Chapter 34: Creating inclusive entrepreneurship in interdisciplinary pedagogy

Juanjuan “June” He and Catherine Quay

The aging and increasing diversity of the United States’ population presents opportunities for future innovators and entrepreneurs, across disciplines, to embrace new ways of thinking. From the spring of 2022 to the fall of 2023, a series of multidisciplinary, intergenerational, and cross-cultural experiential courses were developed and implemented to guide students to launch innovative product solutions and build entrepreneurial skills. Lessons learned from the first two courses inspired the development of the most recent course iteration, which brings together experts from the fields of aging, design, and entrepreneurship, older adults from the Asian immigrant community, and, interdisciplinary students. Based on inclusive entrepreneurship, community-based participatory design, and developing self-awareness of implicit age bias, this course facilitated empathy development and an understanding of intergenerational and multicultural perspectives.