Practitioner-Scholar Committee Report
By John Mueller
The Practitioner-Scholarly committee focuses on ensuring there is a strong connection between practice (industry) and theory (scholarship/research) in the academy. This can be in many forms. Members of this committee serve as mentors to other entrepreneurs entering an academic career, develop and share teaching methods and resources unique to entrepreneurial practice, perform research exploring issues surrounding career paths from the practice world to the academy, and conduct workshops at Academy conferences to share teaching resources, career advice and research findings.
Main Activities this academic year are:
For AOM 2019 (Boston): Working on a proposal for a PDW that is co-organized by the Research Committee and Practitioner-Scholar Committee titled “Pathways to Connect Research and Practice: Developing Practice-Inspired Entrepreneurship Research.” In last year’s PDW (2018 in Chicago), we had over 70 attendees, and good interaction and discussion for action items.
ENT Communications: Through the column “Practitioner’s Corner” in ENT NewsBlast, the Committee is able to reach out to ENT members who have had an entrepreneurial career before transitioning to their scholarly role in the academic world.
Entrepreneurship Practice Award: Contingent on receiving the funding, we will send out a call for nominations for this award in the following two months. This award recognizes publications that contribute knowledge directly relevant to the practice of entrepreneurship.
Ongoing network expansion: We continue to reach out to practitioner-scholar academics through announcements/postings about committee involvement at regional management and entrepreneurial conferences. We also engage individuals that would like to be mentored in the academia or support the initiatives of the committee.
Improved Communications and Support of Practitioner-Scholars: Several initiatives have been initiated to improve the communication lines between practice and scholars (e.g. the http://practicetheoryconnection.com, utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Slack, and Linkedin to disseminate information).