Educators Need to Get Serious About Entrepreneurialism. — Now.
By: Andy Sheppard
Tags: Education Reform, Business Literacy, Business, Entrepreneurialism

As the pandemic has placed millions of Americans out of work, too many people — with an abundance of time on their hands — lack the basic knowledge and skills to start their own business ventures. Before these times, academicians should have been working harder to cultivate business literacy skills among their students. Now, the need is more critical than ever.

A cup of coffee and a laptop are ready to fuel great business ideas.

A recent Forbes article reports that a majority of Generation Z are inclined towards becoming entrepreneurs (Forbes, 2020.) But, are today’s educators up to equipping these learners with the skills necessary to be successful?

“Yes and No” — arguably more “No.”

Yes, certainly most colleges and universities have business programs that provide an academic path which help students develop knowledge and skills and will prepare the “business major” for entry into the business world. But what about the majority of students that don’t follow these degree pathways? We would be foolish to think that the current period of economic hardship is the only time when the job market will dramatically shrink. Let’s learn from this experience.

“But I don’t teach business,” I can hear my colleagues mutter to themselves. To which I respond, “Do you teach critical thinking?” Most heads would nod yes. To this, I argue that entrepreneurialism is one of the best lenses to foster critical thinking. The American Association of Colleges and Universities describes critical thinking as the “ … comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas and artifacts before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.” (AACU Guidelines, 2020.)

The consideration of a new business venture requires this deep exploration of issues and ideas, and business endeavors require serious contemplation before formulating a plan of action. Simply put, entrepreneurialism is applied critical thinking. If you buy into this idea, here are a few steps to help you prepare for and embrace teaching entrepreneurialism.

1. Become a Student of Entrepreneurialism

The best educators are those that continue to view themselves as students.

A vast repository of resources is at our fingertips. One good starting point might be Rice University’s OpenStax free open source textbook “Entrepreneurship.” Develop a basic shared vocabulary. Then, find stories of both successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs. As educators, we know there is a lot to learn from failure.

2. Invite Entrepreneurs into your (virtual) Classrooms

A recording studio provides a venue for connecting with a guest presenter.

Okay, you don’t need a fancy studio like the image above. The increase use of virtual tools (e.g., Zoom) provide us with more opportunities to connect students with business owners. You may be surprised to learn how many business women and men would be eager to share their experiences with your students.

3. Strive to Connect Your Discipline with Entrepreneurialism

A student pitches a software program to a prospective investor.

Certainly, some academic disciplines are more challenged than others. But, a little creative thinking can go far. Teaching a writing composition class? Ask students to write about the personal attributes a successful entrepreneur would need. Teaching an astronomy class? Offer students extra credit to generate novel ideas on how to capitalize on space-related businesses. Teaching a history class? Highlight which businesses were able to endure over time and which ones were not successful.

While colleges and universities have a responsibility to ensure our students can meet the needs of today’s workforce, let’s reflect on the millions of people without work, and commit ourselves to providing our students with more than one pathway to be successful.