Entrepreneurs Five Times More Likely to be Dyslexic

For the first time, new research shows that entrepreneurs are five times more likely to suffer from dyslexia then your average UK citizen and this has major implications for this Government’s key aim of creating a more entrepreneurial British society through initiatives such as this week’s National Enterprise week.

The research carried out by Simfonec, a science research centre based at Cass Business School, found that 20% of entrepreneurs (business owners employing at least one person) studied were dyslexic whereas employed managers (those who supervise at least one person) reflected the UK national dyslexia incidence level of 4%.

The research also found that 70% of dyslexic entrepreneurs who participated in the second, more in depth stage of the research, did not succeed at school. Researcher and Director of Simfonec, Dr Julie Logan notes that some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson, Sir Alan Sugar, Anita Roddick and Sir Norman Foster allegedly suffer from dyslexia and says this research not only links dyslexia and entrepreneurship for the first time but it also has fundamental implications about how entrepreneurship should be fostered.

“I applaud this Government for the initiative they are taking to encourage entrepreneurship through such schemes as National Enterprise week but we need to be very careful about how this is done. My research shows that entrepreneurs have often failed in the school system – it is only through creativity and tenacity that they have been able to succeed in business. Those attempting to teach enterprise through traditional, theoretical methods will fail because the very people who make brilliant entrepreneurs will respond badly in the typical classroom environment.”

Dr Logan continues, “If Britain is serious about becoming more entrepreneurial then it needs to take enterprise and innovation into schools but it has to be delivered in an atypical fashion. If enterprise is successfully integrated into schools it might also go someway towards reducing the high level of prisoners in our jails who suffer from dyslexia.”

A 1996 study by the National Probation Service found that 52% of prisoners in London exhibited signs of dyslexia. A study earlier this year by the British Dyslexia Association and the Youth Offending Team in Bradford found that over half of the young offenders were dyslexic.

In the first initiative of its kind, Simfonec has been working with teachers in London, teaching them about entrepreneurship and innovation. As teachers are often not entrepreneurial by nature, Simfonec has been equipping them with practical and innovative ways through which they can encourage a culture of entrepreneurship in their lessons.

On 18 November Simfonec will launch LEAP, a business plan competition. This annual competition, for those from the NHS and leading London universities, provides an opportunity to turn their research ideas into viable businesses. The thinking behind the scheme is that researchers and academics often have good ideas but lack the business knowledge to take these to market. Up to $100,000 in cash and business advice are up for grabs. Last year’s winners, Icite Technologies, were made up from a team from Moorfields Eye Hospital. They have developed a solution for curing eye scarring.

Dr Logan says, “It is ironic that on the one hand you have talented academics and researchers who may not have the skills or inclination to take their great ideas to market. On the other hand you have natural entrepreneurs who are being failed by the school and education systems but who, given the right environment, could become exceptionally successful business people.”

Further findings from the research:

• Dyslexic entrepreneurs exhibited higher levels of creativity then non-dyslexic entrepreneurs.
• 87% of dyslexic entrepreneurs were from middle class backgrounds. Previous research has suggested that the most usual career class for those with this background is to work for a corporate. This suggests that dyslexics might have been deterred from following the same path as their peers.
• No dyslexics were found to work in the accounting or public administration sectors. They were however prominent in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.
• Both dyslexic and non-dyslexic entrepreneurs in the study possessed a high need for achievement but the dyslexic entrepreneurs felt a higher need for achievement and the level of self confidence between the two groups was markedly different. 73% of the non-dyslexics rated themselves as very confident where as only 7% of dyslexics rated themselves in this way.
• 90% of both groups said they had a clear vision for their business. Interestingly, 80% of the dyslexic entrepreneurs held positions of team captain at school while only 27% of the non-dyslexic group had captained a team.

Research Methodology

The research was conducted in two stages:

1. A questionnaire designed to test for dyslexia was sent to 500 entrepreneurs and employed managers. Before the study it was piloted on 30 dyslexic adults to check for reliability. The survey did not mention dyslexia, so as to not prejudice the findings. 215 people responded to the survey – 99 entrepreneurs, 88 employed managers and 28 self employed managers. This last group are included for completeness but were not useful for the second study.

2. A second more in-depth questionnaire (that was piloted on dyslexic and non-dyslexic entrepreneurs) which probed into a variety of issues including schooling and career history was completed by 15 non-dyslexic and 15 dyslexic entrepreneurs who were chosen at random.

Original article.