Entrepreneurship tends to come with quite distinct stereotypes, often involving heroic men bending the world to their will through unique talents and vision. It’s a vision that inevitably results in limits in the number of people who perceive themselves as entrepreneurs, and research from Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology highlights the crucial role education can play in widening the number of people who perceive themselves as entrepreneurs.
“Our research sheds light on the ongoing challenges associated with the prevailing stereotypes in entrepreneurship and its education. Addressing this issue is important for students and educators alike – to raise awareness of how easy it is to overemphasise the common examples of ‘Steve Jobs’ or ‘Elon Musk’, and how restricting these examples can be,” the researchers explain.
“Stereotypes are prominent in entrepreneurship – and therefore entrepreneurial education – and brought into the classroom by both students and educators. They can be a significant limiting factor towards imagining oneself ‘becoming entrepreneurial’. Entrepreneurship educators should therefore aim to provide more and varied examples of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial individuals. Key to this is training students how to practice ‘identity management’ – understanding and managing other identities they might aspire to, to learn how to ‘filter’ various social media and environmental influences for themselves.”
Breaking down the wall
The authors highlight how entrepreneurship is typically viewed as something that requires exceptional abilities, with these often encapsulated in inherently masculine qualities. It’s important that these stereotypes are broken down to ensure a wider pool of people sees entrepreneurship as something for them.
In the paper, they use the story of two female entrepreneurs who themselves have struggled to overcome the inherently masculine stereotype of entrepreneurs.
“The stories’ similarities and differences mirror the different perspectives and reactions to social media and other environmental inputs that students may experience themselves, thereby opening up for reflection and discussion,” the authors explain. “Identity management as an important tool in entrepreneurship pedagogy has previously received only limited research attention.”
They hope that by making people more aware of the stereotype, we can begin to address it more effectively and have more open discussions about the various stereotypes that exist around entrepreneurship.
“It is surprising how easy and quickly we all fall into different stereotypical perspectives,” they conclude. “We should – and do – know better, but it still happens, perhaps because of the lack of familiarity beyond the big names that are reified constantly in the media.”
