Why We Must All Teach Social Entrepreneurship

An unexpected outcome of researching Social Entrepreneurship is the realization that many of us have been turning our class discussions and assignments to this vital subject matter … If we’re listening.

The landscape of higher education is shifting as economic tides and redefined student populations prompt us to re-evaluate the worth of an “added” education. A concern is that personal enlightenment may drop in its ranking as a reason to pursue further learning as tightening constraints in daily life eliminate leisure learning — remember that term? Time must be validated. Effort must be focused. Monies and households must be better calibrated. Student enrollments lean toward a profile of a slightly older, part-timer who shed the fresh-faced freshman look in another life. According to the projected enrollment numbers issued by the National Center for Education Statistics, most of the 21 million students on our campuses today represent a semblance of “nontraditional” circumstances, bearing new sets of values and redefined purposes. Estimates point to a growing number of older students (Over 8 million students are 25 and older). With age comes responsibility. Older students, as well as many younger students, seek higher learning opportunities between work hours and their children’s softball games. Typically, the older students are re-entering classrooms after workforce participation in dwindling fields of employment (Fast Facts).