The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1462-6004.

htm

JSBED 15,4

Entrepreneurship education in China: a case study approach

Cindy Millman and Harry Matlay
Birmingham City Business School, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK, and

802

Fan Liu
China Youth University for Political Sciences, Beijing, China
Abstract
Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of entrepreneurship education in the wider context of the Chinese educational system in transition and raise pertinent questions regarding its direction and future development. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach is used to provide an in-depth analysis of the challenges and outcomes of the Know about your business (KAB) programme initiated by the International Labour Organisation and piloted at the China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing. Findings The evaluation of the KAB pilot programme showed that it proved largely successful: 43.9 per cent of participating students were very satised with it, 52.6 per cent claimed to be satised and only 3.5 per cent were not content with it. Student feedback highlighted a small number of problems with this programme, including issues relating to a lack of market research knowledge, limited contact hours, a shortage of business plan models and difculties in managing related team work. Originality/value The results of the pilot programme could be used to further improve and develop entrepreneurship education in general and the KAB programme in particular, with a view to implement it more widely in selective business schools across China. Keywords Entrepreneurialism, Education, Youth, Unemployment, Business schools, China Paper type Research paper

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development Vol. 15 No. 4, 2008 pp. 802-815 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1462-6004 DOI 10.1108/14626000810917870

Introduction It is generally accepted that globalisation has brought in its wake both positive and negative changes to the socio-economic and cultural infrastructure of developed and developing nations. Its impact on all aspects of society is far reaching, and it can affect younger individuals in transit from education and into work. Importantly, globalisation . . .has brought about substantial changes in the job market to which young people, as newcomers, may be particularly vulnerable (WCSDG, 2004, p. 2). In addition, rapid developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the rise of the knowledge economy have signicantly increased the demand for highly skilled knowledge workers, factors that have impacted signicantly on the personal and professional development of individuals at various stages of their careers. Increasingly, expertise and knowledge are replacing manual and semi-skilled labour in traditional industries, a change that is affecting mostly, but not exclusively, the unskilled and low-skilled segments of the labour market. In an effort to mitigate the negative aspects of globalisation, relevant vocational education and training (VET) courses are implemented and made available at all levels of the educational system. Traditionally, China was perceived as a slow development economy, specialising mainly in the export of high quantity ows of relatively low quality goods and

services. Contemporary China, however, as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, relies heavily on well-educated and highly skilled workers. Increasingly, demand for knowledge workers and professional managers outstrip the supply available in local and regional labour markets. Furthermore, the lack of internal labour markets in a fast growing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector in China adds further pressure on an educational system that is already struggling to keep pace with the rapid expansion of the wither economy (Li et al., 2003). There is also growing pressure on young people to compete for workplaces and vocational training in increasingly globalised local, regional and national labour markets. Although China has experienced remarkable economic growth, the level of youth and adult unemployment has also been rising, due mainly to a progressive shift from agriculture to less employment-intensive manufacturing and service industries. The transformation of the economy has been complemented by the reform of State-owned enterprises, and the structured reorganization of the public sector. These factors have invariably resulted in higher levels of youth and adult unemployment (WCSDG, 2004; ILO, 2004a). Furthermore, when China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, trade liberalization forced the economy to become more exible and competitive. Previously, most organisations relied mainly on inexpensive, low skilled or temporary labour. Since 2001, however, increased exibility and intense competition in the Chinese economy have boosted demand for an educated, committed and exible labour force. To mitigate the growing demand for knowledge workers, the Chinese government, in line with the recommendations of the United Nations World Youth Report (2005) and World Millennium Development Goals (UN, 2000) has embarked on a concerted expansion and consolidation of its educational system in general and VET and Entrepreneurship Education in particular. This paper considers youth unemployment issues and their impact on social and economic development. Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is promoted in industrialised countries as a mechanism for educating and developing young people and equipping them with the necessary skills and competences to compete in a highly globalised marketplace. The authors provide an overview of entrepreneurship education in the wider context of the Chinese educational system in transition and raise pertinent questions regarding its direction and future development. The paper consists of ve sections: the rst reviews general issues regarding youth employment and unemployment as well as its relationship with education; the second section examines the development of entrepreneurship in China from a policy perspective and the expansion of entrepreneurship education in this context. Section three introduces Know about your business (KAB) programme as an initial stage for the development of entrepreneurship education in Chinese HEIs. Findings from an in-depth case study are discussed in section four, while; concluding remarks and recommendations are outlined in the nal section. Youth employment and education Young people are dened by the United Nations as individuals between the age of 15 and 24 years, and adults as individuals of age 25 years and over (UN, 1992). According to recent UN statistics, there were over 1 billion young people in 2000, which translates to one in every ve who could be classed in this category. Thus, young people accounted for 20 per cent of the total world population. Numerically, 85 per cent were living in developing countries, of which 60 per cent were located in Asia (UN, 2000). The youth

