Entrepreneurs bring new ideas, technologies, and solutions to market and improve how we live. As the rate of change escalates, entrepreneurship is even more valued. In the entrepreneurship minor, students are prepared to become part of the entrepreneurial changes taking place. In this program, HOW students learn is as important as WHAT they learn. The program focuses on doing. All entrepreneurship classes use experiential learning as a key framework for immersing students in the entrepreneurial process. The classes embrace the art of competition, learning new technology, working with students from multiple disciplines on campus, networking with entrepreneurs and investors, building on their ideas, and in some cases, winning significant funds to move their ideas forward. Entrepreneurship students come from multiple colleges at UA; this means team experiences provide students with unique opportunities to meet a diverse group of peers. Entrepreneurship learning provides students with a lifelong love of innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. No matter where the entrepreneurship students take jobs or create their own jobs, they are a positive force for innovation, growth, and change.
Entrepreneurship students are prepared to take multiple types of jobs:
Start a Business or New Venture Development – students start businesses right out of college, and others wait until later in their careers and use what they learn in their first jobs with more established firms to then open up their own businesses later in life. The support network obtained while going through classes helps entrepreneurs who want to start their businesses during their school years and right after graduation.
Work with Firms that are Growing and Scaling – some students take positions with growth firms, using their entrepreneurship learning to help drive new projects and products. They also accept positions with more established, larger firms that are looking for employees who can take on new programs and run with them, who can develop new ideas and help implement them and who can support continuous improvement based on ability to problem solve and ideate.
Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Incubation – students who enjoy the finance side of entrepreneurship can take positions with venture capital (VC) or private equity firms as well as in incubators and accelerators. Some of these VC units are part of larger, established firms while others are independent organizations. In these jobs, students are often involved in evaluating startups and then consulting with the entrepreneurs.
Small and family businesses – many students go into their own family businesses, helping them grow. Others start small, local businesses, and another group focuses on starting or joining not-for-profit businesses or firms focused on social entrepreneurship.
A Better First Job – no matter where entrepreneurship students choose to go for their first job, the confidence, network, and skills obtained from this program provide them with a better first job. The ability to move from idea to product / service to commercialization and growth is a skill in demand by many types of organizations and a skill that provides each student with the ability to evaluate, start and grow their own companies. The program provides students with a network that supports entrepreneurial activity anywhere.
