Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy<\/a>.<\/p>\nUniversity accelerators – which provide coaching, mentoring, and funding – have long measured success by long-term business stability and revenue generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started to ask some different questions to entrepreneurs about what they really need in their early stages that will allow them to be successful over time,\u201d says McGloin. \u201cWe learned that what they want and need is more communication skill development, whether it is internal with their employees and partners, or external with customers, vendors, and investors. If they can\u2019t tell their story in a compelling fashion, it really limits what they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGloin and his team interviewed self-identified entrepreneurs who had previously participated in a multi-week CCEI program and asked questions about which skills they wish they had developed earlier and sooner to help them achieve their goals more quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the paper, we made recommendations for what university accelerators should be considering and how they should go about implementing a pedagogy around developing those skills,\u201d says McGloin.<\/p>\n
Many university accelerators focus on pitching the business. However, the researchers learned that early training on managing team and partners was equally important to entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is quite compelling for UConn, as we have so many engineers and life scientists whose research is often at their bench,\u201d says McGloin. \u201cThey are saying that they need to become much more adept at managing people and keeping them excited and engaged in the long process, which does not come naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already adjusted some of our programming at CCEI to allow us to integrate small group communication and team development. We are no longer just training entrepreneurs to pitch to investors, but also to employees and partners on what the mission is. That was a breakthrough for us – because if you look at the literature, this isn\u2019t something that people have really been talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGloin\u2019s research team had a wide range of experience from UConn undergraduates to full-time faculty members.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project started in its infancy about two and a half years ago and we decided to go with a qualitative approach,\u201d says McGloin. \u201cThat meant I had to pull in experts from a number of different areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second author of the paper was Arianna Saxton \u201923 (CLAS), which is an example of UConn\u2019s priority of undergraduates performing research.\u00a0 Associate professor of communication Elizabeth Hintz, a new member of the UConn faculty, organized the manuscript and synthesized the quantitative data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had an awesome team \u2013 and it included everyone from tenured faculty and doctoral students to undergraduate and master\u2019s students. The opportunity to bring so many great people together was the best part,\u201d says McGloin. \u201cIt was an interdisciplinary effort and is a great example of our UConn research community.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGloin says CCEI is evolving on \u201can almost daily basis,\u201d much like a start-up company. The team was rounded out by our CCEI executive director Jennifer Mathieu who McGloin credits for creating a culture that celebrates entrepreneurship in all of its forms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask questions to make sure our programs are effective\u201d says McGloin. \u201cWe want to make sure we are not just delivering programming; but we are also asking questions about what the entrepreneurs are learning and what skills they feel they need to develop. We turn that information around and publish those findings so others in the field can learn and grow with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGloin says that CCEI has made a particular choice to develop entrepreneurial skills first and, as a byproduct, the entrepreneur increases their start-up and business acumen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarket conditions for businesses can have huge influences on whether something is successful or not \u2013 But, we believe that if CEEI does a great job in our programming, providing the entrepreneur an opportunity to develop critical skills, self-efficacy, competence, and of course, communication skills, it will empower them for a lifetime of success whether they take those skills to build their own business or take them to an existing organization.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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