Toward a Race-Conscious Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

This article advocates for race-conscious science, technology, engineering/computer science, and mathematics (STEM) innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) education. Results from a national survey of the academic plans and career trajectories of underrepresented and minoritized (URM) STEM students and alumni suggest that URM STEM students need robust opportunities to apply their scientific and engineering insights to societal problems, while empowering them to be entrepreneurs. Specifically, we find evidence of a relationship between racialized stress and racial activism for nascent URM STEM entrepreneurs among master’s and doctoral STEM students the majority of whom identify as African American/Black and/or Latinx/Hispanic/Chicano. Furthermore, entrepreneurial intent among Black STEMers is greatest among those who have experienced social suffering coupled with a desire for racial justice, and this relationship is amplified for students and alumni of minority serving institutions (MSIs). This study makes the case for advancing a critical and socio-historical scholarship of STEM I&E education to promote URM STEM entrepreneurship.