ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an important contribution to knowledge about the development of human capital across various stages of an individual's life course and the influence on entrepreneurial potential in adulthood. It begins with a brief review of UK policies designed to promote entrepreneurship. Largely following career development literature we then argue the case for the importance of studying human capital acquisition during the life course of the entrepreneur and the parental influence on human capital development in childhood and adolescence. Following the research methods, it presents the data analysis and discusses the implications of this research for theory, practice and policy. The chapter use prospective data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal study of the entire cohort of children born in Britain in the first week of March 1958. It argues the inequalities in schooling and career attainment remain powerfully influenced by social origins especially in the early life stages.
