Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of U.S. adults do not consider themselves entrepreneurial, according to a new University of Phoenix® survey. However, many say they display qualities that would be regarded as entrepreneurial, such as problem-solving (62 percent), self-motivation (59 percent) and creativity (52 percent).
Forty percent of U.S. adults said they would pursue higher education to become more entrepreneurial in their career, but when asked what they do most often when it comes to improving their career, only 12 percent share new ideas at their place of employment with management. In fact, the survey found that 42 percent of employees have never suggested or introduced innovative solutions or products at their current workplace.
“The innovative mindset of entrepreneurs not only benefits those looking to launch their own business, but it can also help existing companies grow by encouraging employees to act as “intrapreneurs” in their own organization,” said Dennis Bonilla, executive dean, University of Phoenix, College of Information Systems and Technology and School of Business.
Despite many U.S. adults self-identifying with qualities like problem-solving, self-motivation and creativity, two-thirds (66 percent) say they encounter barriers to being entrepreneurial in their current place of employment. Some of the biggest barriers include a lack of time and resources to innovate beyond their job scope (25 percent), their organization is slow to adapt or change (24 percent) and employees are not encouraged to step outside of their scope of responsibilities (24 percent). Less than half (49 percent) of employees feel empowered to address organizational challenges, and even fewer (43 percent) say they work in an environment in which risk-taking and failure are accepted.
“The pace and change of the current business climate call for employers to implement strategies that are disruptive, nimble and encourage a culture of innovation that effectively supports employees with intrapreneurial ambitions,” said Bonilla. “When properly executed and embraced by the entire organization, employers can derive tremendous benefit from employees with entrepreneurial ambitions, while retaining current top performers and attracting new trailblazers.”
A national sample of 2,201 U.S. adults completed this online survey, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of University of Phoenix School of Business, from July 13-15, 2017. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus two percent.