Gist.

Sorry to overdo it a bit, Lilly, but here’s a section from a book I’m writing. Best regards, Howard
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Does
education have an impact on a person’s likelihood to become an
entrepreneur?  It is well known that Thomas
Edison finished school at 12, Steve Woznick and Steve Jobs did not graduate,
and Bill Gates dropped out of  Harvard to
start Microsoft (Bhidé, 1999). Research findings on the
impact of education on entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial success
are mixed and largely reveal that many factors (e.g. family, culture, institutional
support, even acquaintance with an entrepreneur) mediate the impact.  A poorly framed and
structured education system may actually hinder creativity and entrepreneurship
(Jones, 2011). Some studies have observed a decrease in intentions after
entrepreneurship education programs (Graevenitz,
Harhoff, & Weber, 2010; Oosterbeek, Praag, & Ijsselstein,
2010; Plaschka & Welsch, 1990). 

The
act of business creation itself is not, however, likely to follow immediately
post graduation. According to year Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)
reports, young people ages 18-34 have low but increasing levels of
entrepreneurial participation.  The peak
years of entrepreneurial activity are 35-44 years of age.  Other
studies show that prior exposure to entrepreneurship and a person’s prior intentions
can change the effect of entrepreneurship training programs (Fayolle,
Gailly, & Lassas-Clerc, 2006).  Graduates of
entrepreneurship education may recognize the need to amass specific knowledge,
yet decide to defer action until they understand their chosen industry better (Fiet &
Patel, 2008).

Yet overall, education
and entrepreneurship appear to be correlated.  According to Shane (2003, p. 69), the higher the level of
education in the community, the higher will be the propensity to exploit
entrepreneurial opportunities. Other studies have found people with a higher
level of education are more likely to exploit opportunities and engage in
self-employment (Bowen & Hisrich, 1986;
Byabashaija & Katono, 2011;
Clark, Davis, & Harnish, 1984;
Raposo & Do Paço, 2011;
Robinson & Sexton, 1994;
Storey, 1994; von Graevenitz, Harhoff, & Weber,
2010).  Education for entrepreneurship is most
effective in favourable contexts, where the training-induced positive skills,
perceptions and intentions can be translated into action (A. C. Martínez, J. Levie,
D. J. Kelley, R. J. Sæmundsson, & T. Schøtt, 2010, p. 37).  Yet it is clear that the influence of
entrepreneurship education is situational and conditional upon the relevance of
structure, curricula and pedagogy that students are exposed to (Gupta, 1992).  Nonetheless, a review of ninety-four largely
empirical studies on the subject concludes that entrepreneurship performance,
regardless of the performance measure used, is significantly and positively
associated with formal schooling (van der Sluis, van Praag, & Vijverberg, 2008). 

Perhaps a better questions is, Can entrepreneurship be
taught? As Peter Drucker famously said, most of what you hear about
entrepreneurship is all wrong. It’s not magic; it’s not mysterious; and it has
nothing to do with genes. It’s a discipline and, like any discipline, it can be
learned.  Everyone . . . can learn to be
an entrepreneur and to behave entrepreneurially’ (Drucker, 1985, p. 23).  It is
now widely accepted that entrepreneurship can be taught and learned, provided
that the learner is surrounded by the right context (Allan Gibb, 2002).  Recent OECD research in nineteen countries
showed that 43% of university students intended to pursue some form of
independent employment five years after graduating (OECD LEED, 2011, p. 8).  A World
Economic Forum report says that the earlier that people are
exposed to entrepreneurship, the more likely they will become entrepreneurs in
some form during their lives (Volkmann et al., 2009). Other studies have found a positive link to interest in
entrepreneurship, attitudes toward entrepreneurship and perception of the
feasibility of starting a business (Dohse &
Walter; Hegarty, 2006; Peterman & Kennedy, 2003; Souitaris,
Zerbinati, & Al-Laham, 2007).  Research points to a link between
entrepreneurship and both the need for achievement and an internal locus of
control (a belief in one’s ability to control one’s destiny).  Hansemark (O.C.
Hansemark, 1998; Ove C. Hansemark, 2003) found that these two traits were higher among enrollees in a
one-year entrepreneurship program in Sweden compared to those not receiving
training.  A recent study for the Small
Business Administration Office of Advocacy (Summit
Consulting) found that university graduates who have taken entrepreneurship
courses are more likely to select careers in entrepreneurship, work in small
businesses and develop patented inventions or innovative processes, services or
products.  Honig (2004) believes that education and training for entrepreneurship
positively influence actions by enhancing the skills required to start and grow
a venture. DeTienne and Chandler (2004) find that education and training for entrepreneurship can enhance
one’s cognitive ability for managing the complex process of opportunity
recognition and assessment.  Classes that
provide role models and examples of the entrepreneurship process can equip
individuals with the ability to recognize, assess and shape opportunities (Fiet, 2001).  Attitudes and intentions
are important in boosting the chance individuals will attempt an
entrepreneurial endeavor at some point in their lives (Souitaris, et
al., 2007). 

Case studies of successful implementation of entrepreneurship
curricula are copious.  Babson College research (Blair, 2011) shows that taking two or
more core entrepreneurship elective courses positively influenced the intention
to become an entrepreneur both at the time of graduation and long
afterward.  University of Arizona
research finds that entrepreneurship students differ from other business
students.  They are three times more
likely self-employed.  They are more
likely to be employed full time and less likely to work for government or
nonprofit entities.  They also have
annual incomes that are 27 percent higher and own 62 percent more assets. (University of
Arizona, 2000) (Charney &
Libecap, 2000).  At Monterrey (Mexico)
Institute of Technology, thirty-five percent of 
students enrolled in ‘Entrepreneurial Leadership’ had established a
business within 5 years; sixty-eight percent of alumni had owned a business
within 25 years (Torres, 2011).  At National University of
Singapore, entrepreneurship graduates have three times the propensity to start
their own business or to be employed in small start-up firms, compared to their
peers (Ho, Singh,
& Wong, 2010, p. 172).  At University of Southern
California, from 1971-2000 an average of 37 per cent of students annual
launched businesses by the time they graduated (Allen &
Lieberman, 2010, p. 78). The most comprehensive study of entrepreneurship education (A. Martínez,
J. Levie, D. Kelley, R. Sæmundsson, & T. Schøtt, 2010) encompassing 38 countries shows that entrepreneurs are more
likely to have received training in starting a business (33%) than the rest of
the working-age population (20%). 

Summarising the literature, and drawing upon Charney and
Libecap (2000) Gibb and Hannan (2006) find that’ appropriate
entrepreneurship programmes in the university context do impact upon the
aspiration to self-employment and business creation’. 

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