AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

Without context, it is difficult to come to a single conclusion regarding the question asked. This essay will answer the question of ‘Do you think it is possible for entrepreneurship to be taught?’ using the following assumptions: (1) Entrepreneurship is referred to as a concept that speaks about “planning and starting a business, taking advantage of a business opportunity, assuming the risks of business venture, and providing some kind of innovation” (Entrepreneurship, n.d., para. 1) and (2) to be taught means that information is imparted from one person to another (Teach, n.d.). It uses the idea of Jamieson’s (2009) three-category framework to organise entrepreneurship education and applies it to entrepreneurship instead of enterprise. (Jamieson as cited by Henry, Hill & Leitch, 2005) Thus, covering three aspects of teaching entrepreneurship: teaching for entrepreneurship, teaching in entrepreneurship, and teaching about entrepreneurship, in order to demonstrate that it is possible for entrepreneurship to be taught.

Teaching for entrepreneurship as adapted from Jamieson’s (2009) ‘education for enterprise’ “deals with the preparation of aspiring entrepreneurs for a career in self-employment with the specific objective of encouraging participants to set up and run their own business.” (Jamieson as cited by Henry, Hill, & Leitch, 2005, p.102) A journal article from 1987 showed that 70 out of 76 business schools (96%) that responded to an American study had “some type of entrepreneurial/small business education, research, and/or service” (Zeithaml and Rice, 1987, p.45) which infers that entrepreneurship has been part of the education system for more than 25 years. Another journal article reinforces this by stating that “the first entrepreneurship course in the United States ... [was] held in February 1947” by Myles Mace. (Katz, 2003, p.283) This further proves the length of time by which entrepreneurial education has been taught. This also shows that it has a place in the world of academics. These entrepreneurship programs promote and stimulate entrepreneurial characteristics such as goal orientation, leadership, risk-taking, and innovation (McClelland as cited by Bull & Willard, 1993) in order to set aspiring entrepreneurs on track. Then, follows the question of the effectiveness of these programs. A study based on findings using the University of Arizona’s Berger Entrepreneurship Program proves that it is. The following are four of the key findings on entrepreneurship education: (1) “graduates of the program are three times more likely to be involved in the creation of a business venture,” (2) “it increased the probability of an individual being instrumentally involved in a new business venture by 25 per cent … and of developing new technological products by almost nine per cent” (3) “entrepreneurship students were 11 per cent more likely than were non-entrepreneurship students to own their businesses after graduation,” and (4) “emerging companies that were owned by or employed entrepreneurship graduates had [on average] greater than five times the sales and employment growth than those that employed non-entrepreneurship graduates.” (Charney & Libecap, 2000, p. 2-4) The paper compared University of Arizona graduates who were involved in the program and those who were not. The promising results show effects on risk-taking, innovation, and arguably leadership and goal orientation in either the graduate’s business ventures or employment. This not only supports the view that entrepreneurship can be taught, but also shows that it is being taught effectively.

Teaching in entrepreneurship as adapted from Jamieson’s (2009) ‘education in enterprise’ “deals more with management training for established entrepreneurs and focuses on ensuring the growth and future development of the business”. (Jamieson as cited by Henry, Hill, & Leitch, 2005, p.102) This type of entrepreneurship education covers the part of entrepreneurship after “assuming the risk of a business venture” (Entrepreneurship, n.d., para 1). There is a long-standing argument that entrepreneurs are born with a special character trait which cannot be taught (Mwasalwiba, 2010). Assuming this is true, that entrepreneurs are born with advantageous characteristics as mentioned beforehand such as goal-oriented, leader, risk-taker, and innovator, they still have to be taught. The term ‘teach’ as defined in dictionary.com means to impart knowledge to someone. (Teach, n.d.) This knowledge does not specifically have to be taught in a formal manner as in a degree in a university or any business school. For example, entrepreneurs can learn from other entrepreneurs in seminars, conferences, and even in social gatherings. They can also learn through previous employments and being involved in training programs, and with the internet and social media, information is easily transferred from one person to another and therefore, learned. In order to successfully set up and run a business, the entrepreneur has to be prepared. More information will have to be learned such as when new government regulations are passed. He or she also has to be informed about the market position and competitors, for example, to be able to take calculated risks and effectively manage the business. It can also be argued that as with everyone, entrepreneurs never stop learning. Even as entrepreneurs that have already established businesses, they can learn from their employees and/or partners in order to develop the current business or to possibly pursue another business venture in the future. Entrepreneurship does not stop once the business is established. “It also includes instruction in traditional business disciplines such as management, marketing, information systems and finance” (Jones & English, 2004, p.416) which means that the entrepreneur will have to learn in order to progress. Thus, for entrepreneurship, it is not enough to only have that special entrepreneurial character trait. Teaching is still involved.

