Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

A new study by Babson College reveals that students who take two or more entrepreneurship courses are more likely to become actual entrepreneurs.

The study, which surveyed the careers of 3,755 Babson College alumni who graduated between 1985 and 2009, concluded that one course in entrepreneurship didn't have as strong an influence on students, probably because those students realized after completing the course that they didn't want to be entrepreneurs.

Writing a student business plan had a "significant influence" on alumni starting businesses, though not as strong as the influence of taking two more core courses.

The study also revealed that having entrepreneurial parents had little to no effect on the intentions of the students who pursued entrepreneurship.

There was no difference between undergrad and MBA students when it came to intending to or actually becoming an entrepreneur. Full-time students were more likely to intend to become entrepreneurs, but were not more likely than part-time students to actually start businesses.

Despite their intentions, alumni reported giving up their dreams of entrepreneurship for several reasons, including increasing familial commitments, the financial risk of losing a salaried job and the increase in their corporate salaries. Meanwhile, males and those dissatisfied with their job were more likely to follow through on their entrepreneurial intentions.

"We think that entrepreneurship should be taught not only for the production and training of entrepreneurs but also to help students decide if they have the right stuff to be entrepreneurs before they embark on careers for which they may be ill-suited," wrote the researchers involved.

The researchers added, "At a more abstract level, we believe that entrepreneurship should be taught to every business student because it is the very origin of all businesses."