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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania — The 2022 Pennsylvania State Entrepreneurship Educator Conference on November 4 brought 75 faculty, staff, and other collaborators to State College’s recently opened Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub. rice field.
Now in its 10th year, the annual conference is organized by the Center for Penn State Student Entrepreneurship at Penn State University. It is a collaborative effort by educators from many of Penn State University’s colleges, campuses, and programs that focus on entrepreneurship from an academic perspective.
Over five sessions, educators, faculty, and staff involved in entrepreneurship efforts at Pennsylvania State University will discuss participation data, racial equality in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, student engagement, recruitment, and innovation competitions. We discussed program research.
evil problem
LaTanya White is the founder and CEO of Concept Creative Group. Concept Creative Group is a technology assistance firm focused on business development and capacity building for black entrepreneurs. White also created the trademarked Dynastic Wealth, which extends the idea of not just monetary wealth, but the transfer of wealth to future generations.
White explored some of the socially prevalent and systematically apparent social problems, also known as “evil problems”. These problems are complex to solve and do not have a single answer.
First-generation students and underrepresented groups of students struggle to access entrepreneurship programs at university colleges, she said. Even when these students arrive on campus, they are often at a disadvantage when trying to navigate large institutions and their programs.
White also explained how the racist treatment of black people in the past affects black entrepreneurs today. For those starting a business, expect a “friends and family” round of funding. From property confiscation to ancestral credit stripping, black entrepreneurs are at a disadvantage when it comes to fundraising.
social entrepreneurship
In a panel discussion with three entrepreneurial educators, participants addressed the question of how entrepreneurship can be used to advance humanitarian causes and advocacy known as social entrepreneurship.
The conversation turned to entrepreneurial identities, with some conference attendees suggesting that due to recent negative media representation and slander by some powerful company founders, many current college students ” I expressed my opinion that I shy away from the word “entrepreneur”. According to Jon Gershenson, head of humanitarian engineering and social entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Engineering, one of his ways of countering that stereotype is the idea that companies or entrepreneurs must dominate an industry. I was against it.
“There is more than one way to win,” Gershenson tells his students. “It doesn’t have to be the biggest and best.”
Panelists also discussed the triple bottom line, which considers ‘planet and people’ in addition to ‘profit’. Travis Lesser, a lecturer at Smell College of Business, tells students that companies still need to be profitable in order to use capitalism to effect positive change.
“You have to generate enough money to have the influence you want,” says Lesser.
student participation
Getting students back into the classroom has been difficult during the COVID pandemic, said Harbaugh Entrepreneur and Innovation Scholar Mark Gagnon, associate professor of agribusiness at the University of Agricultural Sciences.
An afternoon panel discussion on student engagement and recruitment saw conversations about how entrepreneurial educators can connect with students, especially those who have endured the turmoil of 2020 and 2021.
Engineering Entrepreneurship and Leadership Instructor Bob Beaury said educators should provide relevant content to students. To do that, educators must build relationships, get to know their students, and find out where they go for information. He pointed out that many entrepreneurship students don’t have a clear idea of what they want to do after college, and many don’t end up joining companies and starting startups.
Donna Vonn, associate professor of entrepreneurship at Penn State Altoona, said she asks students what they want to talk about. At Penn State Altoona, she said relationships and experiential opportunities are key to reaching and retaining students.
In addition to building relationships, Gagnon suggested to instructors that they could develop more interactive content and share personal and professional experiences.
Comprehensive innovation and competition program
Professor Sadan Kultrell Konak (Professor of Management Information Systems and Director of the Fleming Center for Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development) and Professor Abdullah Konak (Distinguished Professor of Information Science and Technology) at Berks Pennsylvania State Published an ongoing study funded by the University’s Social Science Research. Institute and National Science Foundation for Innovation and Competition Programs such as Pitch Competitions.
The two published a survey of what students think about innovation and competition programs, the benefits and costs of participating, and how students decide whether or not to participate. They found that perception, cost, and time commitment were reported problems for many students. They also talked about how important an engaging academic advisor is to making sure students are aware of competitive opportunities. Participated in collaborative exercises to research and share competition best practices and challenges.
About the Pennsylvania State Center for Student Entrepreneurship
CPSSE has a university-wide affiliated program.
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Entrepreneurship Options and Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship Underage Business and the Sheets Fellow Program in Altoona, Pennsylvania and the Sheets Center for Entrepreneur Excellence.
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Intercollegiate Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor.
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Credential Program for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Majors and Graduates of Smeal College of Business.
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New Ventures and Entrepreneurship Diploma from Great Valley, Pennsylvania.
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Entrepreneurship Minor, Master of Business Administration, and CIENT Graduate Certificate Programs at World Campus, Pennsylvania.
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Graham Fellowship Program for Entrepreneurial Leadership in York, Pennsylvania.
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Several student organizations focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, including Innoblue, Happy Valley Communications, Enactus, HackPSU, and Happy Valley Venture Capital.
Learn more about entrepreneurship and innovation at Penn State University at cpsse.psu.edu. The CPSSE and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor are supported by the undergraduate education at Penn State University.
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