If UNC’s student entrepreneurial culture is ever going to reflect the University’s rich diversity, this is a lesson that needs to start in the classroom.
This editorial board recognizes that outside-the-classroom initiatives through the UNC Minor in Entrepreneurship and the Kenan-Flagler Business School are certainly a step in the right direction. Notably, Women in Entrepreneurship and the UNC Alliance for Minority Business Students are shaping campus conversations on race and gender in these fields.
But instructors must realize that these initiatives are not enough to change campus innovation culture. Real change among student entrepreneurs will only come when classroom leadership in departments that foster entrepreneurship and business strive for greater inclusivity.
Leaders of these departments state that they wish to demonstrate a serious commitment to creating a diverse student body. To do this, women and minority students in the business school and the minor in entrepreneurship should be able to see examples of success — in the classroom — that mirror their identities. When creating lineups of guest speakers, professors should choose diverse examples of entrepreneurial success so that student entrepreneurs may also recognize diverse leaders among themselves.
In these classrooms and in this field, where so much of success depends on peer group dynamics, it is critical that minority students leave these classroom settings identifying as entrepreneurs and that their peers become accustomed to diversity in that title as well.
To create an open environment of campus entrepreneurship, these departments have a responsibility to mindfully present diverse examples of leadership. As the entrepreneurship minor posts its applications for a new class this week, and as the business programs prepare for a new class of students, we urge them to prioritize giving center stage to diverse examples of entrepreneurship.
