Career Focus

This course is designed for students who want to understand the central role that education plays in our economy and society and who may want to play an active role (e.g., as an entrepreneur, board member, etc.) in shaping the future workforce, bringing about a more equitable society, and improving the trajectories of our nation’s youth.

The cases feature social entrepreneurs leveraging entrepreneurial and managerial practices to deliver pattern-breaking change in K-12, Higher Ed, and education-focused non-profits. The course covers adaptive and personalized learning, disruptive innovations such as AI and machine learning, achieving system-level change amidst competing goals, and deepening understanding of the complexities and constraints of the sector to ferret out what works. Cases are set in various markets including the U.S., China, and India. Nearly all of the sessions include visits from case protagonists.

The course also tackles career questions for students who wonder how to make a difference in the education sector while pursuing a career in other industries.

Course Content and Organization

In addition to an introductory module which will provide background and context of the education sector, the course will be organized into three modules:

• Identifying challenges and opportunities: How can social entrepreneurs identify the most important problems to be solved in education while building a successful enterprise? We will explore the use of problem-solving and ideation approaches to examine and evaluate projects being pursued in the sector.
• Evaluating opportunities: How should social entrepreneurs define success for parents and schools while satisfying investors? We will examine ventures that are rapidly adapting technology, selling directly to parents (e.g., consumers) as well as to institutions (e.g., colleges, schools). We will evaluate emerging ideas and ventures and get a chance to ponder the question of how social entrepreneurs can do well and do good at the same time.
• Achieving transformative change: Beyond scaling a successful product or service, what will it take to achieve large-scale change such as addressing systemic inequities? We will pay special attention to the way that social entrepreneurs inside and outside educational systems are working to break the pattern that maintains the status quo of inequity and achieve transformative change.

We will tackle these topics through case discussions and a group simulation exercise that will provide hands-on experience of leading an education enterprise.

Nearly all the classes will feature a guest. This course also draws on the extensive experiences of the instructor who has been an active social entrepreneur, investor, and board member in the sector for the past three decades. Three-quarters of the cases are on private enterprises (for-profit and non-profit) and about a third of the cases are on private venture-backed companies. A third of the cases are set in a non-US context.

Grading and Course Requirements

Grading is based on class participation (50%) and final project/paper (50%)

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