Examining the Effect of Entrepreneurial Education Pedagogy on the Development of Women in STEM

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The importance of entrepreneurship and innovation is becoming more widely recognized. Recently, higher education institutions have recognized their responsibility in creating a more entrepreneurially minded workforce and have begun to broaden entrepreneurship education beyond the traditional business school model of business fundamentals, case studies, and start-­up companies. In doing so, new approaches to teaching entrepreneurship have been developed, encouraging students to take a more active role in and outside of the classroom. How these aspects of entrepreneurship education influence women's engagement and involvement has yet to be studied. In many instances, these approaches involve a combination of competition and problem-based, team-­oriented learning. Integration of these approaches may influence students in different ways, and there may be differential effects based on gender, race, culture or socioeconomic class. Educational programs are relying on students to self-­select into these highly competitive non-­traditional learning environments. The purpose of this grant is to explore the influence of these new learning environments on student engagement, particularly for women. Results from this research are critical as the nation moves to find ways to develop a diverse, innovative workforce for the 21st century. These results will help higher education institutions understand how women choose to engage in entrepreneurship educational programs and how programs influence women to become involved in innovation after graduation. This project will engage in a mixed methods study to examine relationships between entrepreneurship pedagogy and women's engagement in entrepreneurship education and innovation post-­graduation. This study will leverage UM Learning Analytics student learning data. Four research questions will drive the work: 1) Who are the students that choose to engage, or not, in particular entrepreneurship educational opportunities and how do these choices differ with gender?; 2) Why do students choose to engage, or not, in particular entrepreneurship educational opportunities, and how do these choices differ with gender?; 3) What are the benefits to students of particular entrepreneurship education activities, and how do these benefits differ with gender? This includes how students perceive their fit within the entrepreneurship program as well as their general perceptions of the program; 4) How do particular entrepreneurship educational opportunities impact the current work of former students, including development of entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, and how do impacts differ with gender? The unique ability to use institutional learning analytics data and large scale alumni surveys to inform targeted in-­depth interviews will offer the most comprehensive look at the impact of engineering entrepreneurship education on gender to date.