Entrepreneurship education in China 803

JSBED 15,4

804

living in Africa were ranked second highest (15.1 per cent), while those living in Northern America (4 per cent) and Oceania (0.5 per cent) were ranked lowest (see Table I). The World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) identies ten issues that should be of the highest priority to governments in both developed and developing countries. Education and employment issues are ranked as the top two priorities included in the approved action programme (UN, 2000). It is estimated that in 2005 there were 100 million youth enrolled in university-level education (UN, 2005). Paradoxically, however, and despite the fact that young people are receiving more and better education, related youth unemployment has reached its highest levels since records began. The UN World Youth Report (UN, 2005) revaluated contemporary shifts in the demand for youth labour in the low paid service sector and high skill professional jobs, the result of which contributed to a new form of labour stratication (see EU, 2003). An intermediary stage was also identied, in which the youth are neither employed nor unemployed, but are engaged in self-employment and casual jobs or in informal and unrecorded employment. The report has highlighted youth unemployment problems and also forced some governments to adopt certain mechanisms at macroeconomic level to stimulate the growth of the economy and related skilled labour demand. In its 2005 report, the UN stated that globalization has brought about substantial changes in the job market to which young people can be particularly vulnerable. New technologies have replaced manual labour in various industries, mainly affecting low skills jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors. These changes affected both developed and developing countries, including transitional economies, such as China. Similarly, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its recent Youth Employment Trend Report stated that, in recent years increasing global unemployment has affected young people and they are faced with higher levels of economic and social uncertainty (ILO, 2004b). In both industrialized and industrialising economies, young people are more likely to have intermittent (temporary, part-time or casual) work and insecure labour arrangements, often in the informal economy and with limited labour protection. The number of unemployed youth has increased steadily between 1993 and 2003 and reached a high level of 88 million in 2004, which accounted for 47 per cent of total unemployment (ILO, 2004b). According to the ILO Youth Employment Networks (YEN), young people are actively seeking to participate in the world of work and are two to three times more likely than the older generations to nd themselves unemployed (ILO, 2006). Furthermore, this situation is likely to deteriorate even more, with about 1 billion
Total population Asia Africa Latin America and Caribbean Europe Northern America Oceania Total Source: United Nations (2000) 3,672 793 519 727 314 31 6,056 Youth (%) 17.8 20.3 19.5 13.8 13.5 15.6 17.6 Youth 654 161 101 100 42 5 1,063 World youth (%) 61.5 15.1 9.5 9.4 4.0 0.5 100.0

Table I. Regional distribution of youth in 2000 (in millions)

