The practice-driven evolution of family business education

Starting from Calder's dissertation in the early fifties, key developments in family business education are presented in a 130-item chronology. The emergence of the field is tracked to the demand from practitioners rather than the pull of scholarly inquiry. Causal evolutionary drivers of variation, selective retention, and struggle for survival, provide a framework for understanding the past and current status of the knowledge base for family business and hinting at future development. The critical role of infrastructure – family business centers and professional associations – is evident in the path dependent evolution and growth of the field. Although the last two decades have witnessed rampant infrastructure growth and variety in offerings, some evidence of selective retention is beginning to surface. In the future, increasing competition and collaboration can be expected to lead to higher standards of family business education.