Governments must support current and future generations of young entrepreneurs by enacting long-term education policies that develop enduring cultures of entrepreneurship.
Our report “From classroom to boardroom” examines education policy proposals designed to enable cultures of high-impact entrepreneurship in G20 countries. Released at this year’s G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (YEA) Summit in Turkey, the report provides recommendations and clear milestones for governments around these proposals.
The G20 YEA summit will feed these recommendations to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November, which will focus on global employment.
High-impact entrepreneurship
Persistent youth unemployment and ever-present demands for innovation, sustainability and social inclusion are compelling G20 governments to support high-impact entrepreneurship among youth.
This support is critical to generating gains in income, employment, productivity and competitiveness. At the same time, a positive entrepreneurship culture is needed to advance the development and scaling of high-impact firms.
For G20 governments, education is the key channel for strengthening culture. Policymakers must uncover best-in-class methods that foster real improvements in entrepreneurial culture in their respective economies.
However, lasting changes in education systems — and real changes to culture — take time. Governments must make a long-term commitment to reform their education systems and begin implementing new policies today.
Policy recommendations
Our report lays out six policy recommendations for governments to enact now and over various time periods in the future.
1 |
Create a G20 multilateral entrepreneurs start-up visa (now) Multilateral visas, or regional visa programs, are vital to improving labor mobility, conducting business internationally, and transferring positive entrepreneurial culture and norms throughout the G20. Some countries, such as the UK and Canada, already offer similar visa schemes aimed at entrepreneurs and start-ups. |
2 |
Encourage international networking (now) New and young entrepreneurs need to network and collaborate to exchange knowledge, mentor each other and transmit entrepreneurship culture. Many EU countries offers student mobility programs that expose budding entrepreneurs to international markets through government-sponsored trade missions. |
3 |
Start teaching entrepreneurship early (near-term) Governments need to support entrepreneurship education in primary schools to create an entrepreneurial mindset and expand entrepreneurial culture. Examples include experiential learning and entrepreneurship training, as well as extracurricular programs. |
4 |
Continue these programs during secondary/tertiary education with a pivot toward vocational education and industry partnerships (near-term) Education initiatives to build on primary school programs are critical at the secondary and tertiary level to deepen students’ entrepreneurial mindset and convert this thinking into commercial practice. |
5 |
Focus on quality entrepreneurship and quality employment (medium-term) Governments can use culture as a key driver to support growth in high-impact entrepreneurs, not “lifestyle” entrepreneurs. This includes targeted grants, recognition of success and enablement of networks that support knowledge transfer and risk-taking. |
6 |
Establish longitudinal programs to link culture and education to impact (long-term) Entrepreneurial education programs need evidence that links education and culture to its effects, including innovation and job creation. Initiatives that encourage knowledge-sharing and community development are also important to replicate lessons learned, scale programs and provide longitudinal data on programs. |
