When students of entrepreneurship focus on creating value rather than just starting businesses, they develop skills that will serve them throughout their careers.
Students who adopt a growth mindset in entrepreneurship believe they can continually improve their entrepreneurial abilities and use them to make a positive impact on society.
Since few students have the resources or experience to start their own businesses, schools should not measure the success of their entrepreneurial programs by the number of startups launched.
Instead, schools should help students recognize opportunities for creating value and define the purpose behind their entrepreneurial efforts.
The Importance of a Growth Mindset in Entrepreneurship
For business schools with entrepreneurship programs, one key goal is to ensure students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and strive to create value for society. One way to achieve this is by encouraging students to adopt a growth mindset toward entrepreneurship. This mindset fosters the belief that, with time, effort, and the right strategies, students can continuously improve their entrepreneurial abilities and make a meaningful societal impact.
To understand why this belief is so important, it’s helpful to examine how mindsets work. According to psychologist Carol Dweck, people form opinions about human abilities and whether they can be changed. For example, some believe intelligence is fixed and cannot improve with effort, while others believe intelligence can grow. The former represents a fixed mindset, while the latter reflects a growth mindset.
People can have different mindsets in different areas. For example, someone might believe they can improve in sports but think they lack artistic talent permanently. Another person might feel they can develop creativity but struggle with technology.
The good news is that mindsets can be changed. Short online experiments, hands-on exercises, and targeted strategies can help students enhance their entrepreneurial skills. Educators can also build classroom cultures that support a growth mindset. These approaches are practical, scalable, and cost-effective.
Our focus is on how business schools can encourage students to develop growth mindsets in entrepreneurship. Research shows that adopting this mindset initiates a positive cycle—students become more confident in their entrepreneurial abilities, which increases their interest in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures both in school and throughout their careers.
Rethinking Success Metrics
Business schools often measure the success of entrepreneurship programs by tracking the number of students who pitch to investors, enter business competitions, or start companies. However, very few of these activities lead to viable startups.
The focus on startup launches creates a disconnect. While some successful student-run businesses emerge from entrepreneurship programs, most students will not start companies while still in school or immediately after graduation. Even when students launch startups during school, only a few of these businesses continue after graduation.
One reason for this is that many students interested in entrepreneurship are not yet ready to start businesses. The average age of a successful entrepreneur is between 30 and 40 years old, while most students are much younger. Additionally, students often lack the resources, industry experience, and market knowledge needed to build sustainable businesses.
For many schools, another measure of success is whether students create businesses with a positive societal impact. However, making a real impact often requires large-scale efforts that cannot be fully developed within a single semester. Given these realities, it is clear why business schools struggle to teach entrepreneurial thinking, promote societal impact, and meet their program goals.
Shifting the Focus to Growth
We believe business schools can achieve better results by taking a different approach. Instead of encouraging students to create temporary startups that end when they graduate, schools should promote a growth mindset in entrepreneurship. They should teach students to see entrepreneurship as a skill they can refine and apply in different contexts, industries, and career stages. Here are three key recommendations for academic leaders:
1. Broaden the Perspective
Ensure that students and program administrators understand that entrepreneurship is not solely about launching businesses. Schools should also move away from using student business creation as a primary success metric. Instead, they should encourage students to define the purpose behind their entrepreneurial efforts.
Sharing insights from thought leaders like Simon Sinek and Guy Kawasaki, who emphasize the importance of purpose-driven entrepreneurship, can help students focus on creating meaningful impact rather than just starting businesses. By shifting their approach, schools can help students and programs achieve greater societal impact.
2. Dig Deeper into Value Creation
Encourage students to focus on identifying opportunities related to societal impact and sustainability. Show them that value creation extends beyond starting a business.
For example, when asking students to brainstorm ideas, instructors should clarify that these ideas do not have to be business startups. Instead, students could generate ideas in three categories:
- Addressing a gap in the marketplace
- Solving a problem they have experienced personally
- Innovating in an area they are passionate about
These ideas could connect to current jobs, future career aspirations, or broader social issues.
When organizing pitch competitions, schools should also emphasize value creation over business creation. One way to do this is by requiring students to align their ideas with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many students are already interested in issues like poverty reduction and climate action. By linking entrepreneurship activities to these goals, students can take meaningful steps toward creating a positive impact.
3. Look Beyond Careers
Career centers typically help students find jobs and internships, but work is just one part of life. Schools should also encourage students to consider how they will contribute to society beyond their careers. Will they volunteer, engage in service projects, or support charitable initiatives?
By broadening their perspectives, students can see how entrepreneurial thinking applies to many aspects of life, not just business ventures.
Transforming Entrepreneurship Education
To promote a growth mindset, schools should assess students’ attitudes at the beginning of entrepreneurship programs. After students have opportunities to interact with customers and explore market ideas, instructors can encourage them to reflect on their growth. Many will recognize that these experiences have strengthened their entrepreneurial skills.
Over time, students with growth mindsets will move beyond the content they learned in school. They will apply entrepreneurial principles to various areas of life, whether running businesses, working in corporations, or volunteering in their communities. When schools prioritize value creation in their entrepreneurship programs, they help students develop a mindset that lasts a lifetime and leads to meaningful societal impact.
However, if schools are to emphasize value creation, they will need to make adjustments in their teaching approaches. They must apply the principles of a growth mindset to entrepreneurship education itself.
This shift requires schools to redefine success. Instead of viewing students as “products” and employers as “customers,” they should see students as “value creators.” By doing so, schools can develop more realistic and meaningful success metrics that align with the broader world.
By embracing this new perspective, schools can foster a culture where both students and institutions prioritize growth, adaptability, and long-term impact. Our hope is that more schools will take the initiative to instill this mindset in students, ensuring that entrepreneurship education continues to evolve in a meaningful way.
