By 2009, social entrepreneurship (SE) had become an important topic for scholarly research. The field was attracting doctoral students, but there was no formal course available that would provide training specifically in conducting research on SE and helping these scholars prepare themselves for academic positions. Around this time, a group of early career scholars who were involved in studying SE and who had met at various academic conferences formed a collegial network that eventually became the SE division of the Academy of Management (AoM). In several conversations with other faculty who had graduated SE doctoral students, the members of this group noted that teaching a course on SE scholarship could be very useful for doctoral students whose schools or programs did not have SE specialists on their faculties. Tom Lumpkin, who was then at Syracuse University, decided to organize such a course and in 2010 offered it for the first time.

The course was designed to provide a week-long intensive experience that would help emerging doctoral students develop skills in conducting and publishing SE research. The program was offered in conjunction with the Business Creation and Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) that took place at Syracuse University. This allowed participants to attend the SESAW doctoral seminar and then stay for the conference, which featured presentations on the latest SE research. This pattern of offering the seminar alongside a major conference continued in later years, alternating between BCERC and the AoM Annual Meeting. The only exceptions were the 2020 and 2021 seminars, which were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thus not tied to any conference.

The seminar was initially hosted at Syracuse University for two years, then moved to various locations across North America, Europe, and Africa. Over the years, faculty members Justin Craig and Sophie Bacq joined as co-instructors, bringing their expertise in social entrepreneurship research and their commitment to training future generations of scholars. In 2023, Professor Bacq took over as lead instructor, and the seminar found a new permanent home at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where it continues to thrive.

Today, the SESAW doctoral seminar remains a premier program for developing the next generation of social entrepreneurship scholars. Alumni of the program have gone on to publish influential research, secure academic positions at leading universities, and contribute significantly to the growing body of knowledge in social entrepreneurship and related fields. The seminar's focus on rigorous methodology, theoretical development, and collaborative scholarship has established it as a vital institution in the social entrepreneurship academic community.