Overview

Supplier Diversity
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A major research focus of the Lab for Inclusive Entrepreneurship is identifying ways to promote relationships between higher education procurement teams and diverse small businesses.

Why this is important

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2018 and 2019, the spending of HEIs in the U.S. reached $632 billion (in current dollars), two-thirds of which was spent by public institutions and the remaining one thirds by private institutions. Yet, a majority of HEI spending was associated with a limited number of large businesses, which dwarfed the participation of DOSBs. A GBH News analysis, for instance, showed that only 12 contracts (about 2%) out of nearly 700 made by a big college purchasing co-op in Massachusetts were awarded to minority-owned businesses.

What we’ve learned

Over the past 24 months, the Lab for Inclusive Entrepreneurship has published three reports on supplier diversity in higher education.
 
Our most recent report, Taking the Pulse of Procurement Professionals: The State of Supplier Diversity in Higher Education, is based on a survey of 101 procurement professionals, representing both private and public universities from 27 states. The report highlights challenges, evidence of progress and action steps colleges and universities can take to enlarge the pool of suppliers, especially small businesses in local communities.
 
In a May 2022 research report, Promoting Supplier Diversity in Higher Education, we identified the barriers and opportunities in doing business with colleges and universities based on a survey of diverse small businesses located in New England.
Click here to learn more about the key research findings and download the report.

How we plan to move forward with this work

With the support of a three-year Knowledge Challenge grant from the Kauffman Foundation, which supports activities that improve our understanding of entrepreneurship, the Lab will conduct research, hold an annual symposium, and serve as a forum for idea sharing.
The overall goal goes beyond research; It is to generate practical, actionable policy recommendations for higher education procurement teams and create educational programs for diverse small business owners that will help them compete for business.

Learn more about Kauffman Knowledge Challenge