who make the 'jump' sooner.

2.26 According to this survey, qualification levels in the Scotland are slightly lower than those in England. Whilst the percentage of the population with a SVQ/ NVQ level 5 is the same at 9 per cent, only 19 per cent of people in Scotland have a SVQ/ NVQ level 4 ¹¹ compared to 22 per cent in England. Furthermore, whilst 15 per cent in Scotland have no qualifications, this figure is only 12 per cent in England. ( N.B. The Annual Population Survey, which has a much larger sample, finds that a higher proportion of the working age population in Scotland is qualified to SVQ level 4 than is the equivalent for NVQ level 4 in England, and that there is little difference in the percentage not qualified.)

Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders - By effect of enterprise training and experience

2.27 Across Scotland as a whole in 2005, 51 per cent of adults claim to have ever taken part in any form of business or enterprise training, or had work experience in a small or medium enterprise ( SME). The table below shows the types of training or work experienced.

Table 4: Enterprise training and experience 2005

2.28 In England 55 per cent have received any form of enterprise training. This figure includes 41 per cent who have had work experience with SMEs. Fewer people in England have had public sector training (13 per cent) than is the case in Scotland.

2.29 There is a clear correlation between having enterprise training and age. In Scotland 74 per cent of 16-24 year olds have had any form of it, and 67 per cent of 25-34 year olds, but only 45 per cent of 35-44 year olds, 37 per cent of 45-54 year olds, and 34 per cent of 55-64 year olds.

2.30 Interestingly, among people aged 16-34, women are more likely to have had enterprise training than men (73 per cent compared to 67 per cent).

2.31 The chances that enterprise training at school or college has been experienced, or that a person has gained work experience in a SME, are much greater the younger that person is. However, with public sector training courses there are no significant differences according to age.

Chart 6: Proportions of Thinkers, Doers & Avoiders by whether had enterprise training and experience

2.32 The chart above shows levels of entrepreneurial activity according to whether a person has received any enterprise training whilst at school, college or on a public sector training course, or whether a person has had work experience at a small or medium sized enterprise ( SME) whilst at school or college. The chart above is based on all respondents.

2.33 There is a clear relationship between being a Thinker and having had business or enterprise training, but not between being a Doer and having training. As we have seen, the reason for this is largely linked to age - those who have had training tend to be much younger, and it has already been shown that younger people are much more likely to be Thinkers.

2.34 Therefore, if one looks just at 16-24 years olds and whether they have received any kind of enterprise training, one finds that 17 per cent of those who have received training or who have worked for SMEs are Thinkers, compared to 10 per cent of those who have not. There is clearly a strong association between entrepreneurship and enterprise training/experience, although the extent to which this is due to self-selection is unclear, i.e. whether training makes people more entrepreneurial or whether the already more entrepreneurially-minded choose training or experience.