Go Deep Entrepreneurship Teaching and Learning Scholars and Fellows Program More at: http://theinnographer.com/for-‐education/go-‐deep Opening snapshot: June 2015 Your full name: Susan Clark Muntean Your degrees and/or designations: Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; M.B.A., University of Oregon; B.Sc., Pepperdine University. USASBE Social Entrepreneurship Certificate. Your job title and affiliation: Assistant Professor of Management, University of North Carolina, Asheville Link(s) at which you want people to find you: • •
https://mgmtacct.unca.edu/faces/faculty/susan-‐clark-‐muntean https://www.linkedin.com/hp/?dnr=YgjQUB65Gs7yHqSdY1chVzKxiMJ3HchWBKQ6
Anything else at all you want people to know about you? I am more concerned with/ passionate about social and sustainable entrepreneurship than traditional/ for-‐profit entrepreneurship. I believe all entrepreneurship requires a transformation to be more sustainable, just and legitimate. People have heretofore too many times been shut out of the process and impacts on them ignored or else unintended consequences of interventions-‐-‐both social and market based-‐-‐unaccounted for, poorly understood and thus too much harm and insufficient benefits distributed throughout society and the globe as a consequence of entrepreneurial action. For example, hotbeds of high-‐growth, high-‐ tech entrepreneurship such as Silicon Valley have and are failing in terms of inclusiveness and thus failing in terms of achieving collective economic and social impact potential. This needs to change and my project will be mindful of these larger issues. Title of your project? “Designing classroom processes for enhanced student engagement in collective entrepreneurial problem solving, solution development and impact.” 100-‐150 word summary of your change project? My project is for the undergraduate classroom at a public liberal arts university. I want to design a process that begins with the authentic concerns, desires, passions and/or pain points that students experience in their lives as consumers, citizens, etc. The process then leads them through intensive problem identification and analysis, which brings deeper understanding of and wisdom concerning the problem. This would occur in a collective/group problem-‐solving setting. The next step is to design a process for creating innovative solutions in such a group setting. While I
am familiar with and have used this general entrepreneurial problem solving and solution development process before, this project seeks to improve student engagement by designing greater student ownership of the issue and project, and strives to be more creative and impactful in the outcomes. Brief background about your change project? Over the past five years in which I have taught undergraduate-‐level introductory courses in entrepreneurship, I have noticed a bi-‐modal distribution of enthusiasm and entrepreneurial intention. Further, the vast majority of students choose a business idea which would be considered low value, lifestyle businesses, with limited impact on the market (i.e., not very innovative or impactful ventures). I believe, however, that the vast majority of students have the potential to think big and innovate for impactful and positive change, both in the marketplace and in society. Indeed, my perception is that most students mean well and want positive change in the business world and in society, but many do not know where to start or want someone else to take the lead and/or responsibility. I seek to change this observed status quo and provide effective opportunities for students to engage themselves in entrepreneurial thinking and action, which holds the potential for much greater impact. Your central question as it stands today? How do I, as an instructor of entrepreneurship, feel confident that students have gained knowledge, wisdom, confidence and increased their entrepreneurial passion, mindset and intention after taking my classes? What impact will they have on society after they graduate? An answer to the question "So what?" The magnitude and severity of collective action problems across the globe demands a millennial generation that has the drive, as well as the capacity, for innovative problem solving. Our business world is in many ways broken and needs to be transformed in order to be sustainable, just and indeed legitimate. The problem solving and solution developing processes I seek to design would be replicable and thus the collective impact promises to be significant and important. Anything else you want us to know? I most look forward to the collective wisdom and learning from this amazing team!