Dissertation Defense Announcement by Peter G. Maribei
Date and Time
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
This event occurred in the past
- Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
Location
Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, 127
5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110Cost
*Free
Sponsor(s)
Details
A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING IN A UNIVERSITY-BASED SOCIAL VENTURE PLAN COMPETITION
By Peter G. Maribei
Committee
Cheryl Getz, EdD, Chair
Lea Hubbard, PhD, Member
Tara C. Salinas, PhD, Member
ABSTRACT
Social Venture Plan Competitions (SVPC) are increasing in higher education because of the belief that more and better social ventures can help address “wicked” social problems. Students have been offered guidance and cash awards to launch or expand social ventures resulting in a few highly publicized success stories. Designed as a learning-by-doing approach, SVPCs are meant to simulate how entrepreneurs are thought to learn. For ethical reasons, it is not possible to create the ambiguity and uncertainty typical of new venture creation. Because of this, it is believed that students receive the impression, contested by some scholars, that a social venture plan is central to the entrepreneurial process. The value of SVPCs has, therefore, been questioned. Missing in the debate is the voice of students as key actors in their own education and development.
This study sought to understand the perspectives of a sample of nine students regarding their engagement and learning in a SVPC. The participants were undergraduate students from two different universities who participated in a winning entry in a SVPC. Using a narrative inquiry approach, the study collected participants’ lived stories to better understand: (a) their motivations, goals, and values for participation; (b) the meaning they made of their experiences; and, (c) how their sense of self-identity was impacted. Additional data was collected from direct observations and materials obtained from the SVPC’s web portal.
Findings suggest that most participants were part of a student group or project that was seeking funding for the costs of developing or testing a prototype for a creative product or service with potentially social benefits. Participants who launched a venture were found to have invested a substantial amount of “sweat equity,” a term used to describe the commitment in time and money needed to launch a new firm. Although participants varied in the way that they constructed, or failed to construct, an entrepreneurial identity, they all reported benefits such as an expanded network, increased self-confidence, and improved problem-solving and communication skills among other enterprising behaviors. The implications and recommendations for the design and delivery of social entrepreneurship education programs are discussed.
*Free to USD Graduate Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni