Students service learning experiencies in Mexican Microenterprises

Abstract

[EN] This paper presents an experience of a service learning program in underprivileged Microenterprises. It shares the experience of Program for Research, Assistance and Teaching of Small Enterprises, an innovative model of assistance to deliver Business Development Services to low value added Microenterprises, including technical assistance and training with the participation of senior students, which act as advisers to the Microenterprises, implemented in the State of Baja California, Mexico, by The Autonomous University of Baja California. This program was propused as compensatory mechanism for the unemployment burden created by the low growth prospects. From 2009 to 2016, with about 1,500 students, the program has assisted, trained, and formalized in the tax institution about 11,300 individuals running microenterprises, which in addition, most of them have become subject to and has been given financial support by the goverment. The paper suggests that service learning programs with the participation of college students can play an important role both in supporting disadvantaged microenterprises and in providing meaningful learning experiences to students.