The Entrepreneur in Youth: An Untapped Resource for Economic Growth, Social Entrepreneurship, and Education

The central thesis of the text is that there is an entrepreneur in youth who, given a nurturing and stimulating education, can contribute to economic growth, community development, youth empowerment, individual well‐being and social mobility, regardless of whether the individual ever launches an enterprise. This longitudinal study is one of the most comprehensive assessments of the entrepreneurial aspirations of youth ever undertaken, and considers the views of hundreds of school students, members of the general public, and business owners. This topical and stimulating study by Kourilsky and Walstad, whilst focussing on high school students in the USA, does support the actions of public policy makers and education providers in the UK[1], and the findings of other studies on youth entrepreneurship (Williams, 2004; Greene, 2005; Crompton et al., 2008).

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to entrepreneurial spirit in the context of business ownership and beyond. The authors argue that whilst their focus is new business formation, this entrepreneurial spirit is present when an engineer develops a new technique or a political activist induces a change in the law in response to challenges and opportunities they see and experience. In short, the authors view entrepreneurial spirit as a vital ingredient in the achievements of every person who succeeds beyond his or her original means. Chapters 2 explores the likelihood of high school students starting up in business, the challenges they face, and the preparedness of the student to start‐up in business after leaving school. Chapter 3 discusses community or social goals that students want to achieve through the launch of their for‐profit or not‐for‐profit enterprises and how these might be in conflict with the business goals, concluding that for many high school students these duel aspirations are not in conflict. Chapter 4 discusses how low levels of achievement and confidence of school students can be a major obstacle on the ability of students to act on entrepreneurial aspirations. Chapter 5 presents data on school students' views on the role of Government intervention in the processes that define competitive markets. Chapter 6 looks at the increasing demand for entrepreneurship education from students. Chapter 7 compares the 2002 survey findings with a survey conducted in 1994. Chapter 8 gives a broader interpretation and explanation of the findings, and proposes that advancing entrepreneurship education offers a particular benefit to students from low‐income communities.

What the study discovers is that there is an extraordinary high level of interest in entrepreneurship amongst school students from all backgrounds, which was evident in both the 1994 and 2002 surveys. In the 2002 survey over 65 per cent of school students stated that they would prefer to work for themselves. This was higher in African American (75 per cent) and Hispanic (70 per cent) students. The primary motive in all groups was economic autonomy through ownership, though this “Make the Job” approach was viewed as the only option for breaking the poverty cycle for many from socially excluded or disadvantaged groups (immigrants, minorities, rural areas, inner‐city neighbourhoods, and low‐income families). What the researchers found most surprising was the emergence of what they call “Generation E”, individuals who want to start enterprises that in some way support their communities, whether they be for‐profit or not‐for‐profit. Indeed, two‐thirds of high school students stated that they were interested in starting not‐for‐profit enterprises. This interest in not‐for‐profit enterprises was strongest in female, African American and Hispanic groups. The text concludes that society must develop a curriculum in high schools that better reflects the entrepreneurial aspirations of today's youth and the needs of the wider economy. They argue that more entrepreneurship education will lead to more opportunities for American high school students, especially those from minority groups.

This study is in line with the views of the Kaufman Foundation in the USA. The Foundation considers youth as entrepreneurial torch bearers, arguing that they need to get early exposure to the risks, rewards and critical thinking skills they need to succeed when following their entrepreneurial dreams. The argument is that educational institutions need to find new ways to connect with this next generation of entrepreneurs (Kauffman Foundation, 2008), and this is similar to findings in the Davies Report (Davies, 2002), which concluded that it was essential to develop in UK school students an enterprising capability and a confidence, both in employment and self‐employment, to exploit opportunities. More recently, researchers within the Centre for Enterprise and Manchester Metropolitan University undertook a review of enterprise for young people in Manchester and Salford and found that enterprise in youth is pivotal to economic and social wellbeing of the region, and that the enterprise journey needs to start as early as primary school, so that the youth can become more able to take advantage of enterprising opportunities and satisfy their entrepreneurial aspirations (Crompton et al., 2008).

This readable and modestly priced text will appeal to academics researching and teaching entrepreneurship, policy makers, and students studying entrepreneurship at all levels in higher education, especially those studying final year specialist electives or at Master's level. The real strengths of this study are that it places social entrepreneurship at the centre of entrepreneurial teaching alongside for‐profit start‐ups (Cabinet Office, 2007), helps legitimise the centrality of entrepreneurial teaching within the broader curriculum, recognises that the entrepreneurial spirit benefits every student and not just those interested in new venture creation, and highlights the importance of an entrepreneurship education for socially excluded or disadvantaged groups (Taylor et al., 2004). This text forms part of a wave of change in education, as the teaching of entrepreneurship becomes a catalyst to increase attendance, retention, motivation and performance levels, to widen participation, and to improve employment prospects.