Why Do High School Students Participate in Entrepreneurship Competitions?

What can we learn from the motives of high school students?

Each year, millions of high schoolers find themselves interested in entrepreneurship. And many of these students find themselves participating in large entrepreneurship competitions, pitching ideas for reviews, prizes, and rewards. But while most people would think students are entering competitions primarily for the monetary reward, the results of one competition’s survey seem to prove only the opposite.

The Blue Ocean Entrepreneurship Competition, at blueoceancompetition.org, is the largest student-run virtual pitch competition for high school students in the world. When students register for the competition, they are asked about their motivation for entering the contest, having to select one of five possible options regarding why they would like to participate, the five options being: Developing Pitching Skills, Starting Own Business, Discovering Entrepreneurship, Making Professional Connections, and Earning Prize Money. The results are as follows:

28% of high school students, the largest majority, are motivated because they want to develop pitching skills. The second largest majority, 25% of students, participate because they want to start their own business. Then, 22% of students participate to discover entrepreneurship, 13% to make professional connections, and 12% to earn prize money.

Winning prize money seems to be the least popular answer, meaning that students are motivated by the right things- for the most part, they truly want to build up business skills and get a head start on their futures. And this, is what is truly remarkable about the students that participate in competitions such as the BOSE- they do it for themselves.