Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have dominated educational programs and public policy emphasis over the last few decades. While providing students of then and now with the necessary technical skills, many are now realizing that without also highlighting creativity, critical thinking, and persistence, the workforce of the future is ill-prepared.

Enter entrepreneurship education. By including entrepreneurship in our education efforts, we will prepare our students and our workforces for success.

"STEEM (science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, and mathematics) is the academic ecosystem that will prepare the minds and nurture the talent, not just as worker bees but as thinkers and creators and pioneers."

Most people in their daily lives perform very few experiments. Whether it may be our purchasing habits, our route to work, or something more impactful on our lives, we tend to form habits and stick with them.

"Habits are powerful. We persist with many of them because we tend to give undue emphasis to the present. Trying something new can be painful: I might not like what I get and must forgo something I already enjoy. That cost is immediate, while any benefits — even if they are large — will be enjoyed in a future that feels abstract and distant. Yes, I want to know what else my favorite restaurant does well, but today I just want my favorite dish."

How can we better understand the power of experimentation and the importance of future orientation?

According to the National Study of Learning Mindsets recently published by Nature, a brief intervention, specifically emphasizing the growth mindset, can have profound effects on a student's academic success. By exposing students to the concepts of a growth mindset early, research finds that students develop a new way of thinking about their abilities.

A growth mindset intervention will boost students' efficacy, their motivation, and can begin to prepare them for the challenges of the evolving future of work.

"Many students hold debilitating beliefs about their intelligence. They believe things like, “I’m not smart enough” or “This subject just isn’t for me.” These beliefs can be especially damaging during the academically and socially challenging transition to high school. Left unaddressed, these fears can become self-fulfilling prophecies that feed a destructive cycle of reduced motivation, engagement, and academic performance.

"However, research shows that schools can boost performance—particularly for students with a history of academic struggle—by helping students develop a growth mindset: the belief that they can develop their academic abilities through effective study strategies. Growth Mindset for 9th Graders is designed to help students understand that academic aptitude can be improved."

Using a historical perspective on the development of human intelligence, Rishi Sriram writes for the Scientific American about where we have gone astray in our conceptualization of intelligence and how it is formed. Focusing on Alfred Binet, the creator of the IQ text, and Maria Montessori, who sought to educate children in a psychiatric clinic, put there for their supposed intellectual inability. 

"Binet and Montessori did not work together or know each other, but they had striking similarities. They both held a deep belief that intelligence was a developed talent. Both of them emphasized learning by doing. They also shared a willingness to get their hands dirty by teaching the unteachable."