Professor Rowena Barrett

Biography

Professor Rowena Barrett is QUT's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Entrepreneurship).  Rowena is an experienced and authentic leader who brings integrity, purpose and commitment to engaging people across many domains inside and outside the university around entrepreneurial mindset and practice. She firmly ascribes to Howard Stevenson's definition of entrepreneurship as 'the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources currently controlled' as it makes clear all can engage in entrepreneurship in its many forms and contexts.

Rowena leads the development of an encouraging, supportive and collaborative environment for entrepreneurial action at QUT.  With the enthusiastic and highly capable QUT Entrepreneurship team, she ensures entrepreneurship education is available across the institution, whether that is for students, staff or alumni.  The mission to realise QUT's entrepreneurial potential can only be achieved through collaboration and alongside a regular calendar of events, the team are keen to support activities, whether in or outside class, whether staff, student or community initiated,

The QUT Entrepreneurship learning program seeks to inspire and develop entrepreneurship mindset and skill while the inclusive foundry spaces for entrepreneurial practice are available in B Block (B200b) on the Gardens Point campus and R Block (R224) on the Kelvin Grove campus.  These foundry spaces act as the hubs for the wide range of entrepreneurship activity at QUT whether in the for-profit or for-purpose space.  The Community leaders - Angela Young, Marcia Mattushek and Javier Rojas, Entrepreneurs in Residence - Wes Huffstutter, Peta Ellis and Aaron Birkby, Adventurer in Residence - Eleanor Carey and Facilitators - Vibhor Pandey and Dr Elizabeth Snuggs can be found in these spaces and will happily help all visitors find the learning, resources and network connections needed on their entrepreneurial journey.

The Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Entrepreneurship) is inside the entry to B Block (B110) on the Gardens Point campus.  Known affectionately as 'the fish bowl', the QUT Entrepreneurship Manager - Graham Fellows - also operates from this office as does the Strategy lead - Associate Professor Glen Murphy and the Project Officer - Kathy McCabe.

Rowena brings academic and practical understanding of motivations and drivers for entrepreneurship,  Over a number of years she has been instrumental in activating QUT's entrepreneurial DNA as well as ensuring the university is a key player in the wider Queensland entrepreneurial ecosystem.  In 2021 she was appointed as a member of the Queensland Government's Innovation Advisory Council which works closely with Queensland's current Chief Entrepreneur, Wayne Gerard,  She also works with members of the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport to deliver Queensland Connects, a regional ecosystem leadership program.

As an academic, Rowena is widely recognized as an expert in managing people in smaller and entrepreneurial firms.  Through her research and in the supervison of higher degree by research students, Rowena has sought to unlock understandings of effective individual, organisational and managerial practice through impactful engagements in collaboration with industry and government.  She has a sizeable research portfolio and her work has been published widely in a range of different formats and media as she seeks to engage with diverse audiences.  She is a strong advocate for doing things differently and for academic knowledge to be shared widely.  Rowena is ambitious about collaboratively engendering knowledge, skills, innovation and entrepreneurship for the benefit of the University, our students and the wider community.