people becoming of working age within the next decade (YEN, 2006, p. 18). While new opportunities were offered for more productive work and income with rapid globalisation and technological change, it appears that these have also increased the inherent vulnerability of young people of working age in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The inability to nd a job can create a sense of vulnerability, uselessness and idleness among young people and thus highlight the attraction of engaging in illegal activities (ILO, 2004b, p. 31). Recently, many countries have experienced youth bulges, which occur when young people comprise at least 40 per cent of the population, and it has been argued that in this context, the large number of unemployed and idle youth may challenge the authority of the government and endanger its stability through unrest and crime (Cincotta et al., 2003; Urdal, 2004). The increase in the number of young individuals engaged in secondary and tertiary education can be seen as a positive development. Unfortunately, labour markets in many countries are increasingly unable to accommodate the expanding pool of skilled young graduates. This is partially attributable to the failure to coordinate education provision with labour market needs, but it is perhaps more fundamentally linked to the fact that large numbers of youth are now coming of age and are actively looking for work. In the absence of job opportunities in the formal labour market, many young people resort to forced entrepreneurship and self-employment in the informal economy, often working for low pay and under hazardous conditions, with few prospects for a better future (see, UN, 2005). In the future, youth unemployment is likely to affect mostly developing countries and regions, and this could include transitional economies, such as China which exhibits a large population of youth of working age. In 2000, member countries of the UN have agreed a common vision for the future, which culminated in the Eight millennium goals. This vision has provided countries around the world with a framework for development, including time-bound targets by which progress can be measured (see UN, 2006). The entrepreneurship environment in China In the post 1978 period, the growth of the Chinese economy was signicant, delivering double gures percentage growth per annum, outpacing the performance of most other economies in the world, and overtaking the UK. In 2005, China became the fourth largest and fastest growing economy in the world (Millman and Martin, 2007). Remarkably, this growth has been led by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across different economic sectors and ownership types, including private and collective enterprises, township and village enterprises (TVEs) and state owned enterprises (SOE), as well as wholly foreign owned enterprises (WFOE) and foreign joint ventures (FJVs). Li et al.(2003) reviewed the small business sector in China and traced the historical development of SMEs and their legal status. It appears that continuity and rapid economic development in China were mainly due to government supports and its progressive policies at local, regional and national levels. Table II provides an overview of the development of entrepreneurship in China from a policy perspective. Development of entrepreneurship education in China Education has long been regarded as one of the primary components of poverty reduction efforts and overall social development. Many governments are setting specic national education goals, including gender-related targets. For instance, ILO stated that the economic investment of governments in education and training will be wasted if young

Entrepreneurship education in China 805

JSBED 15,4

Year 2006 Foundation of China SMEs Association

Development A comprehensive support organisation, across industries and ownership types, acting as a platform for links between SMEs and the Chinese government, encouraging SME networking and providing business opportunities across China and overseas Issued by the Council of State to encourage the development of SMEs and Private enterprises, to protect and to support SMEs by legitimate policy frameworks (Valid from 1 January 2003)

806

2003 Promotion Law for SMEs

1998 SMEs as part of Constitution The Constitution of China was amended and in the Spring of (Socialist Market Economy) 1999, individual enterprise, private enterprise and any non-state owned enterprise to form important constituent part of the Socialist Market Economy (Council of State, 1999, p. 53) 1984 Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) Co-existence of Individual (Getihu), privately-owned TVEs and collective-owned enterprises (COEs)

Table II. Development of entrepreneurship in China

1978 Encouragement of individual After the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) the Open Door and collective enterprise policy was carried out (by Deng) in 1978 and the encouragement of private enterprises by individual households (Getihu) or by collectives (COE). 1965 Abolition of private enterprises All private enterprises were made illegal

people do not move into productive jobs that enable them to pay taxes and support public services (ILO, 2006, p. 7). It appears that entrepreneurship education and training is the driving force behind the rise of entrepreneurship and small business development that generates the relevant entrepreneurial attitudes, competences and skills (European Commission, 2002). In recent years, entrepreneurship education has been the subject of growing academic and policy scrutiny, providing a growing emphasis on life competencies within national educational systems (Leitch and Harrison, 1999). In China, entrepreneurship education is still in its initial stages. Through the pressure of new graduates, however, the Chinese government has begun to consider entrepreneurship as a key element of policies aimed to solve youth unemployment problems. Therefore, the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) and several Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have started to focus on the benets provided by entrepreneurship education. Initially, entrepreneurship education in China derived its modest beginnings from management education and selective MBA modules (Li et al., 2003). More recently, the main entrepreneurship education activities comprised student business plan competition and relevant part-time work placement. Currently, there are two main types of entrepreneurship education in China: Entrepreneurship education pilot programmes (EEPP) and Know about your business (KAB), which were launched by MOE and ILO respectively. Student business plan competitions Entrepreneurship education in HEIs in China is still at an early development stage. Tsinghua University, the top university in the league, started the rst Business plan competition in 1998, which coincided with the earlier entrepreneurship education attempts in China. This was followed up in 1999 with the rst Challenge champion

