Social Entrepreneurship As Youth Development: Findings from a Venture Program for Vulnerable Youth

Purpose: Promoting high school graduation and career readiness have been important goals for youth development and afterschool programs for low-income youth. While traditional mentoring, tutoring, and support programs have been successful in helping youth develop skills tied to these outcomes, new approaches have included training youth with entrepreneurial skills to meet these aims. Entrepreneurship training seems promising for helping youth develop leadership, life skills, project management skills and positive orientation towards the future, all of which are tied to education and employment outcomes.  Little research, however, has explored these programs, particularly, for low-income youth.  This study examined direct and indirect impacts of an entrepreneurship program on youth leadership and future orientation, considering social-emotional skills, project management skills, and financial literacy as potential mediators.

Methods: During 2015-2016, an entrepreneurship and venture development program enrolled close to 200 youth to promote positive youth development, and college and career readiness skills. The data come from surveys of youth who had participated in the program (n = 57) and a comparison group (n = 63) who had been recruited to the program but had not yet participated. The survey measured the motivation for participation, financial literacy, project skills, networks, social-emotional skills, and future orientation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the indirect and direct impacts of the program. The analysis controlled for demographic characteristics across age, gender, and race between the two groups.

Results: For the first model examining the outcome of youth leadership, participation in the entrepreneurship program led to an increase in financial literacy (b=0.39, p<0.001) and project management skills (b=0.39, p<0.001). This increase in project management skills, in turn, was associated with an increase in youth leadership (b=0.69, p<0.001). For the second model predicted for future orientation, participation in the youth venture program led to an increase in financial literacy (b=0.39, p<0.001). In turn, this increase was associated with an increase in future orientation (b=0.27, p<0.05). However, participation in the youth entrepreneurship program was not directly linked to social-emotional skills, youth leadership, and future orientation. All indicators loaded significantly on their latent constructs (e.g., social-emotional skills, project management skills, and financial literacy), supporting measurement adequacy. Overall, the model fit the data well.

Implications: This study provides some early evidence about the potential utility of entrepreneurship and venture creation programs as a mechanism for supporting positive youth development for low-income youth.  Finding ways to engage youth in programs that build leadership skills and positive future orientation support overall goals of preparing youth for high educational attainment and successful employment outcomes. Additional research is needed to link these proximal gains with eventual success in education and career. Understanding particular aspects of the program would also help build programs that maximize success. Entrepreneurship and venture development may become important elements of programs that support this population.