Leaders in Education Weigh In
“ Entrepreneurship education must be at the forefront of all educational frameworks . By infusing these types of principles , students graduate with the entrepreneurial mentality to encompass and employ multiple levels of knowledge to solve problems with an innovative solution .”
– Clinton Burch , Senior Officer for the Division of Career Exploration and Student Engagement at West Virginia University
“ An entrepreneurial mindset is something that we work to encourage across our public higher education system . Our colleges and universities work every day to help create an even stronger workforce for the state ’ s employers . At the same time , they are providing West Virginians with the resources and skills they need to create and build new ideas and enterprises that support our local economies . Whether through apprenticeships at one of our community and technical colleges or through scientific research at one of our universities , higher education is creating a strong foundation for West Virginia ’ s future entrepreneurs .”
– Dr . Sarah Armstrong Tucker , West Virginia ’ s Chancellor of Higher Education
“ We live in a world where the pace of change is accelerating as generative AI and other new technologies add increased velocity to this change . The ability to survive and thrive requires an entrepreneurial mindset . An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills that enables people to identify and make the most of opportunities , overcome and learn from setbacks and succeed in a variety of settings . Design thinking has emerged as the critical skill to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset . At its foundation , it includes three critical steps : One , fall in love with the problem ; two , go broad before going narrow to develop multiple hypotheses to solve the problem ; and three , conduct rapid experiments to validate the most viable solution . Together , we are building an ecosystem of entrepreneurial citizens with the 21st century skills to strengthen our communities , make existing businesses more competitive and start new businesses . Our goal is for West Virginia to become known as the Start-Up State .”
– Brad Smith , President of Marshall University set strategic priorities to advance youth entrepreneurship across the state . The results established the Youth Equity in Entrepreneurship subcommittee of the WVEE , which will activate a network of public and private sector partners to advocate for policy change , foster collaboration and provide education and support to providers . Across the K-16 continuum , education leaders and classroom educators are continuing to prioritize entrepreneurship education as a vital contributor to the talent pipeline and larger state entrepreneurship ecosystem .
In education , there is a learning model called the gradual release of responsibility . Within this model , the educator demonstrates a concept , empowers the student by applying the concept in tandem with them and then releases the student to perform the exercise independently . Ecosystem building can be viewed from this lens . Through the WVEE ’ s work and strategic engagement , West Virginia is building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem focused on connecting , co-creating and educating its current citizens and a future generation of entrepreneurs . •
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