Социально ориентированные стартапы как перспективное направление студенческого инновационного предпринимательства

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to offer recommendations for the development of socially oriented student startups in Russian universities based on the results of the author’s original sociological study. The theoretical object of the study is socially oriented startups as a social phenomenon, the empirical object of the study is students of one of the leading economic universities in Russia — the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. The results of in-depth interviews and quantitative research were interpreted. The results of the study showed that students see the commonalities and differences between such key concepts as “entrepreneurship”, “socially oriented entrepreneurship” and “socially responsible business”. A socially-oriented startup, in the students’ opinion, is an enterprise that is created with the goal of solving social problems and improving the well-being of society. Students are interested in creating socially oriented startups, although most of them, by their own self-assessment, do not have a sufficient level of knowledge in the field of socially oriented entrepreneurship. Students are aware of the risks that may arise when creating socially oriented startups. At the same time, students do not have a clear understanding of what the sources of funding for such projects may be, the criteria for assessing their effectiveness, how they differ from socially oriented non-profit organizations (hereinafter referred to as SO NPOs), etc. Respondents are quite pragmatic in their assessment of the opportunities that open up for student startups in the process of interaction with SO NPOs.