The Curious Generation™
Entrepreneurship · 2024

Early Ventures and Adolescent Resilience

Dr. Femi Adisa, Tomás Herrera

Abstract

What this study did

Following 300 adolescents who ran a small venture (a stand, a service, a craft business) for at least one season, this study measured resilience and financial literacy against a matched control group. Venture participants showed measurable gains in both.

Key findings

What we learned

01
Venture participants scored 22% higher on a standard resilience index after one season.
02
Financial literacy gains were largest among participants who tracked their own ledgers.
03
Parental involvement level did not significantly affect outcomes, contrary to expectation.
In practice

What it means for families

Translated for the kitchen table: this study is a nudge to ask a genuine, open question at dinner rather than a quiz-style one, to leave room for unstructured play, and to trust that curiosity — not test scores alone — is doing real work in a child's development. Small, repeatable habits, not grand interventions.

Citation

How to cite this paper

Dr. Femi Adisa, Tomás Herrera (2024). Early Ventures and Adolescent Resilience. The Curious Generation™ Research Series.

Keep exploring

Related studies

Curiosity compounds. Follow the thread that pulls at you most.

Curiosity and Classroom Outcomes: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study

Dr. Naledi Mokoena, Dr. Ilias Vranas

Continue

How Children Reason About Generative AI: A Cross-Country Study

Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran, Tomás Herrera

Continue

Unstructured Play and Later Inventive Behavior

Dr. Femi Adisa

Continue