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Why business schools not producing entrepreneurial mindset?

The trouble with business graduates popping out of Pakistani universities is that most of them hardly interact with real world, whereas business is all about going outside and interacting with real world. The graduates do not have entrepreneurial minds, they cram textbook information and pass the exam. Cramming textbook information helps medical, law or engineering students whereas a business student cannot afford to depend on textbook information. They need to stay updated about all fields and read through diverse resources in order to have innovative and entrepreneurial abilities. (Omer, Dec 06, 2014)

One of the main reasons of not producing entrepreneurial mindsets is curriculum taught in universities. Business is not something that can be studied within the confines a classroom. It is learned by going out into the field, working in the real world and innovating according to the surroundings. Experts and analysts have been doing work to make linkages between industries and universities for a long time but fail to mention that corporations should not only hire graduates for jobs or internships but second and third year students too. Pakistani students should learn more from local entrepreneurs so they can understand their own environment rather than reading case studies from Harvard Review, Henry Ford and Warren Buffett. These men live in totally different culture and environment with resources which a startup Pakistani cannot even afford to have. This has caused Pakistani students to be trained as corporate slaves not as entrepreneurs, as job creators and not as job seekers. Each business school should work as an incubator and allow its students to work in teams so they can come up with business ideas, these business ideas should be funded from angel investors who have links in universities (Omer, Dec 06, 2014).

It is sad to believe that Pakistan was ranked at 131 out of 141 countries in the 2015 report of the Global Innovation Index. This report explores the impact of innovation oriented policies on economic growth and development. The reason for this is even if universities and High Education Commission are working to make the education better, there are no incentives, special packages or allowances for researchers or innovators to carry on their work. Whereas Switzerland, top ranked on GII’s list has 57% of researchers from different countries due to numerous incentives offered to them (Khan, May 10, 2016).

Another reason for not producing entrepreneurs is that the higher education of Pakistan lacks research. Pakistan is facing some serious challenges regarding socio economic development and population which include employment, innovation and sustainability. In this situation universities should make such intellectual powers that would boost the economy. However, the research output in universities of Pakistan as compared to number of faculties is less than 13%. Out of total faculties from 128 universities only 5,013 papers could be published in any research journal in 2010. In the list of 97 universities, the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi was ranked at 96, not having a single publication in 2010. Even though IBA is the most prestigious business university in Pakistan apart from LUMS, having 78 teachers with high academic achievements and practical business management experience. Research helps in analyzing our environment and market which provides ideas on what is lacking and what needs to be done. With this situation of research in Pakistan, students have no idea about their environment which causes lack of innovation (QUERSHI, Mar 18, 2011).

Other reasons of poor quality higher education and universities not producing innovative minds include ambience of universities, the infrastructural and operational requirements. The learning environment in any educational institution matters a lot. The business schools should make a learning environment accordingly that reflects knowledge in a way which encourages more innovative minds. Well-functioning universities are a mixture of complex organic and evolutionary processes that are the building blocks of the society. Facilities do matter, but it is really vital for universities to be operating in a manner that has a forward looking world view, an open environment, and shared sense of purpose. They should have a look on universities globally and compare them with their present system. Universities now a days are the major incubators for training of intellectually strong and innovative minds, but our universities are still stuck on the decades’ old environment and facilities (HOODBHOY, winter 2009).

Sixty years of constant failure, in creating a higher education system that has global standards forces us to look for reasons that go beyond administrative and fiscal issues. At the deep root level, it is the value system that shapes any education institution to have modern education and create modern mindset that encourages critical thinking. Pakistan’s business education system is dependent on conservative cultural and social values and political agendas that discourages questioning and innovation (HOODBHOY, winter 2009). Government has to take initiatives and responsibilities to improve the quality of education in business schools. This could be done by focusing on all the reasons above and increasing the contribution of national GDP to higher education that would improve the standard of the quality of education.

References

HOODBHOY, P. (winter 2009). Pakistan’s Higher Education System—What Went Wrong and How to Fix It . The Pakistan Development Review .

Khan, U. A. (May 10, 2016). Why Pakistanis are among the least innovative in the world. DAWN.

Omer, M. (Dec 06, 2014). 6 areas where Pakistani BBA and MBA degrees fall short. DAWN.

QUERSHI, B. (Mar 18, 2011). Pakistani universities lack research. DAWN.