Dreaming of a Different Future

Abstract

Drawing on personal observations and experiences during 2020, the author reflects on the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic poses for academic and researcher diversity as well as for which entrepreneurship research matters and how best to disseminate research results beyond academia. She discusses the multiple effects of the pandemic on the nature of entrepreneurship scholarship in general. The pandemic has a major impact on the career of women academics and early-career scholars, potentially threatening academic diversity if those effects are not just temporary but long-lasting. The pandemic also laid open again the differences between policymakers and academics in terms of what is considered interesting research. Entrepreneurship scholars were pushed towards more relevant research topics. At the same time, the rapid digitization of teaching, meetings and conferences offers opportunities for global and multidisciplinary collaborations that foster new insights into the challenges entrepreneurs and small business face, both for academia and for policymakers.