Social Entrepreneurship Gaining Steam in Academia

The establishment of social-entrepreneurship into the academic programs of American Universities is another ongoing social change. While there has been forays of non-profit and community support efforts from universities having a formal degree program is something new. This is a summary of a series of articles that have appeared from time to time in The Entrepreneurial Mind.

2/19/08 The Entrepreneurial Mind on Social Entrepreneurship Gaining Steam in Academia

Dean Pat Raines writes about the growth in interest in social entrepreneurship within academia over at Belmont's blog Strictly Business. Speaking about our own program that launches next fall:

Next fall, Belmont University will begin offering a major in Social Entrepreneurship. The fundamental idea is to provide a practical academic curriculum to serve the fastest-growing segment of society--the millions of individuals that are creating a society of citizen change agents.

The Entrepreneurial Mind has a post on The Entrepreneurial Generation's Answer to Social Change

Dr. Cornwall points out that the Belmont program is to be one of the first in the country he also asserts that today's students are geared for these listing the positive characteristics of that group of 18-21 year-olds he has labeled the Entrepreneurial Generation. Providing what he deems, Some prominent reason for confidence -

• They distrust large institutions.

• They believe that the private sector is much more efficient and effective at solving the world's problems.

The big government proponents, which typically includes the New York Times, would tell us that the problems of the world are too big, and far too complex, for any solution outside of massive government intervention. We like to talk about the War on This Problem, and the War on That Problem, as if the only solution is too overwhelm each social problem with massive amounts of money controlled by huge bureaucracies.

And for good measure he references an article in that same New York Times article

The New York Times ran a column By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF compared this renewed social energy in today's youth with that of their parents' generation in the 1960s -- but with a twist: With the American presidential campaign in full swing, the obvious way to change the world might seem to be through politics. But growing numbers of young people are leaping into the fray and doing the job themselves. Below is a list of some of these programs.

Orphans Against AIDS (www.orphansagainstaids.org), which pays school-related expenses for hundreds of children who have been orphaned or otherwise affected by AIDS in poor countries.

Unite for Sight, has ballooned, and last year it provided eye care to 200,000 people (www.uniteforsight.org).

The program (www.injaz.org.jo) has spread to 12 Arab countries and is aiming to teach one million students a year. Ms. Salti argues that entrepreneurs can stimulate the economy, give young people a purpose and revitalize the Arab world.