Education matters – but does entrepreneurship education? An interview with David Birch

“…entrepreneurship guru David Birch, in a recent interview, advocates strongly for the increased use of mastery experiences in encouraging entrepreneurship, especially lengthy and meaningful apprenticeships, and argues that most entrepreneurship programs fall short in this area (Aronsson, 2004).”

“While the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education has been questioned in theoretical literature (Aronsson, 2004; Fiet, 2000; Weaver et al., 2006), a recent meta-analysis of 42 independent samples (N 5 16,657) revealed that entrepreneurship education is useful, reporting an average effect size…”

“Even business schools, according to David Birch in a 2004 Academy of Management interview (Aronsson 2004), teach the “exact opposite of entrepreneurship—how to work for somebody else.”

“grammes are ill suited to provide the broad-based and practice-oriented training required to teach entrepreneurial skills (Aronsson, 2004; DeTienne and Chandler, 2004; Garavan and O'Cinneide, 1994).”

“The growing importance of entrepreneurship education has been noted (Aronsson, 2004; Smith, 2003), and research looks at faculty issues in the arena (e.”

“Also, the programme is more of an apprenticeship and less in the classroom, which is suggested by Aronsson and Birch (2004) as the best way to educate students to become entrepreneurs.”

“Whether entrepreneurship can be taught at universities is an area of ongoing debate (e.g., Aronsson, 2004; Gendron, 2004).”

“With respect to the cognitive nature of entrepreneurship research, as Shepherd suggests (2015) and in line with previous studies (Aronsson, 2004; Souitaris et al., 2007), future research on how role models a ff ect individuals' entrepreneurial mindsets would be valuable.”

“Blenker et al. (2008) dispute that the present educational system is capable of developing students’ motivation, competences and skills concerning entrepreneurship.”

“Role models may be proximal individuals, but also celebrities, fictional characters or historical figures, as social comparison does not require personal contact but rather identification and motivation to become “like the other” (Aronsson, 2004; Steyaert and Bouwen, 1997; Wilson et al., 2007; Wood and VanderZee, 1997…”

“As an example, certain researchers have argued against the educational development of entrepreneurs, because they believe it inhibits the creative and challenging nature of entrepreneurship (Aronsson 2004).”

“1 Scholars have intensively debated whether entrepreneurship can be formally taught and learned (Gorman, Hanlon, and King 1997; Aronsson 2004; Gendron 2004).”

“The contribution of active/hands-on activities to the development of entrepreneurial efficacy (i.e., skillset) in the students is supported by arguments on the impact of experiential learning in entrepreneurship education (e.g., Gibb, 1987; Chen et al., 1998; Aronsson, 2004; Fuchs et al., 2008).”

“To many scholars, entrepreneurship is something to be learned, while to others it is a heritage of their forefathers (Aronsson and Birch, 2004).”

“At the same time, the introduction of innovative methods to develop skills and experience including the use of longterm apprenticeships has been strongly encouraged (Aronsson 2004).”

“Some research explores the role of education/training (e.g., Aronsson, 2004; Bennett, 2006; Smith, 2003), and some explores regional entrepreneurship issues (e.g., Davidsson & Wiklund, 1997).”

“The exposure of students in class to specific role models like successful entrepreneurs (Aronsson, 2004; Souitaris et al., 2007; McCarver et al., 2010) 2.”

“…education as a legitimately distinct profession, and takes a historical perspective on the development of the field to identify the needs and challenges that entrepreneurship education should address (Kuratko, 2005; Gibb, 2002; Solomon, Duffy, & Tarabishy, 2002; Katz, 2003; Aronsson, 2004a).”

“First and foremost, the findings of this study offer empirical evidence concerning ongoing disputes regarding the teachability of entrepreneurship (Aronsson, 2004; Gendron, 2004; Henry et al., 2005).”

“Still, the question remains concerning how such offerings can motivate and train students for entrepreneurial careers? Previous research is inconclusive about whether entrepreneurship can be taught and learned in universities (Aronsson 2004).”

“Such programs are important way of acquiring entrepreneurial skills and competencies (Aronsson, 2004; Greene, Katz & Johannisson, 2004).”

“The classic question about the design and ownership of the program is whether EE belongs in business schools, or if the business school is the “wrong building” (Hindle 2007) because business schools generally teach how to work in someone else’s business (Aronsson 2004; Rideout Gray 2013).”

“The argument for real commercialization projects is that much of the knowledge needed for success in entrepreneurship, in general, and technology development, in particular, is tacit, and therefore, difficult to learn without “doing” (Polyani, 1967; Aronsson, 2004; Honig, 2004).”

“In other words, as David Birch declared in an interview (Aronsson, 2004), the role of entrepreneurship education is to stress the social and economic role and importance of entrepreneurship, as well as to make the public and political leaders aware of it in order to generate a favorable environment.”

