Social Entrepreneurship Education: Is it Achieving the Desired Aims?

Abstract

This study’s purpose was to uncover the challenges and best practices in the field of social entrepreneurship. We examined definitions of social entrepreneurship; the most widely used cases, articles and textbooks; and the most popular pedagogical approaches in 107 social entrepreneurship courses. Our findings suggest that faculty have done an excellent job of utilizing powerful pedagogical methods like service learning. In addition, the majority of courses covered innovation (61%), acquiring limited resources (81%), measuring social impact (62%), and building sustainable business models (58%) as core elements of social entrepreneurial activity, The greatest challenge involved teaching students about scaling social innovations. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The term social entrepreneurship was first coined in the 1980’s by Bill Drayton, founder of ASHOKA. Since then, social entrepreneurship has gained attention as a significant field that shows how critical societal issues can be addressed through the innovation, persistence, and sustainable results associated with entrepreneurship. Academia is contributing to this movement by introducing students to unique business models that make a positive contribution for the public good. World renowned universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley were the first to offer courses in social entrepreneurship in the 1990s. Europe quickly followed suit. Since then, there has been an explosion of courses in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, there are growing number of majors and minors in the field. The intent of this research is to elucidate ways that faculty can help students “be the change you wish to see in the world” by uncovering the challenges and best practices in the field of social entrepreneurship. We focused on the stated and working definition of social entrepreneurship that faculty use in their course designs; the most widely used cases, articles and textbooks in the field; and the influence of service learning and experiential learning in designing courses. Our research analyzed 107 social entrepreneurship syllabi in the U.S. and abroad. While we do not presuppose that this is an exhaustive list, it is the greatest number of courses analyzed to date. Our preliminary findings suggest that faculty have done at excellent job of utilizing powerful pedagogical methods like service learning to advance social entrepreneurship education. Well over half the faculty address innovation and innovative ideas, obtaining resources for social entrepreneurship ventures, building a sustainable business model, and outcomes measurements.