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It would be a mistake to dismiss the role traditional universities can play in preparing social entrepreneurs to succeed—especially since this role is changing for the better. A growing number of schools are advancing the pedagogy and practice of social enterprise, and today have much more to offer as platforms for social enterprise success than they did a generation ago.
Three particular advances within universities can help bridge the chasm between well-intentioned-but-far-away student social entrepreneurs, and the people and communities they want to help. Universities need to:
- Bring the voices of stakeholders into the classroom. The traditional approach to teaching social enterprise starts with faculty in the front of a classroom; faculty serves as a source of the wisdom for students starting social ventures. By design, this approach constricts the real insight student social entrepreneurs need from stakeholders in the communities they hope to serve...
- Be more prescriptive in training social entrepreneurs. Despite successes like microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank, we should acknowledge that social ventures have not moved the needle on big problems as far as we have hoped. By analyzing our failures, we can be more prescriptive about how to build the field and how educators can guide budding social entrepreneurs...
- Reimagine the role of the university as a change maker. Universities contribute a great deal to society through research based inquiry, scholarship, and the preparation of students for work and life...