“A study by Hill et al. (2003) states that 72% of MBA graduates they surveyed in the USA and the Northern Ireland, had developed new entrepreneurial skills through completing an entrepreneurial programme.”

“Collaborating in a real-life opportunity certainly offers more possibilities for understanding the multi-dimensional aspects and contingency of the business creation process (Aronsson, 2004).”

“Entrepreneurship education (EE) has emerged since the 1980s as one of the key economic agendas for most nations aspiring for a transformation from job-seekers to job creators and balanced citizens with entrepreneurial mindset (Aronsson, 2004; Crawford, 2019; MEB, 2015; NEP, 2019).”

“In addition, learning from direct experience in practice-focussed training (e.g. through apprenticeship and tutoring; Aronsson, 2004) could also include discussions of students’ aspirations, as negative effects of biased decision making emerge in practice (e.g. entering hostile, highly competitive…”

“…prior or episodic knowledge (Shane, 2001), alertness (Kirzner, 1973, 1997), related past experience (Shane, 2000), information acquisition (Glazer, 1991), skill-based education (Aronsson, 2004), personality type (Gaglio and Katz, 2001) and entrepreneurial orientation (Lumpkin and Dess, 1996).”

“The teaching of entrepreneurship as an academic subject, as opposed to an apprenticeship route, is the subject of ongoing debate (Ronstadt, 1990; Spots, 2004).”

“We aim to address context in a fine-grained and yet universal manner, from which even the long-held scepticism of David Birch (Aronsson, 2004) can be overcome.”

“Entrepreneurship education should aim to offer opportunities for learners to gain entrepreneurship experience via a more experiential approach (Aronsson, 2004; Cheung & Au, 2010; Fuchs et al., 2008; Gendron, 2004; Honig, 2004; Izquierdo, 2008; Kuratko, 2005; Pihie & Bagheri, 2010; Solomon et al., 2002).”

“…orienta entre el emprendimiento y la empresa, en la transición de la creación del emprendimiento o innovación hasta el establecimiento de la nueva empresa (Aronsson, 2004; Acs y Audretsch, 2010; Klepper, 2010), lo que también coincide con la transición entre la etapa de exploración y explotación.”

“Faculty with no entrepreneurial experience may find it difficult to make the connection between their theoretical knowledge and students’ businesses (Aronsson, 2004), potentially reducing the student entrepreneur’s interest in the subject.”

“Indeed, for several years now, entrepreneurship scholars in increasing numbers have been challenging, or at least highlighting, the substantial quantity of limitations of this ‘teaching by business plan’ approach (Aronsson, 2004; Daly, 2001; Fayolle, 2000; Honig, 2004; Lave and Wenger, 1991; Pittaway and Cope, 2007a,…”

“…agree that any entrepreneurship training must focus on developing three essential skills: (1) negotiation and selling; (2) leadership and human resource management; and (3) creative thinking and its translation into innovative products and services (Aronsson, 2004; Gorman, Hanlon, & King, 1997).”

“Aronsson (2004) made this disconnect more explicit, ‘Quite a few business schools teach exactly the opposite of entrepreneurship’ (p. 290).”

“As a result,“a change in curriculum is needed” (Aronsson, 2004:290).”

“Another perspective on the issues of entrepreneurship and education is revealed in Aronsson’s interview with educator and entrepreneur David Birch (Aronsson 2004).”

“The execution of new venture development responds to concerns raised by entrepreneurs and educators in entrepreneurship that experiential learning, mentorship, and successful entrepreneurs as instructors are necessary ingredients for the transfer of knowledge to course participants (Aronsson, 2004; Edelman, Manlova, a…”

“Aronsson (2004) and Garavan and O’Cinneide (1994) point out that educational programmes that are highly specialized in a single technical domain or a specific profession are not well suited to the broad-based and practice-oriented training required to teach entrepreneurial skills.”

“This assumption has earlier sparked strong discussions among academics and business practitioners whether entrepreneurship or small business skills can be learned (Aronsson & Birch, 2004; Fayolle & Gailly, 2013).”

“David Birch brings forward this more fundamental issue in his interview in AMLE when he questions whether we should have entrepreneurship education within universities (Aronson, 2004).”

“Practicums or internships that are directly related to the program’s courses (Gendron and Greene 2004) and which allow students the opportunity to gain tacit knowledge, and learn how to apply explicit knowledge (Aronsson 2004; Gilbert 2010) are also valuable.”

“The foundational premise in EE challenges the notion that entrepreneurs are born and that entrepreneurialism as a personality and behavioural trait is cognitive pre-programming attributable to one’s heredity (Arora & Jain, 2019; Rigg & O’Dwyer, 2012; Aronsson, 2004).”

“Birch said that if you want to teach people to be entrepreneurs, you can’t.To them, entrepreneurship, like leadership, is a function of some invisible personality attributes (in Aronsson 2004).”