Rasheed - Entrepreneurial Potential in Youth, Children & Adolescents
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Developing Entrepreneurial Potential in Youth: The Effects of Entrepreneurial
Education and Venture Creation
By
Howard S. Rasheed, Ph.D.
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave. BSN 3403
Tampa, FL 33617
813-974-1727
hrasheed@coba.usf.edu
12/20/00 12:11 PM
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ABSTRACT
Identifying and nurturing entrepreneurial potential among youth can have long-term
implications for American economic development.
Prior research has not addressed
whether educational intervention and new venture creation will affect the development
of entrepreneurial talent prior to the collegiate level. This research concludes that
entrepreneurship education and experience can affect psychological attributes
commonly associated with entrepreneurs. Secondary students with entrepreneurship
training have higher achievement motivation, more personal control, and greater self-
esteem; and students who initiate a business venture have higher achievement
motivation, more personal control, greater self-esteem and more creativity.
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Developing Entrepreneurial Potential in Youth: The Effects of Entrepreneurial
Education and Venture Creation
The development of entrepreneurial talent is important to sustaining a
competitive advantage in a global economy that is catalyzed by innovation. The role of
quality entrepreneurship education and training in identifying and nurturing this
entrepreneurial potential among youth is becoming apparent to students, policy
makers, and educators. According to a recent Gallup poll of American high school
students (as cited in Kourilsky, 1999), 85% reported they knew little about business;
80% of high school students think that more entrepreneurship should be taught while
68% indicated a desire to learn more about entrepreneurship. The recent introduction
of the Future Entrepreneurs of America Act by Congress provides further evidence of
the need for children and family economic empowerment and self-employment as a
viable career option for young people.
Research has theorized that the supply of entrepreneurs can be increased by
developing a positive perception about the feasibility and desirability of
entrepreneurship through educational preparation at an early age (Kourilsky, 1995).
Entrepreneurial education rooted in solid learning theory will develop entrepreneurs
by increasing business knowledge, and promoting psychological attributes
associated with entrepreneurs such as self confidence, self esteem, and self-efficacy
(Kruegar & Brazeal, 1994; Kourilsky & Walstad, 1998; Walstad & Kourilsky, 1999).
There are two basic streams of literature related to the effects of
entrepreneurship education and venture creation on the cognitive and psychological
development of youth.
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First there is a well establish body of research on the effects of traditional education
intervention on psychological attributes of youth (Bandura, 1989). There is also
empirical evidence related to entrepreneurial education as an intervention tool for
impacting adult attitudes
toward
entrepreneurship (Ede, Panigrahi, & Calcich, 1998;
Hansemark, 1998; Hatten & Ruhland, 1995) and on youth awareness and attitudes
about the social and economic desirability of entrepreneurship as a career option
(Kourilsky & Walstad, 1998; Walstad & Kourilsky, 1999). Although research has
strongly supported psychological attributes, not perceptions and awareness, as the
theoretical the cornerstone for predicting adult entrepreneurial behavior and potential
(Wayne, Watson, Carland, & Carland, 1998), there has been limited empirical
evidence to support the application of this theory to entrepreneurial education
intervention among youth. The current study, therefore, investigates whether
entrepreneurial training and new venture creation by youth affect psychological traits
or attributes commonly associated with entrepreneurial potential. It is expected that if
students can improve their motivation to achieve, personal control, self-esteem, and
creativity they are more likely to avoid self-destructive behavior patterns such as teen-
age pregnancy, drug-abuse, violence, and gang participation. Youth may also
become more economically empowered through awareness of self-employment as a
career option. The results of this study should provide important information to
facilitate stakeholders’ decisions to allocate resources to youth development.
Literature Review
Entrepreneurship Development
Prior research suggests that identifying and nurturing potential entrepreneurs
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throughout the education process could produce many long-term economic benefits.
A venture support system based on entrepreneurship education designed to
stimulate and facilitate entrepreneurial activities, could result in a lower
unemployment rate, increased establishment of new companies, and fewer failures
of existing businesses (Hatten & Ruhland, 1995; Ronstadt, 1985; & Hansemark,
1998). Entrepreneurship education can be an important component of economic
strategies for fostering job creation (McMullan & Long, 1987). Vesper (1990) found
that university entrepreneurship educators facilitate the entrepreneurial process by
creating awareness; however not much has been written on the pre-collegiate level.
Gasse (1985) recommended that entrepreneurial potential should be identified
and evaluated at the secondary school level, during the developmental stage when
the possibility of self-employment as a career option is still open. However, Chamard
(1989) concluded that the formal education system is not particularly supportive of
entrepreneurship and possibly suppresses the more important entrepreneurial
characteristics. In fact, Kourilsky (1990) found that 25% of kindergartners
demonstrate important entrepreneurial characteristics (need for achievement and risk
taking) compared to 3% of high school students. Singh (1990) also suggested that
traditional education actually inhibits entrepreneurship and the school systems need
to be reoriented to emphasize and value entrepreneurship in order to cultivate an
enterprise culture.
Entrepreneurship Education
Prior research suggests that entrepreneurial education based on solid
learning theory will develop entrepreneurs by increasing business knowledge, and
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