Teaching about entrepreneurship as adapted from Jamieson’s (2009) ‘education about enterprise’ “deals mostly with awareness creation, and has the specific objective educating students on the various aspects of setting up and running a business mostly from a theoretical perspective”.  (Jamieson as cited by Henry, Hill, & Leitch, 2005, p.102)  With over 1000 business schools in the world (“Business schools,” n.d.), entrepreneurship is taught worldwide. Not only can there be education for entrepreneurship and in entrepreneurship, but also about entrepreneurship. The definition for the term ‘teach’, as was mentioned, is to impart knowledge. Thus, it is possible to teach, and there are many teachings about entrepreneurship. In fact, Fiet (2000) made the observation that in his data of 18 different entrepreneurship courses, there was a total of 116 different topics. (Mwasalwiba, 2010, p.29) The fact that there is no single definition for the term, and being confused with other terms due to a lack of consensus among countries, means that there is no lack in variety in teachings about entrepreneurship as it is a very broad topic. Going back to the above assumption that entrepreneurs have inborn traits that separate them from the average person, it can be inferred that there are many people without these characteristics. Taking an average person with no entrepreneurial traits and no interest in entrepreneurship, and testing his or her entrepreneurial skills (goal orientation, leadership, risk-taking, and innovation) would likely result in a failure. If he or she were to undergo an entrepreneurship course with the outcome of not having any shifts in interest, the success in teaching about entrepreneurship will still lie in the teaching of the concept. The effect on the student is irrelevant in terms of plainly relaying information about entrepreneurship. However, teaching about entrepreneurship is an essential aspect and needs to continue in order to inspire, motivate and inform aspiring entrepreneurs, and therefore, despite not having any effect on the success of teaching, teaching about entrepreneurship should still be minded. Through the conveying of information from one person to another, regardless of the effect, entrepreneurship is taught and can therefore be taught.

A review of 205 entrepreneurship programmes by Kirby (2004) found that they have three main focuses: (1) “programmes that are for giving an orientation and awareness about entrepreneurship;” (2) “programmes that develop competences for new enterprise formation, self-employment, or economic self-sufficiency;” and (3) “programmes that focus on small business survival and growth.” (Mwasalwiba, 2010, p.28) This supports that teaching for entrepreneurship, teaching in entrepreneurship, and teaching about entrepreneurship all exist and are predominantly taught in order to produce more able entrepreneurs, instruct established entrepreneurs, and inspire aspiring entrepreneurs. This confirms the claim that it is possible for entrepreneurship to be taught.

References

Bull, I. & Willard, G.E. (1993). Towards a theory of entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 8, 183-195.

Business school and university ranking worldwide (n.d.). Eduniversal-ranking.com (Unabridged). Retrieved August 25, 2016, from http://www.eduniversal-ranking.com/

Charney, A. & Libecap, G.D. (2000). The impact of entrepreneurship education: an evaluation of the Berger Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Arizona, 1985-1999. Retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Impact-of-Entrepreneurship-Education-a-Kauffman-Charney-Libecap/9aabf983f1192c7812d191656157e84742b4cb93/pdf

Entrepreneurship (n.d.). Referenceforbusiness.com (Unabridged). Retrieved August 25, 2016, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Ent-Fac/Entrepreneurship.html

Henry, C., Hill, F., & Leitch, C. (2005). Entrepreneurship education and training: can entrepreneurship be taught? Part I. Education + Training, Vol. 47(2) pp. 98 – 111. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400910510586524

Jones, C., & English, J. (2004). A contemporary approach to entrepreneurship education. Education + Training, Vol. 46(8/9) pp. 416 – 423 Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400910410569533

Katz, J. (2003). The chronology and intellectual trajectory of American entrepreneurship education: 1876–1999. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(2), 283-300. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(02)00098-8

Mwasalwiba, E.S. (2010). Entrepreneurship education: a review of its objectives, teaching methods, and impact indicators. Education + Training, 52(1) pp. 20 - 47 Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400911011017663

Teach (n.d.). Dictionary.com (Unabridged). Retrieved August 25, 2016 from: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/teach

Zeithaml, C. P., & Rice, G.H., Jr., (1987). Entrepreneurship/Small business education in american universities. Journal of Small Business Management, 25(1), 44-50. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/220955634?accountid=8424