January-February 2009

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Creating a Liberal Arts Course That Integrates Entrepreneurship

1. Study entrepreneurship from another disciplinary point of view. Following are examples of courses that could involve the study of entrepreneurship:

  • The Sociology of Business Ownership: Self-Advocacy among Marginalized Populations
  • The History of Entrepreneurship in Cleveland among Lebanese Americans
  • The Economics of Entrepreneurship during the Great Depression
  • Common Psychological Characteristics and Patterns of Behavior in Entrepreneurs
  • Business and Social Change: Gender, Race, and Class Characteristics in Entrepreneurial Endeavors
  • Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Influence of Rembrandt in the Dutch Golden Age

2. Incorporate the entrepreneurial process into other courses through assignments and classroom practices (entrepreneurial processes should be explicitly stated in the syllabus as course competencies, and evaluative guidelines should also be articulated). Possible approaches could include the following:

  • Give students leadership responsibility for course outcomes.
  • Allow students to share in evaluation of work (both their own and those of their classmates).
  • Have a “real-world” aspect to the course—for example, by having students form an organization, raise funds for a cause, participate in activist work, engage with the community, conduct ethnographic research, or complete an internship.
  • Focus on problem solving, consensus building, and teamwork.
  • Develop competency in making persuasive, sound arguments.
  • Develop spontaneous solutions through assignments that encourage students to think on their feet.
  • Demand originality, creativity, innovation, and novelty.
  • Make it safe to make mistakes.

3. Educate students to open a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise. Students should engage in the business and organizational basics of enterprise development and, in equal measure, with the ethical, social, and environmental considerations entailed in any business creation. When students create a business plan, they should

  • discuss the effect of the enterprise on a wide range of stakeholders and consider factors such as markets, funding, and economic viability;
  • articulate the social, cultural, and environmental impact of products and services as well as the ethical implications of the business enterprise;
  • consider how the product or service would affect business owners, consumers, employees, the local community, the larger culture, and the environment.

4. Help students develop characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset, including willingness to take risks, innovativeness, creativity, confidence, critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities, the ability to identify opportunities, leadership ability, understanding of value creation, the ability to communicate effectively and present ideas clearly, and willingness to consider multiple viewpoints.*

A sample syllabus from Minority Voices in Entrepreneurship: The Democratization of Influence and Resources, an integrated sociology and entrepreneurship course taught by the author of this article, is available .

* Stephen Zabor of Hiram College articulated this fourth criterion of an integrated course.