While an increased focus on social entrepreneurs, social enterprises and the wider social economy has seen a parallel increase in academic literature on the topic, as of yet, there is not a single widely accepted definition of what constitutes a social enterprise and how it relates to the concept of the social economy (Forfás, 2013; Hulgard, 2010; Communities Scotland, 2006; Communities Scotland, 2007). Existing academic literature has examined how social entrepreneurs and those working in social enterprises use shared meanings and a sense of shared identity to make sense of social enterprise and the social economy (Phillips, Lee, Ghobadian, O’Regan, & James, 2014; Seanor & Meaton, 2007) but the literature has yet to progress to a single definition (Forfás, 2013; Borzaga & Tortia, 2007). The research question posed is: “What influences the respondents’ understanding of what a social entrepreneur is?” The objective of this research is to understand how certain different but interrelated variables such as background, motivation, employment status and sector, political beliefs, social support and educational interventions can lead to an explanation of changes in respondents’ attitudes towards the potential role of social enterprises and the social economy and to an understanding of the defining characteristics of these attitudes in the university environment. This research topic is important to investigate because many social entrepreneurs fail to understand the constructs of a social enterprise at the start of their venture, resulting in a lack of strategic clarity which is especially problematic among interactions with key stakeholders (Rykaszewski, Ma, & Shen, 2014). The research strategy being employed for this project is a multi-phased approach. The objective is to utilise a quantitative approach, with the respondent group being the participants of a level 9 Graduate Certificate in Innovation in Social Enterprise. The participants will complete a questionnaire on their understanding of social enterprise at the start of the programme (early in 2015). Further questionnaires will be completed by the respondents during the programme, which completes its main delivery in early June 2015. In terms of findings of this research, the authors hope to gain further understanding of what helps determine the respondents’ understanding of social enterprise and social entrepreneurs.