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WHY YOUTH
ENTREPRENEURSHIP MATTERS
By Carl Schramm
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:21:00 11/16/2008
IT IS easy to belittle the no-tion of youth entrepreneurship. To quite a few
people, the notion itself still evokes images of lemonade stands, which
children set up in their neighborhood--often at their parents' prodding--to
prove their commercial mettle and future potential.
In
today's networked society, however, young people may well represent the third
major wave of new sources of entrepreneurship destined to have a major impact
on the global economy . The two major waves
before them were women--and micro lending.
As
improbable as it may seem to some that young people could become a major
source of start-up businesses, it is useful to remember that the same doubts
were sported about women entrepreneurs not so long ago. And micro lending,
too, was seen as little more than a passing fad promoted by some misty-eyed
idealists stimulating entrepreneurial energies in "third-world"
economies.
At
the same time, it is important to acknowledge that the specific outcomes of
promoting youth entrepreneurship are, as with all entrepreneurial ventures,
uncertain. What is clear, though, is how pivotal it is to get the
conversation about this topic started--both among young people themselves as
well as at the policymaking level.
Once
entrepreneurship enters into the realm of possibilities of career options on
the minds of young people, it becomes a dynamic organizing principle for
society at large. This entails far more than changes in the school
curriculum--as important as they are.
In
effect, it changes not only the conversation about the national economy
itself--but ultimately also a nation's economic DNA. Traditionally, engaging
in entrepreneurial activities in many societies around the world, if it was
on the horizon at all, has been seen primarily as the domain of children of
well-to-do parents--and hence an elite pursuit.
Truth
be told, nothing is as stifling for an economy than to keep the concepts of
entrepreneurship out of the classroom--often justified by a presumption that
it is a pursuit of the rich. Even if that was yesteryear's reality in too
many countries, today's agenda everywhere is to open up that world so that
many more young people are given a chance to get engaged.
Opening
up entrepreneurship to younger people on a broader basis thus becomes an
integral part of the wider democratization process that is underway in the
world-at-large. Its core message is clear enough: Economic opportunity is not
directly linked to social status.
Many
emerging economies, from Eastern Europe and Asia to Latin America and Africa, are still amid a profound turn toward truly market-based
economies. Opening the horizons of young people toward the opportunities of
entrepreneurship creates a natural constituency to strengthen those market
mechanisms--and is bound to expand an economy's potential.
Their
facility with technology, their desire to explore new horizons and their
ambition to make a better life for themselves than what was possible for
their parents' generation is a powerful driving force--and can be witnessed
from the booming cities of China all the way to Africa.
In
the industrialized world, young people--while operating in a very different
environment--are arriving at conclusions that make a stronger emphasis on
entrepreneurship in the national policy agenda a necessity as well.
Interestingly, that is even true for those who are not thinking of themselves
as "real entrepreneurs."
While
some lament that the days of lifelong employment with one company are
essentially gone, the young generation in Western countries--admittedly to
varying degrees--welcomes those changes. Most young people, and not just in
the United States, prefer not to spend their entire
career with one company.
Whether
by necessity or desire, or a combination of both, a more entrepreneurial
approach to one's career, along with an openness to change and new pursuits,
is becoming the norm, not the exception.
That
even applies to those pursuing a career within large companies. In a world of
shrinking staff sizes and ever more global competition, an entrepreneurial
attitude among employees is viewed as an asset even in those formerly
bureaucratic organizations
This
foreshadows that, in Western countries, perhaps the most significant shift
toward an entrepreneurial mind-set will manifest itself in a loosening of the
employee attitude that has prevailed for so long.
While
this entails the acceptance of more risk and more openness to change, it also
signals a shift from a more passive way of thinking about life to a more
active stance. That may sound discomforting to some--and it probably is.
But
then again, given the profound changes underway in the global economy, there
really isn't an alternative to adapting to a more entrepreneurial concept of
one's own work life.
In
closing, at a time when the global economy is under considerable stress, it
is wise to look for new ideas and impulses--and to open one's mind to new
realities. More exposure to entrepreneurial thinking throughout the young
generation, if not society as a whole, also strengthens a sense of economic
realism in times marked by tough competition.
All
of that is why for today's young generation to embrace the notion of
entrepreneurship in a much more meaningful and comprehensive way than most of
their parents ever did is a vital step forward.
(The author is president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, which is
co-founder of Global Entrepreneurship Week, a youth-oriented event involving
social media held in countries all around the world on Nov. 17-23, 2008. For Philippine-specific activities, go to http://unleashingideas.org/country/PH.)
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