Giving Compass' Take:

• The author explains that to address the workforce skills gap that is likely to happen, teachers must prioritize entrepreneurial education. 

• How can educators focus on social entrepreneurship in the curriculum? How will learning about social impact inspire young people?

• Read more about why it's important to empower student innovation and entrepreneurship. 

There’s no doubt or way to avoid it–the world is changing. In fact, it’s changing faster than it ever has before and the future of work (#FutureOfWork) in particular is changing in more dramatically different ways than we’ve ever experienced before.

In order for students to leave high school and enter college or careers prepared to succeed, they need to possess a set of entrepreneurial skills and be able to articulate their work and what they’re capable of.  But how can we directly try to address this skills gap? One way is through entrepreneurial education.

Recent surveys showed that 94% of millennials believe that entrepreneurial education is important, 72% of current high schoolers are interested in being entrepreneurs and that ⅔ of all students surveyed have not had any entrepreneurial training or education – or what they have had was inadequate.

Here are a few additional suggestions to get students started now:

  • Student Startups. Giving students the opportunity to take their idea from proof to concept or even pitch it on Kickstarter creates real-world learning experiences and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Competition is Key.  As often as you can, get students in front of their peers, adult mentors, and community partners/experts to practice pitching their ideas and concepts.
  • Cultivate Design Thinking.  The creative and collaborative skills needed to tackle big problems and uncover new solutions are necessary for all entrepreneurs.
  • Research & Interviews.  Give students the opportunity to learn and practice both of these valuable skills.
  • Create Digital Portfolios. As part of the writing students are doing, make sure they’re learning how to show what they know.

Read the full article about building entrepreneurial skills in K-12 by Jessica Slusser at Getting Smart.