Characteristics and Role Demands of Entrepreneurship

In the past decade interest in teaching and research on entrepreneurship has grown dramatically. More than one hundred universities now offer new venture creation and entrepreneurship courses that did not previously. Since 1973 we have seen nearly a dozen new books designed for college courses on the subject, the birth of the American Journal of Small Business, an International Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (ISEED) and the emergence of numerous other activities, such as the Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Interest Group. A continuing area of research and practical interest is the personality and make-up of the entrepreneur: who are they? what are they like? how do they differ? This article attempts to summarize much of the research done on the personal characteristics and role demands of entrepreneurship.