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1. I-PERF: Supporting Underserved Research Fellows

   https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA657  

   Ivanitzki, T. ; Johnson, R. ; Levitin, R. ( April 2021 , Scientia)

   Berg, N. ; Bagnall, N. ; Deeprose, C. (Ed.)

   Statistics suggest that Hispanic, Black, and female entrepreneurs receive a disproportionately tiny portion of total venture capital funds in the United States. With this in mind, the National Science Foundation created the I-PERF program. I-PERF supports the professional development of research fellows from underserved groups, offering them hands-on experience within promising research and technology companies, with the goal of increasing diversity in the start-up and entrepreneurial landscape. The program is managed by Dr Teddy Ivanitzki, Rashida Johnson, Rachel Levitin and their colleagues at the American Society for Engineering Education. Women and individuals from underserved minority groups often face additional difficulties when trying to secure funding for their businesses compared to white males. Every year, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) awards over 5,000 grants to entrepreneurs, for a total of over $3.5 billion. According to the SBA’s 2013 Annual Report, only 15% of these funds were awarded to firms owned by individuals from underrepresented minority groups, despite the fact that these groups make up about one-third of the US population. A similar pattern can also be observed in the venture capital market. In 2019, a non-profit collaboration aimed at increasing diversity in the venture industry, called Diversity VC, released a report outlining the results of a study that polled 10,000 start-up founders. They found that 77% of venture-fund recipients were white, while only 1% were African Americans and 9% were women. Initiatives aimed at supporting the professional development and business endeavors of individuals from underrepresented minority groups are of crucial importance, as they could ensure that these individuals’ talent is recognized, valued, and does not go to waste. Over the past few years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has introduced and funded a number of projects aimed at supporting start-ups and businesses founded by individuals from underserved minorities, including the Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship (SBPRDF) program, which started in 2010. The SBPRDF program allowed postdoctoral fellows specialized in STEM disciplines to acquire real-life research experience in entrepreneurial settings and apply their skills within the technology sector. The program placed a total of 79 fellows in companies for periods of two years, 40% of which were women and individuals from underserved minorities. The vast majority of those who participated felt that they had significantly benefitted from the program. The positive feedback offered by those who participated encouraged the NSF to introduce an extension of the SBPRDF program, called the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship, or ‘I-PERF’. The primary mission of the I-PERF program, which was created in 2019 and is managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), is to support the professional development of research fellows from underrepresented minorities 

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2. Increasing U.S. Competitiveness by Investing in Underrepresented, Entrepreneurial-Minded Postdocs in High-Tech Startups

   Ivanitzki, Teddy ; Johnson, Rashida ( October 2022 , International Association of Journals and Conferences (IAJC))

   IAJC panel (Ed.)

   Abstract Studies have shown that in the United States, women, Black, and Hispanic entrepreneurs are given a disproportionately tiny fraction of venture capital funding, especially when compared to their representation in the population. This investment discrepancy is not only socially unjust, but it also deprives the U.S. of the advantages in discovery and global competitiveness that could stem from these groups’ increased participation in innovative sectors. This is particularly true within transdisciplinary startups, like smart energy or nanomedical technologies, all of which require crossdisciplinary experts. Every new entrepreneur in these fields experiences challenges in finding adequate support. These challenges exist at a time in the 21st century when U.S. innovation is facing unprecedented pressures in competition for primacy. In 1960, the U.S. research and development (R&D) expenditure for defense and private industries was approximately 69 percent of global spending on R&D. In 2016, however, the U.S. share of global R&D expenditure had decreased to just 28 percent due to China’s substantial advances. If this trend continues, China’s R&D expenditure measured by GDP will outperform those of the U.S. by 2030. To ensure that the U.S. remains a world leader in R&D, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship (SBPRDF) followed by the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship (I-PERF). Both facilitate the professional development of underrepresented research fellows by offering them invaluable experience within research and technology companies. This paper provides a pathway for enhancing diversity in the startup and entrepreneurial landscapes, improving opportunities for researchers from underserved groups, and increasing the number of highly competent entrepreneurs within the U.S. STEM community. The startup companies involved in the program, which are also supported by the NSF, comprise a variety of new, mixed STEM fields that were unknown just a few decades ago. 

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3. Postdoctoral Fellowship Boosts Underrepresented Entrepreneurs

   Ivanitzki, T. ; Johnson, R. ( January 2021 , Prism)

   Miller, E. (Ed.)

