15 th UNESCO-APEID International Conference 6 -8 December

15 th UNESCO-APEID International Conference, 6 -8 December, Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia Promoting Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Context, Government Initiatives, and Institutional Responses in the P. R. China WANG Libing College of Education, Zhejiang University libingw@gmail. com

1. Context 2. Government Initiatives 3. Institutional Responses 4. Concluding Remarks

1. Context 1. 1 UNESCO’s Advocacy -1998 World Conference on Higher Education: Enhanced social relevance and links to the world of work Developing entrepreneurial skills and initiative should become major concerns of higher education, in order to facilitate employability of graduates who will increasingly be called upon to be not only job seekers but also and above all to become job creators. - Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action, 9 October, 1998, Paris

1. Context - 2009 World Conference on Higher Education The training offered by institutions of higher education should both respond to and anticipate societal needs. This includes promoting research for the development and use of new technologies and ensuring the provision of technical and vocational training, entrepreneurship education and programmes for lifelong learning. - World Conference on Higher Education Communiqué, 8 July, 2009, Paris

1. Context 1. 2 The expansion of higher education system in China since 1999 - From elite to mass higher education

1. Context

1. Context - The implications of higher education expansion • The traditional academic-oriented universities should restructure their study programmes to focus more on professional education, which are employment-oriented, and market-driven. • The expansion of higher technical and vocational education (non-university higher education sector) should be the major source of higher education expansion. • The employability of graduates has become one of the main challenges after the expansion. Entrepreneurship education has been regarded as one of the most effective ways to promote the employability of graduates in an era of higher education expansion.

1. Context 1. 3 The pressure of large-scale unemployment of university/college graduates First employment rate of university/college graduates in China (2001 -2006) (Source: MOE, China, 2006) year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Number of graduates (thousand) 1, 150 1, 450 2, 120 2, 800 3, 380 4, 130 Number of employed graduates (thousand) 920 940 1, 480 2, 040 2, 370 2, 870 Number of unemployed graduates (thousand) 230 510 64 76 1, 010 1, 260 Employment rate (%) 80 65 70 73 70 70

1. Context 1. 4 The promotion of a creative and innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge society - From a “world factory” to a knowledge-intensive, innovation-based country (national strategy) - Creative industry becomes more and more important in China’s economy - The new economy depends largely on the creation of new ventures by people with entrepreneurial intentions, skills, and competence.

2. Government initiatives Guidelines on the Promotion of Creative and Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education Institutions and Selfemployment Activities of University/College Graduates - May 2010, Ministry of Education, China

2. Government initiatives 2. 1 The promotion of creative and entrepreneurship education (CEE) in HEIs - CEE is to develop student social responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit, awareness, and skills. - CEE should be open to all students, and be integrated into all aspects of institutional activities. - CEE should be incorporated into curriculum and credit system of HEIs with proper teaching materials and methods to be developed.

2. Government initiatives 2. 1 The promotion of creative and entrepreneurship education (CEE) in HEIs - Capacity building of the teaching staff in CEE should be strengthened through periodic training programmes, workshops, teachers’ secondment to enterprises and their involvement in outside entrepreneurial activities, and the participation of successful entrepreneurs as part-time teachers, etc. - Creative and entrepreneurial activities should be carried out in HEIs, which may include relevant lectures and forums, simulating practical teaching, and entrepreneurship contests, etc. , to develop students’ knowledge and experience in CEE.

2. Government initiatives 2. 1 The promotion of creative and entrepreneurship education (CEE) in HEIs - Provincial education authorities and HEIs should provide favorable conditions to incubate good entrepreneurial projects of the students and support their creation of new ventures - Provincial education authorities and HEIs should establish monitoring system, including information tracing, collecting, and feedback systems to assess the effectiveness of CEE in HEIs. - National and provincial knowledge base in CEE is to be established for experience sharing and partnership building.

2. Government initiatives 2. 2 The development of supporting platforms for entrepreneurship practices of the students - The MOE, in collaboration with MOST, will establish “National Technology Incubation Practice Bases” for university/college students by utilizing the existing National University Science Parks in different locations - The provincial education authorities are asked to establish provincial-level technology incubation practice bases to provide incubator infrastructure for university/college students.

2. Government initiatives 2. 2 The development of supporting platforms for entrepreneurship practices of the students - The function of the practice bases is to provide supporting platforms for university/college students to conduct creative and entrepreneurial activities by mobilizing resources from different stakeholders, conducting training programmes, and providing internship opportunities for students. - The practice bases are also required to provide favorable policies to encourage the creation and development of new ventures by university/college students.

2. Government initiatives 2. 3 Provide favorable policies to support the generating of start-ups by university/college graduates - Lower entry barriers in starting funds, business venues, taxation, guaranteed small loans, interest subsidies, etc. , for start-ups established by university/college graduates. - Provincial education authorities are required to establish “Angel Fund” and other similar funds from both governmental and non-governmental sources to support the development of start-ups established by university/college students.

2. Government initiatives 2. 3 Provide favorable policies to support the generating of start-ups by university/college graduates - Provincial education authorities are required to provide entrepreneurship training to students who have the intention and ability to start new ventures. - Provincial education authorities and HEIs are required to provide guidance, counseling and information services to students who want to create business plans and start new ventures.

