Chad Moutray of the SBA Office of Advocacy posted a Linked-in survey on his recently released paper that examines education and self-employment.
Most of the responses suggest that while classes offer a certain set of important knowledge, what is learned outside of the classroom is what matters most.
Amen!
While I am proud of our Entrepreneurship classes here at Belmont, the experiential opportunities that we offer outside the classroom (for example, our hatchery program for our practicing entrepreneurs and our campus-based businesses) makes at least as big of a contribution in preparing our students to be entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship is best learned through experience. To make that experience more powerful, it needs to become a part of the education process.
Chad reflects on this discussion at his blog:
The lesson for those of us who advocate small business ownership is not that formal education is useless (although some respondents did suggest that). It is clear that collegiate education serves a vital role, especially in terms of providing communication, team-building, and basic managerial skills. Yet, a bachelor’s degree only takes you so far. That is true for those who seek self-employment and also for those who choose to work for someone else. After passing the hurdle of an earned degree, the rest is up to the individual. Successful entrepreneurs are those which can translate the lessons of others into new and exciting opportunities for themselves.
My only argument is that these aspiring entrepreneurs should not wait until their formal education is finished to translate their passion into creating new businesses. Don’t think of it as a sequential process — first the education, then pursue opportunity. By integrating experience into education the entrepreneurs become even better prepared for a long and successful career.