Does Chinese university entrepreneurship education fit students' needs?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to determine whether Chinese university entrepreneurship education matches the needs of undergraduates and whether the entrepreneurial interests and expectations of students who have received university entrepreneurship education differ from those of students who have not. The authors hope that the research findings can provide practical implications and suggestions for improving university entrepreneurship education.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors chose one business university, two technology universities, and one medical university in Sichuan province and sent questionnaires to 350 randomly selected undergraduates. Based on data from 315 valid questionnaires, the authors conducted an empirical analysis.

Findings

The authors found that university entrepreneurship education does not fully satisfy students' needs. The authors also found no significant difference between the entrepreneurial interests and expectations of students who have received entrepreneurship education and those who have not.

Originality/value

The existing studies mainly focus on the supply side of university entrepreneurship education but ignored the demand side. The research is to understand the demand side – namely, students' needs for university entrepreneurship education. Are university students interested in new-business creation?. What are their needs for entrepreneurship education? Does Chinese university entrepreneurship education fit those needs? And finally, do the entrepreneurial interests and expectations of students who have received university entrepreneurship education differ from those of students who have not? Moreover, the study context consisted of one business university, two technology universities, and one medical university in a fast-developing region – Sichuan province. These universities are representative of the main categories of Chinese universities. Finally, the authors employ both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to conduct the study.

Citation

Tang, M., Chen, X., Li, Q. and Lu, Y. (2014), "Does Chinese university entrepreneurship education fit students' needs?", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 163-178. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-02-2014-0002