By Betsy Campbell, Assistant Professor and Research Associate, College of Education
Can you name some innovative entrepreneurs? This question is posed to students in the Accelerator Rap course on the first day of the semester. Without exception, students build a list of impressive founders who all happen to be white males. This is true even if the students do not identify as white or male.
Unfortunately, the lists the students make are reasonable reflections of the current ecosystem. Entrepreneurship and the surrounding domains such as venture capital are racialized and gendered professions. Similarly, popular media about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship also tends to highlight the experiences of white male founders.
The lack of diversity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem is usually framed in terms of the constraints it places on the innovations that emerge and the negative economic implications it has for individuals and communities. These are important aspects of diversity and entrepreneurship, and they deserve sustained attention. However, the impact of the lack of diversity in the media representations about entrepreneurship also warrants consideration.
As viewers, especially young viewers, experience representations of gender and race in the media, they are making meaning about their own identities and possible futures. Exposure to biased depictions of gender and race has been associated with lower self-esteem among girls and children of color. Perhaps seeing media about female founders, founders of color, and other under-represented founders in fictional and factual media could encourage more individuals to see themselves in innovative entrepreneurial work. Moreover, perhaps these positive representations could bolster viewers’ sense of self-efficacy, their sense of belonging in celebrated professions, and their sense of intrinsic value.
Students in the Accelerator Rap Course, as well as those in a related national contest, are challenged with creating short SchoolHouseRock-style animated music videos intended to help 8-12 year-old girls and kids of color see themselves as future founders. As they craft their inclusive videos, these students are required to think about their own biases and the biases present in the media about entrepreneurship. This often leads them to recognize the lack of diversity in other professions and in the media writ large. It leads some of them to explore entrepreneurial options for themselves for the first time.
Studies have yet to be done to determine what, if any, impact exposure to inclusive media about entrepreneurship might have on young people. But the inclusive animated music videos coming out of the Accelerator Rap course and related national Challenge are providing the foundational materials for such inquiries.
The 2022 Accelerator Rap Challenge Finale and Awards Presentation was held April 4. The winning entry is Fluffy Entrepreneurship by Kawaii Society Animation.
The winning animation from the 2022 Accelerator Rap Challenge can also be viewed in Borland Project Space (125 Borland Building, University Park) from April 7-14, 9am-5pm.
Find more information about The Accelerator Rap Challenge at https://sites.psu.edu/challenge.
