Visa USA/National Federation of Independent Business Youth Entrepreneurship Teacher Survey
Online survey of 350 high school teachers and guidance counselors conducted from April 25 – May 9, 2006
| Overwhelming number of teachers/guidance counselors say students have expressed an interest in one day becoming their own boss: | ||
| Have any of your students ever expressed an interest in starting their own business someday? | ||
| 90% | Yes | |
| 10% | No | |
| Students don't necessarily know where to turn for help: | ||
| Do you think that today's high school students know where to go to get the help they need to start their own company? | ||
| 10% | Yes | |
| 75% | No | |
| 16% | Don't know | |
| Seventy-four percent of teachers/guidance counselors whose schools do not offer instruction on how to start a business think that it should be provided: | ||
| Does your school offer instruction that gives students the basic know-how to start a business? | ||
| 35% | Yes | |
| 43% | No | |
| 22% | Don't know | |
| (If No/Don't Know) Do you think your school should offer instruction that gives students the basic know-how to start a business? | ||
| 74% | Yes | |
| 26% | No | |
| Sixty-four percent of respondents said having high schools offer classes that give students the basic know-how to start a business would be the most helpful way to encourage more students to follow their dreams of someday starting their own company: | ||
| From your perspective, which of the following would be the most helpful to encourage more students to follow their dreams of starting their own business? | ||
| 64% | Have high schools offer classes that give students the basic know-how to start a business | |
| 20% | Encourage high school students to get jobs after school to get exposed to business at an early age | |
| 3% | Encourage high school students to regularly read the business section of the newspaper | |
| 12% | Encourage them to read books about successful people who've started their own businesses | |
| In schools that offer entrepreneurship instruction, 30 percent of respondents said their students are more likely to start their own business one day. This number dropped to only 19 percent among those who were surveyed in schools that do not offer any entrepreneurship instruction: | ||
| Do the students you see in class today seem more likely or less likely to wind up starting their own business one day than students you saw in past years? | ||
| Schools Offering Entrepreneurship Instruction | Schools Not Offering Entrepreneurship Instruction | |
| More Likely | 30% | 19% |
| Just As Likely | 49% | 44% |
| Less Likely | 21% | 37% |
| Fifty-two percent of respondents who said they think students are more likely to start their own business believe the main reason is because working for an employer has become less reliable: | ||
| Which of the following would you say most explains why students today are more likely to start their own businesses someday: | ||
| 3% | More encouragement from their school | |
| 9% | Easier to obtain financing for new businesses | |
| 9% | More motivated students | |
| 52% | Working for an employer is less reliable than it used to be | |
| 27% | Today's culture stresses self reliance more | |
| Sixty percent of respondents who said they think students are less likely to one day start their own business cite a lack of motivation as the main reason why: | ||
| Which of the following would you say most explains why students today are less likely to start their own businesses someday: | ||
| 2% | Lack of encouragement from their school | |
| 8% | Harder to obtain financing for new businesses | |
| 60% | Less motivated students | |
| 12% | Students are more interested in the benefits and security of being an employee | |
| 18% | Today’s culture stresses self reliance less | |
