A well-known anecdote in the world of business tells the story of soldiers lost while on maneuvers in the Alps. One of the soldiers remarked that they had managed to make a successful return to base upon finding a map. Unfortunately, on more detailed inspection, the map turned out to be of the Pyrenees rather than the Alps.
It’s a story that underpins the importance we often attribute to optimism, especially in uncertain environments. Nowhere is this more so than among entrepreneurs, who, legend has it, need to bend society to their thinking.
Believing in success
It’s the kind of narrative supported by a recent study led by researchers from Washington University in St Louis, which found that optimism is the most desirable trait entrepreneurs can have. Indeed, the researchers suggest that overconfidence combined with an overreaction to the information gathered tends to provide the best results.
“My view is that most people do tend to overreact to the latest news,” they explain. “That’s what I’ve seen in my own laboratory work. It makes me actually think, if that’s the case, to be a little overconfident at the start might be a pretty good thing—at a population level. The idea that every bias is a defect may well be wrong.”
This confidence may have a class element to it, as research from the UVA Darden School of Business found that people of higher social class tend to have an exaggerated belief in their abilities, especially compared to their lower-class peers. What’s more, this over-confidence often allows them to bluff their way into positions of power.
“Advantages beget advantages. Those who are born in upper-class echelons are likely to remain in the upper class, and high-earning entrepreneurs disproportionately originate from highly educated, well-to-do families,” the researchers explain. “Our research suggests that social class shapes the attitudes that people hold about their abilities and that, in turn, has important implications for how class hierarchies perpetuate from one generation to the next.”
Entrepreneurial agency
This perhaps partly explains recent findings from the University of Hohenheim, which show that social class has a big impact on whether one starts a business or not.
“While recent research indicates that the effect of social class origins on career mobility within organizations is comparable to the gender-based glass ceiling, we know little about how being born into higher or lower social classes affects individuals in the entrepreneurial process,” the researchers explain. “In our study, we shed light on how and why social class origins relate to individuals’ beliefs in their entrepreneurial agency.”
As society becomes more aware of the impact that social class background can have on people’s lives, researchers are taking a closer look at how it affects our ability to control and change our environment.
However, we still don’t fully understand how being born into a certain social class environment affects one’s belief in their ability to be an entrepreneur.
Through studying social cognition, social class, and entrepreneurial agency, the researchers found that a person’s social class background in childhood is connected to their belief in their ability to be an entrepreneur in adulthood.
Early exposure
The study found that exposure to entrepreneurship during education can help improve the situation. The researchers highlight how experiences in entrepreneurship education and practice can either reinforce or break down class barriers when it comes to entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
Successful entrepreneurs from lower social class backgrounds can inspire and motivate others from similar backgrounds to believe in their own entrepreneurial potential.
The researchers suggest that educators should reflect on their assumptions and create a more inclusive environment for students from lower social class backgrounds by highlighting the values of interdependence.
Additionally, making sense of the differences in backgrounds can empower students from lower social class origins. The article also suggests that networking and mentorship programs can be beneficial for students from working-class backgrounds, and policymakers should acknowledge the potential for mastery experiences for individuals from lower social class backgrounds through interventions and programs.
Breaking down stereotypes
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.
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.”
Regardless of the group whose eyes we’re looking to open to entrepreneurship, such stereotype-busting efforts look like they could bear fruit. Given how the skills we learn through the entrepreneurial journey can stay with us for a lifetime, it’s an effort that is surely worth making.