2. Government initiatives 2. 3 Provide favorable policies to support the generating of start-ups by university/college graduates - HEIs should put in place concrete measures to promote entrepreneurial activities of the students, including the establishment of Entrepreneurship Support Fund, utilization of university science parks, entrepreneurship practice bases, and centers of innovations and development to provide venues for students to conduct entrepreneurial activities. - HEIs are encouraged to transfer their research outcomes, scientific inventions, and patents into entrepreneurial projects.

2. Government initiatives 2. 4 Build an entrepreneurial ecosystem - Provincial education authorities should collaborate with other government departments to set appropriate legal and fiscal frameworks to encourage entrepreneurship. - HEIs should serve as incubators for research and innovation, and focal points for collaboration among researchers, students, professors, companies, and entrepreneurs. - Multi-stakeholder partnerships are needed with social organizations playing facilitating or intermediary roles.

3. Institutional responses 3. 1 Curriculum development - Know About Business (KAB) programme, developed by ILO, introduced into China in 2005, adopted as a public elective course by many universities in China, including Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Beihang University (BUAA) etc. - Start Your Business (SYB) program, developed by ILO, officially introduced into China in 2003, mainly offered at higher vocational institutions in China. Introduced into Zhejiang University in 2008 as an entrepreneurship training program open to all undergraduate students. Certificate of attendance issued jointly by ILO and MOHRSS.

3. Institutional responses 3. 1 Curriculum development - Intensive Training Programme in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management, started in 1999 at Zhejiang University for top undergraduate students majoring in technology. Based on Stanford Model, 60 students/year; Tsinghua University offers innovation and entrepreneurship management programs for undergraduate students. - Entrepreneurship education programmes offered by Business schools. Started in 2006, ZU School of Management offers advanced entrepreneurship management programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA levels, in collaboration with Babson College and Emlyon Business School.

Selection of CEE programmes UNIVERSITY NATURE OF PROGRAMME Shanghai Jiao Tong Establish Entrepreneurship College to provide general CEE course for all students and special CEE courses for students with strong entrepreneurial intentions. Beihang University (BUAA) “Technology Entrepreneurship”, “Entrepreneurship Management, ” “KAB”, etc. China Renmin University Public elective courses: “Entrepreneurial Spirit”, “Venture Capital Investment”, “Entrepreneurship Management”. Wuhan University Public elective course: “Entrepreneurship” Central South University Public elective courses: “SYB”, “Entrepreneurial Practice”, “Career Planning”, “Qualities for Success”, etc. Nanjing Normal University General CEE courses for all students, intensive entrepreneurship training programmes for students with strong entrepreneurial intentions, including “Exploring Business Opportunities”, “Advertising Planning”, etc.

3. Institutional responses 3. 2 Extracurricular activities - Challenge Cup National College Student Business Plan Competition, started in 1998 on biennial basis. 640 entries from 374 HEIs received at the 2010 Challenge Cup competition, hosted by Jilin University. many of the entries attracted Venture Capital (VC) investment. - Entrepreneurship forums, to be attended by teachers, students, and entrepreneurs for face-toface interaction. Successful entrepreneurs can share their stories and are invited to serve as students’ business mentors.

3. Institutional responses 3. 2 Extracurricular activities - Entrepreneurship clubs’ activities, including student short-term training programmes, student summer internship opportunities, student entrepreneurial apprenticeship, etc. - International exchange programmes for students (Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society, ASES)

3. Institutional responses 3. 3 Capacity building of the teaching staff - Develop special teaching forces for the implementation of entrepreneurship education: mainly from the faculties of economics, management, law, psychology, education, etc. , to provide public elective courses for students. Jiangsu University - Encourage teachers to participate in national and provincial training programmes (training of trainers). Training programmes organized by the MOE, training programmes for the KAB trainers. Beihang University becomes the National Center for the Training of Entrepreneurship Education Teachers.

3. Institutional responses 3. 3 Capacity building of the teaching staff - Encourage the participation of student academic supervisors, vocational guidance teachers, and student counselors, etc. , and increase their ability to help student conduct entrepreneurial activities. - Build part-time entrepreneurship mentor teams through the involvement of successful entrepreneurs and outstanding alumni, and invite them to give lectures, attend entrepreneurship education forums, and mentor student entrepreneurial activities.

4. Concluding remarks 4. 1 The promotion of creativity and entrepreneurship in higher education has become one of the most important ways to increase the employability of college graduates and enhance the social relevance of higher education in an era of higher education massification. 4. 2 National policy frameworks on CEE in higher education should be established to build multi-stakeholder partnerships, in which HEIs have a critical role as intellectual hubs in entrepreneurial ecosystem.

4. Concluding remarks 4. 3 The promotion of entrepreneurial culture in HEIs should be strengthened through curriculum development, extracurricular activities, and capacity building of the teaching staff, etc. 4. 4 The objectives of CEE should go beyond utilitarianism to focus more on student personal development for lifelong learning. 4. 5 Theoretical and evidence-based researches in CEE should be promoted to stock best practices for effective experience sharing and policy formation.

Thank you for your attention！