Dyslexia And Entrepreneurship

I ran across a reference to a study recently published by Julie Logan (Cass Business School) claiming that the U.S. has more dyslexic entrepreneurs than the U.K., and that's a problem.

Link: UK letting down dyslexic pupils, finds study | News crumb | EducationGuardian.co.uk.

The UK education system fails to identify whether pupils have dyslexia at a young age, leading to fewer dyslexic entrepreneurs in Britain, research has found.

An international comparative study by Prof Julie Logan, from Cass Business School, revealed flaws in the systems for identifying and supporting students with dyslexia in the UK, compared with the US.

The study found more American entrepreneurs (35%) have dyslexia than in the UK (20%), but in the UK 10% of the population have the condition, while in the US dyslexia is grouped with all learning disabilities. Some 15% of the US population are known to have at least one learning disability.

I agree that the UK is relatively weak in addressing dyslexia.  However, I want to read the study -- how did she evaluate the number of entrepreneurs?  How did she determine that they had dyslexia?

Professor Logan has studied dyslexia and entrepreneurship before, with a study released in 2004: Dyslexics Five Times More Likely to Be Entrepreneurs

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.

   

Comments

[CrypticLife]

" * Dyslexic entrepreneurs exhibited higher levels of creativity then non-dyslexic entrepreneurs."

Would it be offensive to laugh? I hold a somewhat dim view of those attempting to scientifically measure creativity.

[Liz Ditz]

Still haven't found the study.

Simfonec presents at leading Dyslexia Conference

In November 2006 Simfonec presented at the International Dyslexia Conference held at Indiana in the United States to highlight the area of Dyslexia and Entrepreneurship.

Previous research conducted by Simfonec's director, Dr Julie Logan revealed that in a sample of Entrepreneurs 19% displayed signs of dyslexia; this is considerably higher than the UK general population incidence of dyslexia which stands at 4%.

A wider study is currently being conducted and we are searching for willing entrepreneurs. We would be especially interested to hear from dyslexic entrepreneurs. If you would be interested and would like to find out more please contact s.donovan@city.ac.uk

[Liz Ditz]

More on the study. I did e-mail Professor Logan for a citation, or a copy of the study. Sounds to me like there's a whole lot of conclusion-jumping going on.

Dyslexics 'don't see risks so take more'

By Richard Tyler, Enterprise Editor Last Updated: 12:56am GMT 21/11/2007

Dyslexic entrepreneurs may take more risks because they simply do not understand the figures, new research suggests.

Cass Business School has assessed the differences between dyslexic and non-dyslexic entrepreneurs and found little difference between the two groups' appetite for risk.

Julie Logan, professor of entrepreneurship, said: "We measured propensity for risk taking and it was absolutely the same [for dyslexic entrepreneurs] as non-dyslexic entrepreneurs, so that can't be enough on its own. It might be that most [dyslexic] entrepreneurs do not necessarily see the risk." advertisement

Dyslexics such as Sir Richard Branson are seen as natural entrepreneurs as they fail to respond to traditional education and fall back on strengths in creativity and innovation.

Existing academic studies show that UK entrepreneurs are twice as likely to suffer dyslexia than an average person. The rate rises to three times more likely in the US.

Prof Logan's research found that dyslexics were more likely to start their business right after school, own more than one business, run their business for a shorter period of time and to grow it more quickly than non-dyslexics.

She argued that Britain should be producing more "Sir Richard Bransons", but the eduction system was "failing" dyslexic children.

"The UK system fails to identify dyslexics at a young age, meaning that many of those with potential to be successful entrepreneurs never get the chance," she said.

"In the UK study we did not have very many people that had gone to university. But in the US, many had got a degree through their community college. They had a feeling of self-worth.

"Although everybody felt they had underachieved, the ones in the UK had been crushed by their education, whereas in the US they had people that had supported them, they had mentors. Confidence levels in the US were much higher."

Prof Logan said dyslexics saw themselves as good communicators and could grow their businesses quickly because they were used to working in teams with people to cover for their weaknesses. "They are able to delegate because they can trust people," she said.

Lots of assertions. More data, please. Among other things, you aren't dyslexic just because you say you are. What standard did the study author use to determine that a person was dyslexic?

[Liz Ditz]

Sigh. Another article. This time from the London Times Online business section.

Dr Logan said: "It seems very much as though in the US there's much earlier support and remediation. American entrepreneurs felt they had under achieved at school but felt overall they had a positive school and college experience and had extremely high levels of self-confidence. Unfortunately that's not what's happening in our system."

Kate Griggs, founder of the dyslexia charity Xtraordinary People, said: "This new research shows that the need to train a dyslexia specialist in every school is more urgent than ever; every child is to be given the opportunity to reach their full potential.

"Specialist training can cost as little as £1,500 per teacher – so for an investment of less than £10 per child, a specialist can be trained at every school in the country. Surely this is a sound investment in light of this new research?”

Sir Richard Branson, who suffers from dyslexia, believes the condition could be beneficial in business. He said: “Being dyslexic can actually help in the outside world. I see some things clearer than other people do because I have to simplify things to help me”.

Richard Davids, the entrepreneur who bought Aston Martin in a £480 million deal earlier this year, said the condition equipped him to visualise problems.

“I build pictures instead of using words to understand things. The engineers will explain a complex technical problem to me and I will sit back and get a clear picture, which helps me explain it”, he said.

Ben Way, the dot-com millionaire who started his first business when he was 15, said: "I was lucky enough to be recognised as dyslexic very early in my life. I know that dyslexia in many ways gives me an edge against the competition, but only because I received the specialist equipment to enable me to work with dyslexia rather than against it."

The Cass Business School study surveyed 250 British and American entrepreneurs.

[Casdok]

I am dyslexic, it wasnt picked up at school. My sister who is 10 yerars younger is also dyslexic and it was picked up in her teens, she was given extra help and now has a Phd.