Looking Into the Future of STEM: Why Should I Want to Become an Entrepreneur?

Written by our 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow @Morgan Batiste-Simms

There are many moments in which I wonder why people are so enraptured by entrepreneurship. Unless you have a business background, or explicitly want to have a business background, you may wonder why you should gain skills for successful entrepreneurship. So, I’ve compiled a list of three points that might aid in the clarification behind the desire:

1. Entrepreneurial skills keep doors open, the STEM field included – science is an ever-evolving, fluctuating field. As time and science-education progresses, we are starting to see a trend of more dual degree postgraduate opportunities and more integrated STEM majors in undergraduate institutions (Biophysics majors, Analytical Chemists that concentrate in computer science etc.). It is becoming more common for people to have the ability to not choose but rather do “both” or “all” of their interests. This style of educational pursuit keeps as many doors open down the road for professionals to pivot if one field is more interesting or lucrative or essential than another. This same concept- keeping as many doors open professionally as possible- can be applied to the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. Maybe you have no interest in running a business at the moment (or ever). However, if there comes a day when you, your team, your lab, or your department, has an idea to address a pressing need, having those entrepreneurial skills increases your chances exponentially of seeing that idea come to fruition. What’s more, if that idea isn’t viable, having an entrepreneurial mindset gives you the skills to cut your losses before your losses sink you.

2. Recognize the scope of possible impact. Isn’t the likelihood of me running a successful startup low? Is the market not saturated enough with entrepreneurs? – While everyone can be an entrepreneur, meaning everyone can have the goal of creating a successful startup, most people do not follow through. There are a plethora of reasons one’s idea could fail to be a startup; not having a lucrative idea, not having the right skillset, being bogged down along the way and giving up, a better version of that idea already existing or in the works, you name it. While it might seem futile to synthesize a startup or business because ‘too many people’ want to do the same, it is important to recognize the scope of possible impact. There are over 7 billion people in the world and of that portion, around 6 billion people live in developing countries. The world still has major issues with poverty, food scarcity, climate change, energy scarcity, etc. While attempting a startup may seem worthless because of the city, state, or country you live in, putting it in global context brings the truth forward that if your idea is viable, it has the potential to go through globalization and/or technological inception.

3. Challenge yourself – So often, what we lack interest in ties into a lack of knowledge on the subject. If you have no desire to dip your toes into the business sector, is it truly because you are uninterested? Did you have a business background and then decide it was no longer for you? Or do you not understand it and so rather than trying to burst that information bubble, you push it away because things that are misunderstood are often associated with negative or uneasy sentiments? If you are uninterested because you do not understand it, challenge your mindset and learn the skills associated with being an entrepreneur. If at the end of your journey you have no desire to put those skills to use, then at the very least you have acquired new experience and thus perspective which is never invaluable. However, at the end of that journey, you may just find your own new personal desire to become an entrepreneur.

The Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship has the educational content to help you get started on this path to life long learning, and help you turn your innovative ideas into investable solutions.