Start-Ups Aren't Taught Anymore

In July, I finished a service year in Pittsburgh, PA, and had been placed at a community development corporation in a predominantly African-American, historically under-served, and low-income neighborhood. One of the programs we offered was a free small business counseling session that we coordinated with two of the universities in Pittsburgh. The business counseling was for both new and existing start-ups (one woman came in for counseling and had been running her business for nine years but needed to revamp her business plan). 

In addition to past (and present) legislation that severely decreased African-American equity in Pittsburgh, the largest issue I noticed from the various small businesses and social entrepreneurs was simply the lack of knowledge on who and where to go to for support. I agree with Harrison's article in that millennials (myself included) generally have more debts to pay off than previous generations and that we are more inclined to focus on job security, rather than risk, but I think the educational component on entrepreneurship is either missed or forgotten in schools and universities. 

I read an article earlier this week on LinkedIn by John Chambers, Chairman Emeritus of Cisco, titled, We Need to Add Another “E” to STEM, in which he explains how schools are encouraging conformity and obedience rather than creativity. From the start of our formal education, we are taught that grades matter and that sticking to the rules is important. We never want to step out and be "that kid" or "that guy" in situations where it may be appropriate to do so because the idea that standing out is wrong has been passively drilled into our heads by both the educational system and society since we were in grade school. Then we get to college where everyone is encouraged to express themselves and to try new experiences. It is not surprising that many people my age have serious anxiety disorders and/or depression. How are we expected to ignore the past 13-14 years of our lives where being ourselves is frowned upon and suddenly express ourselves?

Many of us, during those same 13-14 years, have been constantly reminded that after we went to college, we would have jobs and be financially stable, the whole college success story. The reality of the post-college experience is that many companies do not want to hire fresh college graduates who may only have experience working on campus. Many companies do not want to change the way they do things and they are certainly not looking for some 20-year-old to mix everything up (perhaps out of fear of losing their own job). Because of this limiting hiring strategy, millennials are forced to start their careers performing in roles that have nothing to do with their degree. We end up at a company we do not care about, or worse, at a company that does not care about us, working in a position that we are not interested in (*see previous paragraph on high anxiety and depression rates).

The only realistic options are to quit and find another company that will hire you, often taking months of applying to simply get an interview, work a minimum-wage retail job, or, for the more innovative, start your own business with no knowledge and no network, due to a lack of experience because you are still in your 20s, leading you back to square one. It is a vicious low-paying cycle that I think can only be broken by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation at a younger age. 

Entrepreneurship at a much younger age would allow the creative minds to flourish, rather than wilt under the shadow of conformity. With a more engaging and open experience as you progress through the education system in the United States, by the time you would reach college, you could already have a decent support network (or at least have the confidence to build a network based around your ideas) and may not have to rely on luck or your own personal financial investment to establish a small business.