Business Plan Competition at Tsinghua University, organised and sponsored by China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL), Ministry of Education (MOE) and All-China Students Federation (ACSF). In this contest, there were entered more than 400 business plans from 120 HEIs across China. This competition has had a very positive impact on graduate entrepreneurship education in China. Following the success of the rst business plan competition, there was a second held in 2000 at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and every two years since, reaching its fth event in 2006 (see Table III). The business plan competitions followed the standard USA model, which required candidates, working individually or as a group, to generate a business idea with potential market benets on a specic product, service or technology development. This had to be presented to an expert panel, in order to generate venture capital for future business development and operation. These competitions were aimed at three higher education levels: (1) university; (2) provincial (autonomy city); and (3) national. As a platform providing students with opportunities and also encouraging innovative activities, business plan competitions have played an important role in fostering competent and innovative talents as well as promoting industry, higher education and research links. In addition, these competitions also had a considerable impact on the establishment of venture capital investment frameworks in China. Entrepreneurship education pilot programmes In 2002, the MOE launched the Pilot Entrepreneurship Education Programme in eight HEIs, with the stated purpose of exploring a number of entrepreneurship education models. The eight HEIs being: (1) Renmin University of China. (2) Tsinghua University. (3) Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BeiHang University). (4) Heilongjiang University. (5) Shanghai Jiaotong University. (6) Nanjing University of Finance & Economics. (7) Wuhan University. (8) Xian Jiaotong University.
Year 1998 1999 2000 2002 2004 2006 1st Business plan (BP) Competition 1st Challenge champion BP Competition 2nd Challenge champion BP Competition 3rd Challenge champion BP Competition 4th Challenge champion BP Competition 5th Challenge champion BP Competition Location Tsinghua University Tsinghua University Shanghai Jiaotong University Zhejiang University Xiamen University Shandong University

Entrepreneurship education in China 807

Table III. Challenge champion Graduates business plan competition in China

JSBED 15,4

808

In order to experiment with the most appropriate ways of promoting entrepreneurship activities at undergraduate level in China, three entrepreneurship education models have been adopted in these HEIs: (1) Entrepreneurship Awareness Raising model. (2) Entrepreneurial Skills and Knowledge Acquisition model. (3) Integrated Entrepreneurship Education model. A brief description of these entrepreneurship pilot models is provided below, together with an illustrative example of an adoptive university: . The Entrepreneurship awareness raising model was introduced at the Renmin University of China. This focused on fostering an entrepreneurial culture among students. Its primary aim was to establish and develop entrepreneurial knowledge capacity for teaching this topic and improving participating students core competencies. This model involved teaching entrepreneurship at various levels and students were actively encouraged to acquire relevant knowledge as well as learn from workplace experience by engaging in various social placements and volunteer activities. Classroom and placement activities were supplemented with various workshop activities on relevant entrepreneurial themes, which were organised specically in order to provide students with knowledge and networking platforms, including direct contact with lecturers, entrepreneurial role models contacts with similarly minded colleagues. . Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BeiHang University) adopted an Entrepreneurial skills and knowledge acquisition model. This focussed specically on enhancing the students entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. A secondary drive inherent in this model aimed at facilitating the commercialisation of ideas and innovative approaches to entrepreneurship, including the provision of incubator facilities for entrepreneurial students. Business incubators aimed to provide training for students in terms of how to set up, start and run a new business. Interestingly, this model was also meant to attract funding opportunities and consultancy support and/or advice from successful venture capitalists. At the same time, BeiHang University had also set up an Entrepreneurial Management Institute, which became responsible for all aspect relating to new student start-ups. In addition, a three million (RMB) funding was initially set aside for the purpose of providing nancial supports to those enterprising students who produced a convincing business plan and needed assistance with the commercialisation stages of their products and/or services. . Shanghai Jiaotong University, the second oldest university in China, chose the Integrated Entrepreneurship Education model. This was adopted in order to provide students with and opportunity to become familiar with the entrepreneurial culture of China and facilitate a process of knowledge transfer from the classroom and into real life situations. Importantly, however, under the auspices of this model, the university also provided students with nancing supports as well as specic technical and consultancy advice. At an estimated cost of over 80 million (RMB), Shanghai Jiaotong University has set up a number of incubators, laboratories and advice centres which were open to all students on a 24 hours/seven days a week basis.

