Moving from Managing Organizations to Creating Social Enterprises: Entrepreneurial Social Work and Advanced Generalist Education

Abstract

This article highlights the concept of social entrepreneurship and its relevance for advanced generalist macro social work education and practice. Macro practice courses that address organizations have traditionally focused on management, administration, and organizational leadership skill development. This article identifies some of the concepts and skills associated with social entrepreneurship and how incorporating a social entrepreneurship perspective into these courses can enrich advanced generalist organizational course content at the graduate level. By incorporating an entrepreneurship perspective, the opportunity exists for the creation of new social enterprises or the enhancement of existing agencies. The author discusses challenges and opportunities associated with redesigning a course curriculum using a social entrepreneurship perspective while being sensitive to the Educational Policy Accreditation Standards (CSWE, 2008), the Network for Social Work Management Human Services Management Competencies, and the National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education. The inclusion of social entrepreneurship content into advanced generalist education programs can provide practitioners opportunities for creating social enterprises geared towards promoting social change.