2012 A Review of Entrepreneurship Education for Co

Adm.Sci.2012,2,82-98;doi:10.3390/admsci2010082administrativesciencesISSN2076-3387*andHaixiaXuNationalCenterforEducationDevelopmentResearch,MinistryofEducation,No.37DamucangHutong,Xidan,Beijing,100816,P.R.China;E-Mail:[e-mail]*Authortowhomcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed;E-Mail:[e-mail];Tel.:[phone];Fax:[phone].Received:10January2012;inrevisedform:3February2012/Accepted:21February2012/Published:1March2012Abstract:PartlyasaresultoftherapidgrowthinChinesehighereducation,graduateplacementhasbecomeacriticalissuefacingcollegesanduniversties.Inresponse,oneofthepolicyinitiativesadoptedbytheChinesegovernmentisforhighereducationinstitutionstoputanemphasisonentrepreneurshipeducation.In2002,theMinistryofEducationlaunchedapilotprogramoncarryingoutentrepreneurshipeducationinnineprestigioushighereducationinstitutionsinChina.Sincethen,manycollegesanduniversitieshaveadoptedthisinnovationineducation.ThisstudyattemptstoexamineentrepreneurshipeducationasaninnovativesolutiontothechallengesfacinghighereducationinChina.ItfirstintroducesthebackgroundforpromotingentrepreneurshipeducationinChina,analyzestheentrepreneurshipeducationprogramsandactivitiesinthreeselecteduniversities,assessesthestateofentrepreneurshipeducationbothfromastudentperspectiveandalsothroughacomparisonwithdevelopmentsintheUnitedStates,andconcludeswithrecommendationsforfurtherdevelopmentsinentrepreneurshipeducationinChina’scollegesanduniversities.Keywords:China;entrepreneurshipeducation;highereducation;innovationOPENACCESSAdm.Sci.2012,2831.IntroductionSinceentrepreneurshipeducationwasintroducedbytheUnitedStatesinthe1940s,thisconcepthasbeenadoptedandintegratedintoeducationinmanycountriesasacomponentofneweconomicstrategiesforfosteringjobcreation[1].Ithasbecomesuchanimportantpartofeducationthatin1998,UNESCOWorldConferencerecognizeditsvalueandadvocatedcultivatingentrepreneurshipandskillsinhighereducation[2].Inthelate1990s,followingtheinternationaltrend,Chinabeganwitnessingentrepreneurshipeducationemergeonindividualcampusesintheformofcollegestudententrepreneurshipcompetitions.Challengedbythegrowingenrollmentsandthedifficultyofgraduateemployment,since2002theChinesegovernmenthastakenaleadingroleinpromotingentrepreneurshipeducation,hopingtocopecreativelywiththestructuralunemploymentofuniversitygraduatesresultingfrommasshighereducation.ThisarticlereviewspolicyandpracticesofentrepreneurshipeducationanditsimpactonChinesehighereducation.Itstartswithbackgroundinformation,includingthedefinition,thecontext,andtheimportanceofentrepreneurshipeducationinChina.ItthenreviewsfourstagesthatentrepreneurshipeducationhasgonethroughinChina,followedbyanin-depthreviewoftheentrepreneurshipeducationmodelsinthreeprestigiousuniversities.Then,itanalyzesentrepreneurshipeducationfromthestudentperspective,intermsofstudentinterestandmotivation,satisfaction,preparation.Next,itcomparesthestateofentrepreneurshipeducationinChinawithdevelopmentsintheUnitedStates.ThearticleconcludeswithasetofrecommendationsforfurtherdevelopmentofChina’sentrepreneurshipeducationatitscollegesanduniversities.AsChina’sentrepreneurshipeducationisminimallydiscussedinEnglish-languageliterature,thisarticleprimarilylooksintoChineseliteratureandnewspaperarticlesforthemostup-to-dateinformationonthistopic.2.BackgroundforEntrepreneurshipEducation2.1.TheDefinitionofEntrepreneurshipandEntrepreneurshipEducationThereisadiversityofviewsamongacademicsaboutwhatconstitutes“entrepreneurship”asafieldofstudy[3]aswellaswhatconstitutesanentrepreneurshipprogram[4].IntheUnitedStates,entrepreneurshipgenerallyreferstogrowth-orientedventuresorcompanies,andentrepreneurshipprogramspromoteskillsforbuilding,financing,andnurturinghigh-growthcompanies.InEurope,entrepreneurshipis“oftenequatedwithsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises(SME),andmanyentrepreneurshipprogramsareactuallySMEtrainingprogramsthatfocusonfunctionalmanagementskillsforsmallbusiness”[5].TheprimarypurposeofentrepreneurshipeducationatEuropeanuniversitiesistodevelopentrepreneurialcapacitiesandmindsets[6]thatsupporteveryoneinday-to-daylifeathomeandinsocietyandprovideafoundationforentrepreneursestablishingasocialorcommercialactivity[5].InChina,‘‘entrepreneurship’’isequatedwithbusinessstart-up,andtheMinistryofEducationemphasizedfourgoalsforentrepreneurshipeducationinChina.Firstly,itshouldexposestudentstothechallengingprospectforemploymentandraisetheirentrepreneurshipawareness.Secondly,itshouldlayasolidfoundationofknowledgeonentrepreneurship.Thirdly,itshouldimprovecollegestudents’Adm.Sci.2012,284entrepreneurialskillsandabilitiesthroughbothclassroomlearningandbeyond.Last,itshouldreduceentrepreneurialrisksamongcollegestudents[7].2.2.TheContextforEntrepreneurshipEducationTheadoptionofentrepreneurshipeducationisnotacoincidence,butinsteadtheresultofaninterplayofbothinternalandexternalfactors.Internally,Chinesehighereducationhasfaceddifficultywiththestructuralunemploym