Dive Brief:

• The annual 2014 Youth Entrepreneurship Study indicates educators aren't doing enough to prepare students for the entrepreneurial demands of the 21st century, according to Scott Gerber the leader of the Young Entrepreneur Council and Buzz Marketing Group.  
• In a column for Time, Gerber explains that our shifting economy means more young people are becoming their own bosses. However, schools are not necessarily teaching them skills to do this effectively.  
• Gerber give schools four suggestions: Teach coding, offer financial literacy at the K-12 level, make entrepreneurship classes more common at the collegiate level, and encourage students to work for start ups.   

Dive Insight:

According to Gerber, the 2014 Youth Entrepreneurship Study found that 25% of entrepreneurs started their businesses as a result of being unemployed. If the economy continues to create situations like this, Gerber believes schools should acknowledge this reality and make sure that students are prepared. That way, if they wanted to start a business,they wouldn't be totally lost.

This disconnect between what students are taught and what they want (or need) to learn is evidenced through other questions on the survey. For example, 79% of respondents wished a coding class had been offered to them, and 87% said they would be inclined to take up entrepreneurship at some point.