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Branksome Hall

K-12 Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Education for Girls: A Literature Review

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K-12 Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Education for Girls: A Literature Review

Overview

This literature review explores the concepts of entrepreneurship and social
innovation; how they translate into best practices in entrepreneurship
pedagogies and programs in Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) education; and
the research on girls’1 and women’s involvement in such activities through an
intersectional lens. The objective of this literature review is to provide educators,
administrators, and other education stakeholders with background information
on K-12 entrepreneurship education and programming for girls, as well as a list of
resources to implement in the classroom and beyond.

Introduction

Entrepreneurship and innovation are complementary and interconnected terms used to describe the development of new and original ideas, solutions or products. Although there is no universal definition of entrepreneurship, here we borrow from Chasserio and colleagues’ (2014) perspective, in which individuals either start a new or acquire an existing business, initiative, or non-profit. Entrepreneurship is a multidisciplinary field with opportunities to develop skills and knowledge over multiple subject areas such as business, sociology, psychology, and mathematics (Studdard et al., 2013). Discussions around entrepreneurship often reinforce the value of opportunism, risk-taking, and designing new combinations of processes, as well as innovation (Bird & Brush, 2002). Research also points to a cultural mind-shift; in entrepreneurship major social issues are approached not as problems but rather as opportunities for growth and innovation (Huysentruyt, 2014). This perspective empowers individuals to act but can also have neo-liberal connotations of generating profit from social issues.

Innovation is a term often used in business, science, and technology; in its most essential form it can be described as “new ideas that work” (Mulgan et al., 2007, p. 8). Social innovation expands on the definition of innovation to encompass ideas that work to meet social needs and improve people’s lives (Mulgan et al., 2007). Similarly, a social enterprise can be defined as an initiative or business with “potential to help lead society to evolve a genuine, caring ‘shared value’ economy—a society where societal and economic progress are much more tightly, boldly, and positively linked together” (Huysentruyt, 2014, p. 4). Such enterprises can be found in sectors ranging from education to health, social work, and community services, as well as energy and retail. Despite recent growth of social entrepreneurship, it is still very much a niche area, with an average of 3.7 percent of 18-64 year-olds around the world involved in this type of activity (Bosma et al., 2016).