Innovation and entrepreneurship as institutional pathways to prestige

Abstract This article examines how the mandatory subjects of innovation and entrepreneurship are taught in Chinese universities and how they are taken up by learners. Innovation and entrepreneurship education are part of the policy to promote ‘Quality Education’ through more experiential learning aimed to foster independent, creative and well-rounded citizens. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in 2018 and 2019, I argue that innovation and entrepreneurship courses often reproduce the same educational practices they are intended to change. This is the case because the criteria for determining which universities and teachers successfully foster innovation and entrepreneurship do not prioritise pedagogical practice. Instead, by organising numerous courses or winning prizes in entrepreneurship competitions, it is possible to mobilise institutional resources and become empowered within the system.