These pilot entrepreneurship education programmes initiated by the Ministry of Education in China were deemed successful and are still operational. The overall feedback received from participating students has been positive or very positive. In 2005, the ILO has also launched its pilot KAB programme in China. The KAB pilot entrepreneurship education programme ILO rst launched its KAB programme in Kenya, during 1996. Its initial success was largely dependent on the support and collaboration of a number of government institutions and private organisations, which were called on to bridge the gap between the supply and the demand for entrepreneurship education and specic training programmes needed for Kenyas developing economy. In the following years, ILO and its International Training Centre (ITC) organised a number of workshops for participants from several vocational training centres worldwide. The KAB was later translated into French, Russian and Spanish and has been implemented in South Asia, Africa and South America. In 2005, the ILO, in partnership with ACSF, launched the KAB programme in China, aiming to raise entrepreneurship awareness and improve entrepreneurial capacity and enhance the competence of undergraduate students. It was agreed that initially the KAB pilot programme would be tested in six higher education institutions in the North China region (see Table IV). In the next section, we provide an illustrative case study that outlines the challenges as well as the outcomes of a pilot KAB (China) programme. The Pilot KAB Programme at the Youth University for Political Sciences in China is indicative of the complexities involved in providing and assessing relevant entrepreneurship education modules under difcult socio-economic conditions that are present in a rapidly growing economy. Case study: pilot KAB programme at China Youth University for Political Sciences Background and selection processes The China Youth University for Political Sciences (CYU) was founded in December 1985 by the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL), and is the only university that CCYL is currently overseeing. Under this special administrative system, CYU is not only functioning as a university that provides higher education, but also acts as a professional training organisation that specialises in youth leadership. Traditionally, in China, trained youth leaders are considered to represent future government leaders. In order to combine the training of young communist party leaders and provide higher education for youth, the Vice Chancellors of CYU have also held the post of rst General Secretary of CCYL. After more than 20 years of development, CYU currently consists of eight faculties, ve teaching centres and ve youth research institutes. In August 2006, CYU had over 5,000 graduates, and many of them have already played important roles in government as well
Higher education institution 1 2 3 4 5 6 China Youth University for Political Sciences Tsinghua University Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Heilongjiang University Tianjin Polytechnic University Beijing Youth Political College City Beijing Beijing Beijing Harbin Tianjin Beijing

