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Entrepreneurship in American Higher Education
Robert A. Chernow*
Summary
Colleges and universities in the U.S. are just beginning to build on their rich histories
(and they all have interesting histories) to create a new future for their institutions and
American society. They are beginning to create campus cultures where all their students
and faculty are encouraged to think more entrepreneurially, including thinking in more
creative and innovative ways within each discipline of study. They also are beginning to
create seamless connections across disciplines to help unleash the energy and talent of
their diverse faculty, students, and alumni; and they are providing their students and
faculty with more hands-on learning and development of practical experience in whatever
discipline they choose to study. Most universities still face challenges in bringing about
this transformation on their campuses, and they are just beginning to recognize that it
goes beyond strategy and structure: they also recognize that it requires a major behavioral
change on the part of their faculty and administration for lasting change to take hold. The
importance of this change is not being underestimated, however. Universities and
colleges in the U.S. recognize that American society and its economic viability hangs in
the balance.
This paper discusses a new development in American higher education: interdisciplinary
(or cross campus) entrepreneurship education. The paper briefly discusses why
entrepreneurship is so important to American society; provides a working definition of an
entrepreneur; describes some important lessons learned about introducing programs of
entrepreneurship on a university campus; and ends with some thoughts about the
challenges of bringing about behavioral change at American universities. While much of
what is discussed may apply in part to Brazil as a society and to the Brazilian university,
it will be left to the reader to make those connections.
American Entrepreneu