Investing in your daughter’s entrepreneurial education is a smart strategy for preparing her for future successes. Girls must be engaged through entrepreneurial frameworks to develop a growth mindset—an understanding that their skills and capacities are ever-expanding.
Teaching girls entrepreneurial skills empowers them in life, regardless of career choice. Teaching our youth entrepreneurial skills and mindsets can empower the next generation of women to start and lead companies that can strengthen the U.S. economic future and standing in the world.
I believe that young girls are innately interested in acquiring entrepreneurial skills. Girls are curious and receptive. They are serious when it comes to having fun. I’m speaking as a mother and from hundreds of observations that show me that at age five, girls are ready for age-appropriate entrepreneurial exploration. Entrepreneurship education is a foundation for understanding economics and civics—big, but necessary, concepts for girls as young as five years old.
At its core, entrepreneurial education is about guiding girls’ exploration and encouraging them to take calculated risks to solve problems. Teaching entrepreneurial skills as a parent or instructor means being able to help girls reach their own conclusions. It means embracing a creative, risk-taking spirit ourselves and understanding that we don’t have all the answers. It’s about building their confidence so they can embrace the process of learning—with all its twists and turns.
We are facing an educational system that needs a major update and social norms that limit girls’ potential by affecting the way they see themselves. That’s why VentureLab is committed to empowering the important people in girls’ and students’ lives with teaching materials that help foster an entrepreneurial mindset.
I’d love to hear from you about how you encourage the girls in your life to develop entrepreneurial skills, and a sense that the world is filled with opportunities. What have been your experiences? Thank you for sharing.