Entrepreneurship education in China 809

Table IV. HEIs involved in testing the KAB pilot programme

JSBED 15,4

810

as enterprises. In the same year, CYU has been nominated by MOE as a graduates Competence Education Centre as well by International Labour Organisation (ILO) and ACSF as KAB Programme Education Centre. The implementation process of the KAB programme was carefully considered and it consisted of three stages prior to the beginning of teaching: (1) dissemination; (2) selection of appropriate students; and (3) conrmation of nal student enrolment. First, the Educational Affairs Department of CYU informed students about the KAB Programme. The notication was posted on the Student Notice Board and further details were given at the Faculty Management Meetings. Second, the programme was discussed in detail at class level. Finally, a lecture was organised in February 2006 at CYU to introduce the programme and a question and answer session followed in order to discuss and clarify any existing queries. Initially, there were 228 students interested in this programme, and all of them applied for the course. At the pilot stage, however, due to limited teaching resources at CYU, only two classes were considered and these would only accommodate 60 students. Therefore, it was proposed to select students with cross-disciplinary backgrounds and give priority to those who originated from families with an entrepreneurial tradition. It was thought that students from entrepreneurial families would have stronger motivation and inclination to become entrepreneurs. Questionnaires were sent out to all 228 students, enquiring about their aspiration towards entrepreneurship and attitudes towards the knowledge and skills that were required to become a successful entrepreneur in China. The questionnaires were marked and students were selected, in descending order, beginning with the top marks achieved. Finally, a total of 60 students were conrmed as accepted for the pilot KAB programme at CYU. Participants The 60 students enrolled on the programme were from 10 different disciplines (See Tables V and VI). Among them, there were ten students who have previously attended business training and 60 per cent claimed that they knew some individuals (i.e. families, relatives or friends) who run their own businesses. In total, six students originated from entrepreneurial families with either one or both of their parents engaged in entrepreneurial activities. A further 15 students indicated that they had entrepreneurial role models among their friends. A further 20 students stated that they were involved in various business activities in their spare time: two worked with their families, two were involved with friends and the reminder 16 students were engaged with other businesses. There were also 38
Gender Number (%) Grade Student numbers Total (%) Male 32 First year 20 33.3 (53.3) Second year 28 46.7 28 Third year 12 20 Female (46.7) Total 60 60 100

Table V. Students enrolled on KAB programme (age and year of study)

Students Disciplines International economy and trade Economy Education of politics and philosophy Labour and social pension Law Politics and administration News Chinese linguistics Foreign language literature Total Number 18 11 7 6 5 4 3 3 1 60 Percentage 30.0 18.3 11.7 10.0 8.3 6.7 5.0 5.0 1.7 100

Entrepreneurship education in China 811

Table VI. Backgrounds of students enrolled on KAB programme

students who wanted to start their own businesses after graduation and they accounted for 63.3 per cent of the total sample of students interviewed prior to the start of the programme. Content of the KAB programme in China The content of the KAB programme in China was adapted from the standard KAB Programme, which consists of eight modules: (1) What is enterprise? (2) What is entrepreneurship? (3) Who are the entrepreneurs? (4) How do I become an entrepreneur? (5) How do I nd a good business idea? (6) How do I organise an enterprise? (7) How do I operate an enterprise? (8) What are the next steps to become an entrepreneur and write a Business Plan? These modules were carefully translated into Chinese and some were customised to more closely reect the prevailing socio-economic and political conditions in contemporary China. Two lecturers from CYU were involved with the editing and customisation process of the teaching materials, both of whom have attended a hands-on training programme in Italy (sponsored and run by the ILO). In common with other developing countries experiences, the content of these modules were focussed on a better understanding of issues relating to entrepreneurship and assisting students in writing a feasible business plan. Teaching methods The 60 participants were divided into two classes of 30 students each. There were four lecturers involved with teaching the modules and related KAB activities, all trained and certied as KAB facilitators. They specialised in economics and management disciplines and were also actively pursuing their doctoral programmes. Each lecturer was responsible for teaching and delivering two modules, aided by a teaching assistant. The assistant was responsible for the statistical analysis of student feedback and for conveying results to relevant administration departments and to personnel.

