As college leaders, our students gain real-world skills when we make entrepreneurial thinking and mindset a top priority. Here are some tips for making your college more entrepreneurial.
This article comes from the new issue of the Community College Journal, which focuses on workforce development. The bimonthly magazine is published by the American Association of Community Colleges.
Practice what you preach
It all starts with how we lead. Once students see entrepreneurial thinking expressed through our language, actions, and behaviors, they will embrace it and continue to build on it in the future.
Build entrepreneurial curricula
While college students often think of course curriculum as some abstract thing they are studying, entrepreneurs deal with real-world problems and real-world solutions. By adopting an entrepreneurial mindset throughout the curriculum, students (and faculty) can become more engaged, and coursework will become more immediately relevant to them. In the process, students will gain the skills that make entrepreneurs successful.
As educators, we can reinforce innovative thinking and continue to scale entrepreneurial growth at our colleges by doing the following:
- Encourage project-based work that spurs innovative thinking and multiple ways to get to a solution.
- Urge freshmen to take more exploratory courses. This is with the caveat that we need to be mindful of financial aid guidelines.
- Learn to “fail forward.” Let failure become learning–mistakes are not only allowed, but encouraged to help with a “growth mindset.”
- Allow students to craft their majors.
- Focus on creativity in every major and all curricula.
- Reward “thinking outside the box.”
Provide entrepreneurial resources on campus
Just as entrepreneurship courses encourage entrepreneurial thinking, it’s important to offer students ways to practice these core competencies.
Small business development centers, entrepreneurship centers, incubators and makerspaces are a few examples of resources that help students put their skills into practice. Events and activities like pitch competitions and maker fairs that reward entrepreneurial thinking and action are also helpful.
A few examples:
- At West Virginia University at Parkersburg, college leaders have created an entrepreneurial business incubator at its new campus. Twenty percent of the incubator seats are reserved for student startups, with a large focus on high-tech. A major goal is to revitalize the local economy and create in-demand, high-paying jobs.
- At Mid-Plains Community College in Nebraska, a student-faculty team pitched its “Ready to Work Construction: Homes for Heroes” program that provides students with basic building skill sets while helping local veterans. The team won a $20,000 grant to help fund and expand the program through a “Pitch for the Skilled Trades Competition” sponsored by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and the Ratcliffe Foundation.
Include entrepreneurship in the skilled trades
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, enrollment in vocational training programs is surging. The number of students enrolled in vocation-focused community college programs rose six percent last year. The number of students studying construction trades rose by 23%, while programs in HVAC and vehicle maintenance grew by 7%. Colleges need to innovate to reach new prospective students and align their programs with the needs of students.
Using tools like SkillPointe, which NACCE acquired in 2023, can do just that. SkillPointe is a technology platform that assists students in finding the training they need in the skilled trades through a database of more than 60,000 training programs, primarily offered by community colleges. The platform also makes financial help easy to find via a scholarship hub for students who want to earn associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates.
As we build our community and technical colleges for the future, let’s keep entrepreneurial thinking and problem-solving in mind. Entrepreneurs are known for disrupting the status quo, and institutions of higher learning need to do the same.
