كارآفريني و رسالت دانشگاه

Entrepreneurship and the Mission of Universities

In the present decade the active population of the country will exceed 60 millions, and our society will require the creation of about 10 millions new jobs. Therefore, at present, considering the fact that the greatest challenge for Iranʹs economy is the crisis in unemployment, among the most important and fundamental duties of the government is to create jobs and open the society to entrepreneurship. Specifically, in line with its most recent orientations in the fields of research and technology, higher education has a far greater mission in this respect. It is noteworthy that in the United States, from 1969 to 1976, 81 percent of jobs were created by the private sector, which demonstrates the ineffectiveness of governmental systems in creating jobs. Based on studies conducted in the United States during the years 1980-1995, approximately 18 percent of jobs were produced by new businesses. Therefore, an educational approach to this issue is among the most crucial necessities of the countryʹs educational system, which must recognize and develop the talents of entrepreneurs and create an appropriate environment for developing their talents and thus creating jobs in the society. In the view of many analysts, entrepreneurship is the engine of change in society, and the life of economic systems lies in the destruction of old and ineffective foundations and replacing them with new and effective institutions. Entrepreneurs are risk-takers who by means of innovative methods, organization, products, and especially new marketing methods, perform the process of creative destruction within economic systems and bring about growth, economic development, and a renewal in the nationʹs life. In spite of the importance of this subject in the university system, the debate over entrepreneurship and the creation of related courses have thus far not been considered seriously. Whereas today, in the United States and Canada alone, entrepreneurship is actively taught in over 500 universities. The subject has been considered so important that, aside from economists, psychologists and sociologists are also studying it. in any event, in recent years, in developed and developing countries alike, an opinion has formed that the only way the unemployment crisis can be solved is through developing entrepreneurship and nourishing a new spirit of innovation in the society.