JSBED 15,4

812

They were also responsible for the evaluation of the students involved with the KAB programme. The Department of Economics also set up a student assistance group, to support planning, organising, coordinating and disseminating activities relating to this programme. Classes mainly involved lectures, case study discussions, brainstorming, games and role-playing representing activities that ILO had provided training. A student was appointed as the class representative to help lecturers organising group discussions, distribute teaching materials and report class feedback. As advised by ILO, the classrooms were organised into U shapes, so that students could sit in groups and discuss issues among themselves. In these classes, the teaching and learning environment has been deliberately transformed from knowledge transfer into knowledge interaction approaches, which placed students into main actor positions and lecturers into facilitators. The use of real entrepreneurs as visiting lecturers was proposed at the beginning of the programme, in order to expand and enhance student understanding of theoretical knowledge. During the 18 weeks semester period, three role model individuals were invited to talk about their experiences in identifying business opportunities, setting up a business and marketing their products and services. They were encouraged to answer student questions fully and comprehensively. At the end of these visits, students beneted further from the comments of participating lecturers, who grounded practical knowledge into the relevant aspects of entrepreneurship theory. Evaluation As this KAB programme was still at its pilot stage, CYU proposed that the evaluation process should include both students and lecturers. This was also required by ILO in order to compare and contrast the Chinese experience with that of other participating countries. The evaluation system for students involved three main aspects: (1) attendance rates; (2) group discussions; and (3) the completion of a business plan. From the beginning, it was required that students should attend all the KAB programme classes. At each class, the assisting student would record attendance, which counted towards the nal course marks. To encourage active student involvement and interaction, group discussions were also evaluated and marked. In each class, the lecturer would organise group exercises, observe student involvement in discussions and keep a record of his/her contributions. The nal assessment was a group assignment on completion of a business plan, marked cumulatively from the beginning of the course. At the beginning, students were asked to form groups of up to three individuals. At the end of the fourth week, each group was required to submit their business plan proposal, and students were asked to conduct market research under the supervision of their lecturers. The business plan had to be completed by the 17th week and the nal group presentation would be conducted during the 18th week, in front of a select panel. The assessment of lecturers involved mainly the critical evaluation of the feedback provided by participating students. This helped establish how students related to the programme in terms of content and teaching methods, and facilitated improvement where appropriate. There were two types of feedback designed to evaluate the delivery of lectures: one involved feedback at the end of each class, and the other was the nal

evaluation collected at the end of the module. At the end of each class, a feedback form was given to students to be completed in class and collected by student representatives. The feedback form asked four focussed questions: (1) The aspect in todays class that I like most. . . (2) The aspect in todays class that I did not like. . . (3) The aspect in todays class that I was not sure about. . . (4) My suggestions for future classes. . . Student representatives would collect all the feedback and report to the lecturer who delivered the class as well as to the assistant lecturer. At the beginning of the next class, the assistant would disseminate the feedback from the previous lecture and act on the suggestions received. At the end of the module, the teaching styles of the four lecturers were summarised on the basis of cumulative student feedback. Most students felt that all the lecturers were properly prepared for class activities, but that their teaching styles appeared to be somewhat rigid and that they lacked an ability to inuence and improve the class atmosphere. A nal survey was conducted at the end of the semester when the module was completed. This used a designated questionnaire that was sent to the 60 students who attended the module. In total, 57 valid questionnaires were returned and analysed by an internal quality assurance team. The results of the nal feedback are outlined in the next section. Findings and discussions of KAB programme at CYU As proposed by ILO as well as by the CYU internal quality assurance team, a nal evaluation of the KAB programme at CYU was conducted and the results were analysed. It emerged that 43.9 per cent of students were very satised, 52.6 per cent were satised and 3.5 per cent (two students) were not content with the programme. To complete the business plan, 87.5 per cent of students preferred to work in groups of two to three individuals, while 12.5 per cent chose to work independently. The stated main student achievements from participating in the KAB programme were: . learnt how to write a business plan; . better understanding of enterprise and its practical problems; and . improved interpersonal skills. The majority of students also felt that they have learnt how to act as team players and work more effectively as members of a group of similarly minded individuals. Student feedback has also highlighted a number of potential problems and challenges, as listed below: . lack of market research knowledge; . a shortage of business plan models; . limited class hours; . lack of interaction between lecturer and students as well as between students; . lack of understanding of the impact of students background; . difculties in managing team work. It appears that lecturers were mainly transferring knowledge in class and that sometimes they failed to interact with the students in their class. Within limited

