ERIC Number: EJ1282474
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 40
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1050-8406
EISSN: N/A
Redefining Entrepreneurialism in the Maker Movement: A Critical Youth Approach
Greenberg, Day; Calabrese Barton, Angela; Tan, Edna; Archer, Louise
Journal of the Learning Sciences, v29 n4-5 p471-510 2020
Background: This paper explores traditional iterations of, and new challenges to, the tightly linked discourses of entrepreneurship and innovation within the maker movement. Methods: In a yearlong critical ethnographic study with 12 youth makers, we investigated how youth engaged with and redefined entrepreneurialism through their identity work as justice-oriented, community makers. Findings: Examining youth experiences of entering their making designs into a regional youth Entrepreneurial Faire, we found that the dominant cultures of making and entrepreneurialism at the Faire presented limited opportunities for equitable participation in either. However, youth makers' community justice-oriented efforts disrupted relationships of power among youth, adults, STEM-rich making, and society. Their critical youth approach argued for a new vision for entrepreneurialism/entrepreneurship. Youth reconfigured a "critical maker-entrepreneurialism" through practices multidimensionally grounded in a) re-humanizing making and b) building community. Their public discourses highlighted what this effort could produce for community justice and community well-being. Their critical reconfiguration actions revealed and challenged inequitable values and practices driven by inherent White, male, middle-class bias and neoliberalism. Contribution: Youth efforts call for a re-imagination and new recognition of what counts as participation, expertise, and success in both making and entrepreneurialism. We discuss implications for a more socially just entrepreneurialism.
Descriptors: Entrepreneurship, Ethnography, Youth, Self Concept, Social Justice, Well Being, Power Structure, Barriers, STEM Education, Adults, Social Differences, Clubs, Mentors, Youth Programs
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1421116