College Professors as Influencers
— by Amanda Lawson
In the age of the “influencer,” perhaps we have been missing one of the most powerful pools of individuals who can help shape not only our culture now, but the next generation: university professors. This begs the question, how? How do professors build curriculum for their classes? What resources do they teach from? The reality is, even the most practitioner-based professors incorporate academic studies into their classes.
The L.I.F.E. (Leading the Integration of Faith and Entrepreneurship) Research Lab at Miami University launched in 2018 with the hope of providing academically-rigorous and practically-relevant knowledge at the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship. As a university professor, founding director, Brett Smith, realized that if scholars began studying and publishing excellent research in this space, faculty around the world would be able to teach their students about this intersection. This means that for a professor who teaches 200 students annually, over the course of 20 years, 4,000 students could be presented with the reality that not only is integrating faith and work possible, but it is actually quite common.
According to a recent Pew Research Study, 80% of the global population ascribes to a faith system, a fact Dr. Smith noted makes a strong case for the academic study of the integration of faith and work. A seasoned entrepreneur and well-published scholar, with numerous teaching commendations, Smith saw a gap in the research and took the opportunity to fill it. One of the keys to filling this gap is to publish faith-related entrepreneurship studies in top-tier journals used as resources for university professors around the world. Smith and several colleagues have already begun this; the first paper, Why Believe? The promise of research on the role of religion in entrepreneurial action, was published in 2019 and several others are in process and awaiting publication. Miami University’s Farmer School of Business offered its first course in faith and entrepreneurship in spring 2021, where students engaged with content from academics and practitioners to understand how and why people often choose to integrate their faith in their professional roles.
One way to ensure the teachability of the subject of faith and entrepreneurship (particularly at public universities) is to have a pool of high-caliber academic research to lean on. To encourage this, the L.I.F.E. Research Lab hosted an international conference on faith and entrepreneurship. 32 speakers and panelists shared on their experiences, challenges, opportunities, and interests in research on faith and entrepreneurship. Conversations on identity, diversity, strategy, and publishing sparked incredible discussion among the 125 participants, representing 21 countries and nearly 100 universities around the world.
One of the conference panelists, a professor at Michigan State University, explained that he often felt alone in his pursuit of faith and entrepreneurship in an academic setting, but that the conference was eye-opening and encouraging for him to see a network of people who are qualified and passionate in this space. Upon sharing this, the other 50 people in that particular panel discussion nodded in agreement and even began discussing how they could connect to start working on new research projects. Another professor, who teaches in Hamburg, Germany, recalled the surprise and awe he witnessed in his students when he first explained the practical and academic reality of integrating faith and entrepreneurship. All of this to say that the L.I.F.E. Research Conference was an overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging event, a wonderful opportunity to network and launch new projects, and to dream about the potential for teaching the next generation of college students that integration was not only possible, but common, logical, and good.
Deciding to do a conference during a pandemic was one of the more interesting decisions we’ve made as we developed the L.I.F.E. Research Lab. And yet, we found some parts of being relegated to a virtual conference to be incredibly beneficial. Not only did it enable a broader audience of people to participate—especially those who would otherwise have had to transgress sea and sky to attend. The end result was a conference that spurred great conversation, developed networks, and inspired new projects.
The hope is that by encouraging and producing high-caliber research, the subject of faith and entrepreneurship will become a crucial—dare we say, integral—part of academic study, giving students permission and encouragement to put their education into practice. The end result: generations of professionals who bring their whole selves to work, who work and rest intentionally, and who align their work (both in motivation and practice) to a greater purpose.
We would like to thank our sponsors: Faith Driven Entrepreneur, Faith Driven Investor, Miami University, and the Dan and Saroya Williamson Family Foundation. If you would like to learn more about the L.I.F.E. Research Lab, please contact Brett Smith (SmithBR2@MiamiOH.edu) or Amanda Lawson (LawsonA8@MiamiOH.edu).