Minors

The Minor in Entrepreneurship: New Venture Growth is open to any non-business student at Virginia Tech who wants to develop knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship. The Minor provides the tools, skillset, experiences, and mindset needed to succeed in the entrepreneurial world. Whether aiming to launch a startup, innovate within a corporation, or simply enhance their employability, students will find this program an enriching and transformative experience.

This program offers a unique opportunity for students across all disciplines to complement their major area of study with an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset that is highly valued in today's economy.

Benefits for Students

1. Comprehensive Understanding of Entrepreneurship: Students will gain a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial process, from ideation and market validation to business model development and scaling. This minor provides the foundational knowledge necessary to navigate the early stages of venture creation and growth.
2. Practical Experience: Through a combination of coursework, case studies, and hands-on projects, students will apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. This experiential learning approach ensures that students not only learn about entrepreneurship but also experience the challenges and rewards of creating a new venture.
3. Innovation and Creativity: The program encourages students to think creatively and innovate, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset that can be applied in any career path. Students will learn how to identify opportunities, solve problems, and make decisions in uncertain environments.
4. Interdisciplinary Collaboration: By bringing together students from various majors, the minor in Entrepreneurship: New Venture Growth promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and networking. This diversity of perspectives enriches the learning experience and mirrors the collaborative nature of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
5. Career Flexibility and Advancement: Equipping students with entrepreneurial skills opens up a wide range of career opportunities, from launching their own startups to driving innovation within established organizations. The entrepreneurial mindset and skill set are highly sought after in today's job market, offering students a competitive edge in their career advancement.
6. Personal and Professional Growth: Beyond the practical skills and knowledge, the minor in Entrepreneurship: New Venture Growth fosters personal growth, resilience, and self-confidence. Students will develop the ability to persevere through challenges, adapt to change, and pursue their passions with determination.

• Equips students with the academic content and experiential activities necessary to serve as more effective leaders in their communities and professions.
  
• Each student participates in a leadership/service activity which enables them to explore different avenues of development.
• Leaders distinguish themselves in highly competitive job markets.

Business sustainability is a disruptive megatrend and a game-changer for businesses and other stakeholders like institutional investors, governments and regulators, employees, and customers.

The Business Sustainability minor provides a broad and holistic business perspective for some of the most important topics and challenges in today's world: climate change, biodiversity, circular economy, human rights, and social issues along global supply chains. Business as a major stakeholder plays a success-critical role in finding solutions to the above challenges. While sustainability is covered by educational offerings at Virgina Tech from a natural science, engineering and human sciences perspective, a robust business and entrepreneurial perspective is necessary for a holistic view that connects the dots among different stakeholders and that allows students from various disciplines to understand and manage sustainability in a cross-functional and holistic way. As such, the minor will provide a value-adding perspective to all Pamplin College of Business students and a complementary business perspective to all students who study sustainability in a non-business major.