As an entrepreneurship educator I'm often faced with the question "Can we teach entrepreneurship?". I prepared this presentation to share my thoughts on it at Global Entrepreneurship Week 2016 in Qatar.

1. Emad Saif
Center for Entrepreneurship
Qatar University
CAN WE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
TEACH
#GEWQATAR
@QUCFE

2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP

3. ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Is important

4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Create jobs
Economic
growth
Source of
innovation
Personal
development

5. ENTREPRENEURSHIP TREND

6. ENTREPRENEURSHIP TREND
23 Million
Businesses in USA
40 Million Jobs
in the past 30 years
49%
Increase since 1982
www.topcollegeonline.org

7. ENTREPRENEURSHIP
COURSES
In the past 40 years …
104
600
5,000+
Universities that have
entrepreneur courses in 1975
Schools that have entrepreneur
courses in 1986
Courses in entrepreneurship
offered at 2,600 schools by
2013
www.topcollegeonline.org

8. ENTREPRENEURSHIP TREND
0
50
100
150
200
250
Fall
2012
Spring
2013
Fall
2013
Spring
2014
Fall
2014
Spring
2015
Fall
2015
Spring
2016
Fall
2016
Minor in Entrepreneurship
Total Students

9. identifying meaningful problems and
executing on novel solutions
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
NOT solely on the
creation of new
businesses

10. Can we teach a person to become an entrepreneur?
ENTREPRENEUR EDUCATION
person Entrepreneur

11. NEED MORE ENTREPRENEURS!

12. CAN WE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
TEACH

13. YOU
CAN’T
OH YES, WE
CAN

14. Entrepreneurs are born not made

15. Entrepreneurship can’t be taught
in classrooms like other subjects

16. Academics are not fit to teach
Entrepreneurship

17. Entrepreneurs don’t need education …
look at Zuckerberg, Jobs and Gates!

18. Where are the success stories?WHERE ARE THE SUCCESS STORIES?

19. VALID ARGUMENTS

20. QUALITY OF ENTREP-EDUCATION
WHO
is teaching
WHAT
is being taught
HOW
it is being taught
WHO
is learning it
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM

21. WHO
is teaching
• Do entrepreneurship educators have
entrepreneurial experience?
• Can they teach and inspire?
• Are they relatable to local aspiring
entrepreneurs?
• Are they actively involved in the
entrepreneurship ecosystem?

22. Management
Professor
Industry
Expert
Guest
Entrepreneur
?
Entrepreneurial
Experience
Work
Experience
Teaching
Experience
Charisma
& influence
Active
Network
WHO CAN TEACH ENTREPRENUERSHIP?
+ + + +
ENTREPRENUERSHIP EDUCATOR

23. WHAT
is being taught
• What information are we teaching our
students?
(i.e. business concepts & theory)
• What skills are we teaching our
students?
(i.e. writing a business plan,
negotiate, pitch ideas)
• What can’t we teach our students?
(i.e. be creative, take risk, have a
vison)

24. TEACHABLE
Negotiation
Business Planning
Pitching
Market Research
Write a business plan
NOT TEACHABLE
Passion
Creativity
Taking Risk
Perseverance
Vision
Not implementable by everyone

25. Divergent Thinking
(Using Imagination)
Convergent Thinking
(Using logic)
Lateral Thinking
(Using both)
IDEA IDEA
IDEA
IDEA
IDEA
IDEA
ANSWERQUESTION
FACT FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
DEVELOP LATERAL THINKING
INSTEAD OF TRADITIONAL THINKING

26. SHIFT FOCUS TO
SOFT SKILLS
INSTEAD OF JUST
TECHNICAL
BUSINESS SKILLS

27. HOW
it is being taught
• Are we applying best practices &
using latest entrepreneurship tools?
• Are we emphasizing practice or
theory?
• Are we localizing our teaching
approach or just copying others?
• Are we evaluating our performance
and improving our approach?

28. “ What we have to learn to do,
we learn by doing ”
- Aristotle

29. BABSON
COLLEGE
ranked 1st in
Entrepreneurship
Began offering its
Entrepreneurship
program in 1967

30. Play
Empathy
CreationExperimentation
Reflection
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PRACTICE

31. TEACHING USING QUILTS & PUZZLES

32. SUCCESS STORIES
UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS
• Berkeley offers incubator
support to startups
• MIT allows independent
activity periods for hands-on
experience across campus
• Cornell combines courses
across disciplines containing
entrepreneurship content to
create degree
• Harvard offers MBAs

33. SHIFT FOCUS TO
MORE
INTERACTIVITY &
LESS THEORY

34. WHO
is learning it
• Who are interested in learning
entrepreneurship?
(students, entrepreneurs,
employees, educators …etc.
• What are their demographics?
• What are their skills?
Any previous startup experience?
• What are their motivations & goals?

35. “ It’s not whether we can
teach entrepreneurship, of
course we can do that. It’s
who you can teach it to ”
Steve Blank
Silicon Valley serial-entrepreneur

36. 11.5
million
Entrepreneurs
in USA
Average Age:
40
95%
Bachelor's degree
47%
Advanced degree
THE
ENTREPRENEURIAL
DEMOGRAPHICS
www.topcollegeonline.org

38. THE WAY
FORWARD

39. NOT strictly to produce entrepreneurs
OUR GOAL
as entrepreneurship educators
Inspire people to learn about
entrepreneurship & their role in it

40. Can we teach a person to become an entrepreneur?
ENTREPRENEUR EDUCATION
person Entrepreneur
think entrepreneurially?
Entrepreneurial
person

41. ENTREPRENEUR EDUCATION
Entrepreneurial
person
Entrepreneur
Intrepreneur
Social
Entrepreneur
Supporter

42. THE WAY FORWARD
1. DEVELOP OUR ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION
• Who is teaching it?
• What is being taught?
• How it’s being taught?
• Who is learning it?
• How to build the ecosystem?
2. MEASURE SUCCESS DIFFERENTLY
• Entrepreneurial Mindset not just number of startups
3. HIGHLIGHT & SUPPORT LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS
4. SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• Building a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem takes time

43. CAN WE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
TEACH
YES, WE CAN!

44. STILL LEARNING 
HOW WE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
TEACH

45. Emad Saif
Center for Entrepreneurship
Qatar University
@esaif | www.emadsaif.com
THANK YOU!
#GEWQATAR
@QUCFE