Entrepreneurship should be an important consideration for the future of global education. As the world changes exponentially, global education systems have not enjoyed a similar evolution that mirrors society today. Embedding entrepreneurialism into education is advantageous in numerous ways. For example, it provides tools for students that enable them to rapidly adapt to global changes in economics, technology, and politics. But, beyond the obvious benefits, it also reflects the desires of students globally, creates a more equitable world, and could even help aid our efforts in combating the climate crisis.

In the 2018 GUESSS Global Report, found that just 9% of students had entrepreneurial aspirations. This figure rose to 17.8% in the 2021 version of the report and continues to rise. The factors governing this rapid increase can mainly be attributed to the pandemic. There is good reason for the ‘great resignation’, with many wanting more control over their lives and a better work-life balance. However, this is also true of the children of those parents, who although not yet working, witnessed this paradigm shift behind closed doors.

The Australian parenting website, Raising Children, states that although pre-teens and teenagers may perhaps be more influenced by culture through friendships, they state that, ‘as a parent, you influence your child’s basic values, like religious values, and issues related to their future, like educational choices. And the stronger your relationship with your child, the more influence you’ll have’. For many, the cause and effects of the pandemic and living in a time of crisis have helped to solidify family bonds. This parental influence on work ethic and an appetite for learning, both of which are skills that are often attributed to business owners, bares much influence on why education systems must begin to look at entrepreneurship as an important factor in any future curriculums. 

Aside from the influence of parents on youth aspirations, other factors can be attributed to the media and cultural influence. With 1 in 5 Britons looking to start a business this year, many researchers look at what causes this trend. This thirst for entrepreneurism in the younger generations can also be seen across social media on platforms such as TikTok, with influencers often showcasing how entrepreneurship has bought a higher quality of life through more disposable income and greater control over earnings. 

Laura McBain, Stanford Universities K12 Lab Director of Community and Implementation, said in an interview  “In the context of education, educators who take a futurist’s mindset are looking to cultivate young people as lifelong, adaptive learners, rather than being concerned with teaching what’s immediately measured on a test”. Whether it be war, climate or ecological factors, the world will be a drastically different one for those under the age of 40 than the previous generations that have come before. No generation that supersedes today’s student populations has ever had a challenge so immense. The curriculums that are on offer today were established at a time without crisis or advancing technology and under the stewardship of now obsolete methods. The American K12 system, for example, has been without fundamental change for over 80 years. The last universally adopted curriculum was the International Baccalaureate, now 50 years old. Today, education often provides its students with information or tools that by the time they graduate, are obsolete. 

Entrepreneurship teaches an adaptive nature, and this is missing from our current mainstream curriculum which regularly only offers a one-size-fits-all process. The ability to be adaptive will have a profound influence on the future state of societies and the planet. A curriculum centred on entrepreneurialism will embrace the rapidly evolving nature of technology and encourage students to measure the impacts of a crisis and encourage creative thinking to solve problems. 

Start-up companies have historically brought innovation to society. The tools at our disposal today, whether technology or the consequences on societal thought are profound. Technological revolutions such as the internet have bought a level of interconnectivity and information to humanity that is unmatched in history. Start-up companies today look to distance themselves from the sole drive of profit. Instead, they utilise purpose as the cornerstone. Purpose in business will lead to innovation in crisis. We currently do not have a technological solution for achieving emission goals as illustrated by Greta Thunberg at COP26 and for any driven purpose-driven business this should be a key goal to work towards. But without the tools being taught at school level, it already puts today’s children at a severe disadvantage when looking at the scale of problems currently facing humanity.

As we progress through the 2020s, education must also become more accessible to all, allowing developing countries and marginalised groups better access. Educational courses are now easier to find through technology and edtech is leading the way in placing education in either deprived areas or hard-to-reach places. Entrepreneurship that is taught globally and incorporates current innovation may well become a defining factor in creating a fairer and more sustainable world. We can see this today in Pakistan when looking at Saro Imran, founder of The Pink Centre. As a social entrepreneur, she helps to empower the transgender population of Pakistan through teaching entrepreneurship. This allows transgender women in Pakistan to learn the tools to establish their own businesses, lifting their living standards and allowing them to become an integral part of society through economic value, which in turn leads to cultural acceptance in a Muslim state. In the same vein, this model can be adopted in other demographically deprived areas through the teaching of entrepreneurialism.

By embedding entrepreneurship in education, today’s students will be equipped with the tools they need for their future. Not only will it futureproof developing nation’s students for the challenges that come with crisis, but it will also uplift deprived areas and create a more equal and equitable world in line with global sustainability goals. It is crucial that entrepreneurism and the mindset that goes with it is implemented and adopted sooner rather than later. It offers one cog to the larger system for dealing with challenges, but also reflects the desires of the current student population.