Unemployed Graduate to the Next Jack Ma? How Chinese University Students Perceive National Entrepreneurship Initiatives

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Issues in Postsecondary Education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship led by students at university may appear to be a panacea for knowledge economies worldwide. In China, entrepreneurship has been advocated as a solution for graduate unemployment. This paper casts a critical reflection on whether this promise could be fulfilled. Based on policy analysis and interviews with 100 students at universities in Guangdong province, we show that most students perceived start-ups as a near-impossible postgraduation option due to high risk and limited resources. Low-SES students were most attracted by the prospect of being “the next Jack Ma”. Nonetheless, high-SES students more often knew how to capitalise on entrepreneurship experiences, successful or not, to yield advantages, especially as a way to “decorate” their CV to support applications for postgraduate studies overseas.

Authors

• Ewan Wright, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Yagun Zheng, The University of Hong Kong