The entrepreneurial spirit is lurking inside many a “wayward” youth, it just needs ignition with the right sort of spark, according to a UQ researcher.
Louise Earnshaw is exploring the similarities between high profile entrepreneurs and street kids in a project aimed at streaming young people with “chutzpah” into entrepreneurial pursuits that are financially rewarding.
The Bad Guys and Bigwigs project is now scouting for young people with potential, who may be hiding unproductively on the streets, in schools, youth organisations or detention centres.
“The traditional path for young people is to go to university, get a job, and work for someone else. This may be fine for some, but there are many who will never fit this mould, and quite often, these people have entrepreneurial potential because they’re risk-takers, non-conformists, and are prepared to break rules,” Ms Earnshaw said.
“I’m not condoning ratbag behaviour – what we are aiming to do is take that behaviour and use it constructively. Past research has shown that there are people who have entrepreneurial talent but lack the tools to apply it productively.”
“This research is all about presenting options to kids, it is about changing the perceptions of the young person`s self image, and reversing the often deep-seated beliefs that they are ‘bad’ or ‘naughty’. If they are naturally gregarious and maverick, then they can learn to use these talents for legal gain, rather than continual law-breaking and acting out.”
As part of her PhD research, Ms Earnshaw is undertaking workshops aimed at helping young people recognise their tremendous talents and potential, no matter how “wayward” they are at present.
“We’re introducing the principles of entrepreneurship, and aim to help young people learn to take responsibility for their behaviour and to use it constructively,” she said.
The workshops present work and career prospects in a completely new light. They’re designed to provoke thought for young people using active/interactive activities and participant involvement.”
The message for “chutzpah” kids — those who are gutsy, gregarious, resilient, audacious, affable, anarchistic and brazen — is that they have entrepreneurial potential on tap.
Ms Earnshaw may now be a registered psychologist practising at Indigo House at New Farm and doing postgraduate research, but she also is a self-confessed wild child who is using entrepreneurial research to channel her “wayward” tendencies.
She is being supervised by UQ Psychology Department’s Dr Peter Newcombe and Professor Neil Ashkanasy in the School of Management. There has already been industry support for the research: Austral Honda at Newstead has provided a new vehicle to support the field work. The concept will go international when a paper is presented at a conference in Hawaii in June.
For more information about the project, contact Ms Earnshaw at louise@psy.uq.edu.au.
Media: For further information contact Louise Earnshaw (mobile 0407 653 823, telephone 07 3892 2941).
