Entrepreneurship Symposium

Universities in developed as well as developing countries are embracing entrepreneurship education. However, the picture is not rosy when considering entrepreneurship education in sub-Saharan Africa. Very often, entrepreneurship education differs less from education in other traditional fields. Moreover, the lack of qualified faculty has rendered the situation relatively bleak. Hence, the purpose of this Symposium in to engage the dialog of making entrepreneurship education in sub-Saharan Africa more practical. In so doing, the Symposium builds on the expertise of world-class entrepreneurship educators and scholars and practitioners.

The Symposium is sponsored by the College of Business at Delaware State University in conjunction with Seeka University, a start-up university devoted to teaching entrepreneurship, engineering and technology in Ivory Coast. The Symposium includes six tracks:

Discussion Topic #1. Entrepreneurship Education in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

This topic addresses the challenges of entrepreneurship education in sub-Saharan Africa. Although entrepreneurship can play an importance role in tackling the myriad of problems facing this region of the world, there are challenges in developing an appropriate and relevant entrepreneurship education system. The challenges include the lack of qualified faculty, outdated teaching materials as well as a clear academic vision. In spite of these difficulties, there is hope that entrepreneurship education in sub-Saharan Africa can be improved. The section also focuses on the role of technology in fostering blended entrepreneurship education involving remote learning and MOOCs.

Discussion #2. Entrepreneurship Pedagogies I: Active Learning Pedagogies

Entrepreneurship pedagogies are the main focus of the Symposium that intends to highlight the hand-on-aspect of entrepreneurship education. The section will explore several teaching tools. These active learning pedagogies include experiential exercises, ideation exercises, case studies, entrepreneurship practicum, problem-based pedagogies, and action learning, to name but a few.

Discussion Topic #3. Entrepreneurship Pedagogies II: Storytelling

This section continues the previous one on entrepreneurship education pedagogies. Learning pedagogies, such as action learning, storytelling, drama and fire camps are used to emphasize the teaching of entrepreneurship as practice.

Discussion Topic #4. Teaching Youth & Women Entrepreneurship

According to the statistics from the United Nations, more than 70% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is below 35 years old. This young population and vibrant population can be the target of entrepreneurship education because of the scarcity of jobs in the public and even private sectors. Hence, entrepreneurship education aimed at transforming these young people into job creators rather than job seekers is of paramount importance. The same is true for women who represent the large number of entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the informal sector. The session explores the techniques and methodologies of teaching entrepreneurship to this population.

Discussion Topic #5. Teaching Community and Social Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship education is sub-Saharan Africa should and must be holistic and be performed beyond formal classrooms. Indeed, the informal selector is an important part if not the most important sector of most economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, any entrepreneurship education in sub-Saharan Africa should not overlooked this sector. Likewise, entrepreneurship education should also embrace the social sector to

Discussion Topic #6. Teaching Arts and Cultural Entrepreneurship

Sub-Saharan Africa is a land rich in arts and culture. Yet, entrepreneurship education has not paid a particular attention to this sector. This Symposium embraces the integration of arts and culture in entrepreneurship education. The aim is to foster the creation of new ventures promoting African art and culture.