   On the list of racial and ethnic injustices requiring attention in the U.S., venture capital funding is probably not top-of-mind for many. But it is an area needing reform in order to diversify the leadership of companies fueling innovation in the country. Hispanic or Black entrepreneurs receive just 1 percent of venture capital, according to former administrator of the Small Business Administration Maria Contreras-Sweet. “Does anyone honestly believe these communities are the source of just 1 percent of our best business ideas?”. To expand overall entrepreneurship, accelerate innovation, and increase the participation of underrepresented groups in new startup research and high-tech entrepreneurship, the National Science Foundation selected ASEE to manage the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship (IPERF) program in 2019. The goals: emphasize the professional development of underrepresented research Fellows, advance best practices in postdoctoral programs, and expand the participation of underrepresented scholars in innovative research and technology entrepreneurship 

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4. Inclusion of Underrepresented Entrepreneurial-minded Postdocs in High-tech Startups Increases U.S. Competitiveness

   https://doi.org/10.34297  

   Ivanitzki, T ; Johnson, R ; Levitin, R. ( October 2021 , American journal of biomedical science research)

   null (Ed.)

   Studies have shown that in the U.S., Black, Hispanic, and women entrepreneurs are given a tiny fraction of venture capital funding, which is vastly disproportionate to their representation in the population. This investment discrepancy is not only socially unjust, but it also deprives the U.S. of the advantages in innovation and global competitiveness that could stem from increasing the participation of these groups in innovative sectors. This is particularly true within transdisciplinary startups, including those focused on smart energy, biomedical, and nanomedical technologies, all of which require cross-disciplinary experts. Every new enterprise in these fields experiences challenges in finding adequate support. These challenges exist at a time in the 21st century when U.S. innovation is facing unprecedented pressures in competition for primacy. In 1960, U.S. R&D expenditure for defense and private industries was approximately 69 percent of global spending on R&D [1]; whereas in 2016, the U.S. share of global R&D expenditure had decreased to just 28 percent [2], due to China’s substantial advances in R&D. If this trend continues, both China’s GDP and R&D expenditure measured by GDP will outperform those of the U.S. by 2030 [3]. To ensure that the U.S. remains a world leader in R&D, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship (I-PERF) program. I-PERF facilitates the professional development of Black, Hispanic and female research fellows, who are typically underrepresented within STEM fields, by offering them invaluable experience within research and technology companies. The program’s goal is to enhance diversity in the startup and entrepreneurial landscapes, improve opportunities for researchers from underserved groups, and increase the number of highly competent entrepreneurs within the U.S. STEM community. The startup companies involved in the program, which are also supported by the NSF, comprise a variety of new, mixed STEM fields that were unknown just a few decades ago. 

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5. Qualitative Investigation on the Failure Experiences of Entrepreneurial Engineering Students

   Katona, T. M. ( July 2021 , 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access)

   null (Ed.)

   Entrepreneurial education has been rapidly expanding within universities over the past 15 years with colleges of engineering being amongst the most active participants in embedding entrepreneurship into curricular and cocurricular activities (Pittaway & Cope, 2007). Well-developed and theoretically grounded educational interventions have been shown to increase entrepreneurial skills and perception among students. (Pittaway & Cope, 2007; Matlay & Caray, 2007; Duval-Couetil & Wheadon, 2013; Duval-Couetil & Rheed-Roads, 2012). Organizations including the National Science Foundation through the Lean Launch Curriculum and I-Corps program, VentureWell through curriculum development grants and their E-Team program, and the Kern Family Foundation through the Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network (KEEN) have provided significant funding to embed and transform entrepreneurial teaching and practice into colleges of engineering (Matthew et al., 2017; Pistrui, Blessing & Mekemson, 2008; Smith et al. 2017). This activity combines with an added emphasis among engineering programs to develop an entrepreneurial mindset among their engineering students with the belief that this will lead to them being more productive and innovative whether their career path leads them into established industry (becoming “intrapreneurs”) or later as entrepreneurs. While this trend toward developing more entrepreneurially minded engineering students is supported by global economic trends and a rapidly changing work environment, one factor has been largely overlooked in this process. Statistically, most entrepreneurial ventures fail, with disproportionately large value being created from a minority of entrepreneurial endeavors (Coats, 2019). Given this fact, until we find ways to drastically increase the success rate of entrepreneurial ventures, as we increase engineering students’ exposure to entrepreneurship, we are also increasing their exposure to failure very early in their careers. With this exposure, it is unknown whether sufficient preparation and education around project/venture failure is occurring to properly equip entrepreneurially minded engineering students to learn and grow from entrepreneurial failure. In this work in progress study, current and former engineering students who formed entrepreneurial ventures and experienced either failure of the venture or significant failure during the venture are interviewed to better understand the influences that led to both adaptive and maladaptive responses to these failures. Participants have been selected from those that have received funding through the national VentureWell E-Team program. This program awards three levels of funding and provides mentorship, training, and networking for the teams. The study uses the framework developed by Henry, Shorter, Charkoudian, Heemstra, and Corwin (2018) in which they associate pre-failure dispositions related to fixed and growth mindset (Dweck, 2000, 2006) and mastery vs. performance disposition (Pintrich, 2000 a, b). Our work will utilize this framework to guide the research, but more importantly will provide a unique context for analysis, specifically within engineering entrepreneurship, which will add to the body of work and expand the understanding of this pre-failure/post-failure disposition framework. Initial interview data and analysis will be presented in the context of this framework with preliminary insights to be shared with those in the field. 

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