Entrepreneurship education in China 813

JSBED 15,4

814

teaching hours, it was felt that to complete a feasible business plan without undertaking market research was somewhat unrealistic or even futile. From this feedback, a number of challenges and issues have emerged and these were taken aboard in terms of the further development of the KAB programme. Interestingly, most of these challenges and issues could also be relevant to entrepreneurship education at other HEIs in China. Further research is needed to establish which aspects of the pilot KAB Programme at the Youth University for Political Sciences could be generalised for use in other entrepreneurship education programmes running in HEIs across China. Conclusion There is growing pressure on young people in both developed and developing economies to compete for jobs in increasingly globalised labour markets. Although contemporary China has experienced remarkable economic growth, levels of youth and adult unemployment are continuing to rise, mainly due to the progressive shift from labour intensive agricultural processes towards leaner manufacturing and service industries. The transformation of the Chinese economy has been supported by the reform of State-owned enterprises and the reorganization of the traditional public sector. Invariably this restructuring has resulted in higher levels of unemployment and student underemployment. The rapid growth of the Chinese small business sector has mopped up a large proportion of skilled and semi-skilled labour and provided a substantial self-employment opportunity for the growing mass of graduates entering the world of work. The Chinese government, following the example of other industrialised nations, perceives entrepreneurship as an expedient solution to mitigate the effects of growing youth and adult unemployment. Not surprisingly, entrepreneurship education in China is viewed as a strategic option to increase the number of highly motivated, trained and skilled graduate entrepreneurs. A pilot KAB programme has been introduced at the China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing, in order to evaluate its possible impact on entrepreneurship education in China. An evaluation of the pilot programme deemed it largely successful: 43.9 per cent of participating students were very satised with it, 52.6 per cent were satised and only 3.5 per cent claimed not to be content with it. Student feedback has also highlighted a small number of problems and challenges with this programme, including issues relating to a lack of market research knowledge, limited teaching hours, a shortage of business plan models and difculties in managing team work. The results of the pilot programme could be used to further improve and develop entrepreneurship education in general and the KAB Programme in particular, with a view to implement it more widely in selective business school across China.
References Cincotta, R., Engelman, R. and Anastasion, D. (2003), The Security Demographic: Population and Civil Conict after the Cold War, Population Action International, Population Action International, Washington, DC. Council of State (1999), Promotion Law for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Council of State, Peoples Republic of China. EC (2002), Education and Training for Entrepreneurship, European Commission, Brussels. EU (2003), World Youth Report Youth Employment, Vol. Chapter 2, European Union, pp. 54-71, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ch02.pdf (accessed 20 December 2006).

ILO (2004a), Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Organisation, Geneva. ILO (2004b), Youth Employment Trends, International Labour Organisation, available at: www. ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/getyen.pdf (accessed 20 December 2006). ILO (2006), Youth Employment Networks The Global Challenge, International Labour Organisation, available at: www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/network/ youthpart.htm (accessed 20 December 2006). Leitch, C.M. and Harrison, R.T. (1999), A process model for entrepreneurship education and development, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 83-109. Li, J., Zhang, Y.L. and Matlay, H. (2003), Entrepreneurship education in China, Education and Training, Vol. 45 Nos 8/9, pp. 495-505. Millman, C. and Martin, L.M. (2007), Exploring small copreneurial food companies; female leadership perspectives, Women in Management Review, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 232-9. UN (1992), Youth Denition, United Nations System on Demography, Education, Employment and Health (accessed 20 December 2006). UN (2000), Youth at the United Nations, United Nations, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/ unyin/qanda.htm (accessed 20 December 2006). UN (2005), World Youth Report: Young People Today and in 2015, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ wyr05book.pdf (accessed on 20 December 2006). UN (2006), The Millennium Development Goals Report, United Nations, available at: http://mdgs. un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf (accessed 20 December 2006). Urdal, H. (2004), The devil in the demographics: the effect of youth bulges on domestic armed conict, 1950-2000, Social Development Papers, Conict Prevention & Reconstruction, Paper No. 14, World Bank, Washington DC. WCSDG (2004), A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Further reading Millman, C., Matlay, H., Xi, B. and Martin, L.M. (2009), Entrepreneurship education in China students aspirations towards entrepreneurship, Education Training, Vol. 51, forthcoming. Corresponding author Cindy Millman can be contacted at: Cindy.millman@bcu.ac.uk

Entrepreneurship education in China 815

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints