CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 Literature Review
2.2.1 Research on Entrepreneurship Curriculums in Colleges and
entrepreneurial courses are divided into three categories Different types of courses focus on cultivating different types of entrepreneurial competence.
guidance and training curriculum stage, entrepreneurship general education curriculum stage, entrepreneurship curriculum stage, and interdisciplinary curriculum stage.
(1) Entrepreneurship competition coaching and training curriculum stage
In the initial stage of entrepreneurship education in Chinese colleges and universities, it is mainly to promote learning through competition. The guidance of entrepreneurship competition has not formed a standard curriculum, which is mainly based on practical guidance. In 2000, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security introduced the international entrepreneurship education program Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) to China. A series of entrepreneurship training curriculums, such as “Generate Your Business, GYB”, “Start Your Business, SYB”,
“Improve Your Business, IYB”, “Expand Your Business, EYB”, have also been introduced into Chinese colleges and universities. In 2004, SIYB program curriculums were promoted in 37 universities nationwide. In 2006, the league central committee, the All-China federation of students, and the international labour organization launched the project of Know About Business (KAB). The curriculum KAB Entrepreneurship Foundation for College Students will be offered in Chinese universities (Z. Song & Z. Wang, 2020). At this stage, many universities did not pay attention to entrepreneurship education, they just take entrepreneurship education as a part of the employment guidance of college students. Therefore, the curriculum College Student Career Planning has become a realistic choice for most universities to carry out entrepreneurship education. At this stage, the ministry of education in 2002 selected nine universities to carry out an entrepreneurship education pilot. The number of entrepreneurship curriculums offered by these pilot universities ranges from 1 to 10. Among them, Beijing university of aeronautics and astronautics, xi’ an Jiaotong University, and northwestern polytechnical university only offer one to three required curriculums. According to the statistics of entrepreneurship curriculums, it is found that out of the 7 categories, 6 of the pilot universities have a small or no curriculum provision (Q. Liu & Li, 2010). On the whole, the entrepreneurship curriculums in pilot universities are scattered, and there is no systematic and
independent entrepreneurship curriculum system. See Table 2.1 for the specific curriculum settings (F. Liu, 2008).
Table 2.1 Schedule of Entrepreneurship Curriculums in the Nine Pilot Universities Pretest
College
Undergraduate Elective Curriculums Compulsory Curriculum Tsinghua
University,
General curriculums: Entrepreneurship Management, KBA Undergraduate
Entrepreneurship Foundation, Technology Innovation Management, High-tech Company Entrepreneurship, and Growth Analysis.
Electives: Venture Capital Management, Technological Innovation and Institutional Innovation, New Product Development, Intellectual Property Management, Entrepreneurs and Innovation.
No
Renmin University of China
Entrepreneurship, venture capital, entrepreneurial management.
No
Beijing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics
Team training, Outreach training,
Entrepreneurial market research, Corporate Law and Contract Law, Entrepreneurial Financial Basis, Technological Entrepreneurship.
Introduction to business management, business
communication and exchange, business practice Heilongjiang
University
Start your business (SYB) － Start Your Business
Training curriculums, three innovation (innovation, creation, entrepreneurship)
No
Pretest College
Undergraduate Elective Curriculums Compulsory Curriculum curriculum group.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Entrepreneurial management and development, entrepreneurship management, entrepreneurship education, and innovation rules.
No
Nanjing University of Finance and Economics
Introduction to entrepreneurship, innovative thinking, creativity, entrepreneurship
management.
No
Wuhan University.
Entrepreneurship. No
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Entrepreneurial Management, Entrepreneurial Management and Development,
Entrepreneurial. Education and Innovation Law, Gender in Management Organizations, Gender Quality and Development, Public Relations.
Entrepreneurship Management, Modern Enterprise Management, Engineering Economics.
Northwestern Polytechnical University
Entrepreneurship Theory and practice. Entrepreneurship
Source: F. Liu (2008).
At the same time, non-pilot universities are also actively promoting entrepreneurship education. Some universities have also developed and introduced entrepreneurship curriculums. A survey on entrepreneurship curriculums offered by 60 universities in 10 provinces shows that 51 % of them offer curriculums in the form of electives, while none offer compulsory curriculums on
entrepreneurship. The proportion of college students receiving entrepreneurship education is less than 30%, as shown in the Table 2.2 (L. Guo, 2011).
Table 2.2 Entrepreneurship Curriculum Design Table of Non-pilot Universities Name of Provinces
and Cities
Samples of Colleges and Universities
Survey Results on
Entrepreneurship Curriculum Jiangsu province Lianyungang City 5
Higher Vocational Colleges.
There are no entrepreneurship curriculums.
Suzhou City 4 Higher Vocational Colleges;
2 High School.
There are no specialized entrepreneurship curriculums.
Fujian province Xiamen University, In 2002, the school of
management offered an elective on “Entrepreneurial
Management” to MBA students.
The school of management offers “Venture Capital Management” and
“Entrepreneurship Management” for
undergraduates. The elective curriculums for all
undergraduates include
“College Students’
Entrepreneurship Plan and Practice” and “Introduction to Entrepreneurship”. Only 9.1%
of the 623 students surveyed had taken a curriculum on entrepreneurship.
Name of Provinces and Cities
Samples of Colleges and Universities
Survey Results on
Entrepreneurship Curriculum Shanghai Three universities in
Shanghai.
30% of the students choose elective curriculums and compulsory curriculums for entrepreneurship in their schools, and 64% do not know whether their schools offer entrepreneurship curriculums.
Six Universities in Shanghai.
28.67% of students know nothing about the knowledge and skills needed to start a business, and 57.60% of students know little about it.
Guangdong province, Jinan University Universities such as Zhong Shan University, South China University of Technology, Jinan University, and South China Normal University do not offer entrepreneurship curriculums for undergraduates.90% of students said they “do not understand” or “do not understand at all”
entrepreneurship curriculums.
Shandong province Four Universities in Shandong Province.
26.38% and 24.02% of the students who choose their schools to offer
entrepreneurship curriculums and elective curriculums respectively.
Name of Provinces and Cities
Samples of Colleges and Universities
Survey Results on
Entrepreneurship Curriculum Hebei province Tangshan City 4 Higher
Vocational Colleges.
18.59% answered that their schools offer entrepreneurship curriculums.52.63% answered no and 9.12% did not know.
Zhejiang province Ningbo University The school has set up elective curriculums based on the KAB project, including
“Entrepreneurship Awareness, Idea Education”, “Operation and Practice of Establishing Small Business” and so
on.68.3% of the students do not know the entrepreneurship curriculum, 26.0% know some of it, and only 3.1% know it very well. Many majors don’t have an entrepreneurship education series.
Zhejiang 6 Higher Vocational Colleges
Six schools each offer more than one curriculum on entrepreneurship theory in the form of elective curriculums.
Four Universities in Zhejiang Province
53 % of students said their school offered entrepreneurship curriculums, and 34 % had taken one.
Jiangxi province Six Universities in Jiangxi Province
56.2% of the students choose entrepreneurship education- related curriculums in their
Name of Provinces and Cities
Samples of Colleges and Universities
Survey Results on
Entrepreneurship Curriculum schools, and 34.6% of the students choose “do not know”.
Students who choose “no”
account for 9.2%, and students who choose elective
curriculums of entrepreneurship education account for 22%.
Students with entrepreneurship education major accounted for 10.5%.
Six Universities in Jiangxi Province
Only 8.8% had taken curriculums related to entrepreneurship
education.91.2% did not take an elective curriculum. Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics and Jiangxi Normal University have set up
entrepreneurship education curriculums, but the types of curriculums are very few. Blue Sky Academy does not offer entrepreneurship curriculums.
Jilin province Three Provincial Colleges Including Changchun Normal College
There is a great demand for entrepreneurship education curriculums among college students, but the
entrepreneurship education curriculums in schools cannot
Name of Provinces and Cities
Samples of Colleges and Universities
Survey Results on
Entrepreneurship Curriculum meet their desire for
entrepreneurship.
Liaoning province Dalian University of Technology
Only 25.6% of students have taken entrepreneurship curriculums. At present, the entrepreneurship education curriculums offered by the Dalian. University of
Technology mainly consist of two parts: one is the
entrepreneurship professional curriculums such as
“entrepreneurship management”
and “business management”
offered by the School of Management. The other is, the College of Innovation and Experiment offers general entrepreneurship curriculums such as “Business Management Education”, which are open to all undergraduates.
Source: L. Guo (2011).
(2) Entrepreneurship general knowledge and subject curriculum stage
In August 2012, the requirement also developed a syllabus for
“Foundations of Entrepreneurship” in Chinese colleges. This marks the standardization of entrepreneurship education curriculums and teaching in universities (Ren & Liu, 2018). The policy requires universities across the country to offer compulsory curriculums on entrepreneurship to all undergraduates. Following the policy requirements, many universities have compiled the school-based curriculum
“Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Basis” and opened it to all undergraduates.
However, the policy implementation has a lag characteristic. According to a survey of 45 undergraduate universities in Wuhan, only 19%-42%, had offered entrepreneurship curriculums by 2014. Other universities carry out entrepreneurship education in the form of lectures and visits, without fixed curriculums (X. Jin & Huang, 2015). The implementation of national entrepreneurship education policy in universities in western China lags behind even more. According to a survey of 12 local engineering colleges in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces, only two universities included entrepreneurship education in their credit education system. Most colleges do not set up entrepreneurship education curriculums separately, but insert entrepreneurship education into career guidance curriculums as part of vocational education curriculums (Jie & Lu, 2015). At this stage, universities affiliated with the central ministries and advanced universities of entrepreneurship education have begun to try to develop a variety of professional entrepreneurship curriculums. For example, Professor Xi (2019) of Henan University of Science and Technology and his team have developed 10 books of the “Chinese Entrepreneurship” series, including 10 curriculums of entrepreneurship philosophy, entrepreneurship ethics, entrepreneurship psychology, entrepreneurship economics, entrepreneurship management, entrepreneurship environment, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship law, entrepreneurship design, and entrepreneurship practice.
(3) An interdisciplinary curriculum that incorporates expertise Under the promotion of national policies, Wuhan Institute of Technology opened two interdisciplinary entrepreneurship curriculums in 2015, including Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Context of the Internet and E-
commerce Entrepreneurship (W. Li, 2016). ICenter center of Tsinghua university in 2016, has developed the interdisciplinary minor in innovative undertaking projects, opened the “intelligent hardware technology innovation entrepreneurship” (joint development of computer science and technology department and academy of fine arts), the robot technology innovation entrepreneurship (joint development of automation department, the department of mechanical engineering and academy of fine arts), and the intelligent transportation technology innovation entrepreneurship (department of industrial engineering, department of civil engineering and automobile engineering joint development), etc. In 2017, some researchers issued 444 valid questionnaires to students from 4 higher vocational colleges, 82.89% of whom thought the entrepreneurship curriculums they learned were not closely or moderately related to their professional curriculums (M. Jiang, 2018). In 2019, researchers distributed 200 questionnaires to teachers and 500 questionnaires to students at 20 higher vocational colleges in Guangxi. The survey results show that 88 % of colleges and universities have offered independently implemented entrepreneurship curriculums. However, most of these curriculums do not reflect the close combination with students’ majors and do not provide enough guidance on the connection between students’ professional learning and innovation and entrepreneurship (L. Luo, 2019).
2) Evolution and future trend of entrepreneurship curriculums in Chinese universities
The evolution of China’s undergraduate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education policies began with the Action Plan for Revitalizing Education for the 21st Century issued by the ministry of education in 1998. In 1978, China began to implement the reform and opening-up policy, especially after Deng Xiaoping’s speech on his southern tour in 1992, which established the market- oriented market economy model. The employment system of “unified contracting and distribution” of college students will be ended. Entrepreneurship has become one of the path choices for college students after graduation. In this context, the action plan calls for “strengthening entrepreneurship education for teachers and students and encouraging them to set up high-tech enterprises on their own”. The following decade (1998-2007) saw rapid economic growth in China. The average GDP growth rate reached 9.33% (7.8% in 1998, 7.1% in 1999, 8.0% in 2000, 7.5% in 2001, 8.3% in
2002, 9.5% in 2003, 10.1% in 2004, 10.4% in 2005, 11.6% in 2006, and 13% in 2007). The employment situation of college students is good, which leads to the slow development of national policy support for college students’ entrepreneurship. In 2008, the financial crisis triggered by the United States swept the world, and China’s economy faced downward pressure. The employment pressure of college students is increasing. The state began to increase the support for college students to start their businesses, and entrepreneurship policies were issued in intensive numbers.
According to statistics, from 1998 to 2018, 22 national ministries and commissions issued 59 policies on entrepreneurship for college students, as shown in the table.
Among the 59 policies, 41 policy texts proposed to “reform the curriculum structure of entrepreneurship education”. It can be seen that entrepreneurship curriculums are of great significance to the cultivation of the entrepreneurial ability of college students. See Table 2.3 (Tan, Li, & Wu, 2019).
Table 2.3 State Ministries and Commissions Issued Policies on Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Education for College Students
Department Number of
Issued Policies
Joint Release of Policy Number
Department Number of
Issued Policies
Joint Release of Policy Number The Ministry of
Education
24 5 Central Propaganda
Department
1 1
The State Council 15 0 The Ministry of
Public Security
1 1
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
15 4 Public sector 1 1
Ministry of Science and Technology
6 4 The Ministry of
Civil Affairs
1 1
Ministry of Finance
4 4 State Council
Poverty Alleviation
1 1
Department Number of Issued Policies
Joint Release of Policy Number
Department Number of
Issued Policies
Joint Release of Policy Number Office
State
Administration for Market Regulation
4 2 General Office of
the State Council
1 0
Central
Committee of the Communist Youth League
3 3 China Development
Bank
1 1
National
Development and Reform
Commission
2 2 State-owned Assets
and Administration Commission of the State Council
1 1
People’s Bank of China
2 2 Ministry of Industry
and Information Technology
1 1
All-China Federation of Trade Unions
2 2 State Intellectual
Property Office
1 1
Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee
1 1 State Administration
of Taxation
1 1
Source: Tan et al. (2019).
The relevant policy requirements of entrepreneurship curriculum in colleges and universities are mainly concentrated in the policies or notices issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Council. See the table for details. In August 2012, the Ministry of Education issued a document entitled basic requirements for entrepreneurship education in ordinary undergraduate Schools (Trial) on
“Requirements and Curriculum Outline for Entrepreneurship Education and Teaching”. This indicates that the state has begun to raise the importance of entrepreneurship education and teaching for college students. The policy to put forward requirements for entrepreneurship curriculum construction started from the
“Summary of Symposium on Entrepreneurship Education Pretest Work” issued by the Ministry of Education in April 2002. The document proposed to “enhance students’
sense of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial ability through the reform of curriculum system, teaching content and teaching methods” and to “equip students with the ability to start their businesses by offering curriculums, funding and consulting services”. In general, policies on entrepreneurship curriculums in colleges and universities show the following characteristics. First, the frequency of issuing policies related to entrepreneurship curriculums is gradually increasing. Of the 15 policy documents collected, seven were issued in the 13 years from 2002 to 2014 and eight in the five years from 2015 to 2019. Mass entrepreneurship and innovation have begun to rise to the level of national strategy. As one of the new forces of entrepreneurship, college students naturally get the attention of the country. One of the important manifestations is the intensive introduction of policy documents to support college students’ entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. Second, the entrepreneurship curriculum content gradually emphasizes the deep integration with professional curriculums. Entrepreneurship education in Chinese colleges and universities begins in the form of college students’ entrepreneurship competitions, and entrepreneurship training curriculums are the initial type of curriculums. With the development of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship general curriculums and entrepreneurship curriculums are increasing. In 2009, the Ministry of Education issued the Notice of the Ministry of Education on Doing a Good Job for Graduates of Regular Institutions of Higher Learning in 2010, requiring that “actively explore the integration of entrepreneurship education into the teaching of specialized
curriculums”. The entrepreneurship education concept of “the integration of entrepreneurship education and professional education” was formally proposed by the state. In 2015, the “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” strategy set off a wave of entrepreneurship in China. College students of all disciplines are also gearing up to create a career. Their need for entrepreneurship education is becoming more and more urgent. The interdisciplinary entrepreneurship curriculum of “integration of specialization and innovation” is the foundation of the education practice of integration of specialization and innovation. In March 2019, the Ministry of Education issued the Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Education on the Construction of Demonstration Universities for Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform in 2019. It is further specified that each of the 200 national innovation and entrepreneurship education reform demonstration schools must complete 1-2 featured demonstration curriculums of “specialization and integration of innovation and entrepreneurship”. See Table 2.4.
Table 2.4 A List of Policies Related to Entrepreneurship Curriculums in Universities NumberYearPolicy Issuing UnitPolicy Name Entrepreneurship Curriculum Requirem 12002.4The Ministry of EducationSummary of Entrepreneurship Education Pretest Work Symposium
1. Enhance students’ sense of innovation, creative spirit and entrepreneurial ability through the reform of curriculum system, teaching content and teaching methods. 2. Emphasis on equipping students with the ability to start their own businesses by offe curriculums, funding and consulting servic 22004.7Ministry of Labor and Social Security The Ministry of Education
Notice on the pretest launch of the “Start Your Business” (SYB) training curriculum in some institutions of higher learning
1. For teachers: Introducing SYB training teaching techniques and methods, teachers’ responsibilities, adult teaching theories, effective use of visual teaching AIDS, organization of participatory interactive training, learning and practicing SYB traini game modules, etc. 2. For students: Ten Steps in Entrepreneurship Awareness and Business Plan. 32009.11The Ministry of EducationNotice of the Ministry ofThe Ministry of Education will set up a
NumberYearPolicy Issuing UnitPolicy Name Entrepreneurship Curriculum Requiremen Education on the Employment of Graduates of Regular Institutions of Higher Learning in 2010
“Steering Committee for Entrepreneurship Education in Colleges and Universities”. We should actively explore the integration of entrepreneurship education into the teaching of specialized curriculums, and take innovation and entrepreneurship education as important content in career guidance curriculums. 42010.05The Ministry of EducationOpinions of the Ministry of Education on Promoting Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education in Institutions of Higher Learning and College Students’ Self-employment
We will strengthen the curriculum system for innovation and entrepreneurship education. Innovation and entrepreneurship education will be effectively incorporated into teaching plans and credit systems for professional education and cultural quality education. Establish a multi-level and three-dimensional curriculum system for innovation and entrepreneurship education. Highlight professional characteristics, innovation and entrepreneurship curriculums should be organically integrated with the professional curriculum system.
NumberYearPolicy Issuing UnitPolicy Name Entrepreneurship Curriculum Requiremen Innovation and entrepreneurship practice activities should be effectively linked with professional practice teaching. We will active promote the reform of personnel training mode, teaching content and curriculum system. We will strengthen the construction of educationa materials for innovation and entrepreneurship. Drawing on the successful experience of foreign countries, compiling suitable and characteristic high-quality teaching materials. 52011.05The State CouncilNotice of the State Council on Further Improving the Employment of Graduates from Regular Institutions of Higher Learning
Colleges and universities should extensively carry out entrepreneurship education, actively develop innovative and entrepreneurial curriculums, improve the curriculum system of entrepreneurship education, and bring entrepreneurship education curriculums into credit management. 62011.11The Ministry of EducationNotice of the Ministry of Education on the Employment Local and college innovation and entrepreneurship education guidance centers