Study of the Structure of Abilities of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Instructors at Chinese Higher Education Institutions Based on the Mechanisms of Organizational Support: Based on an Empirical Survey of 1,231 Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The composition of abilities of innovation and entrepreneurship instructors and their state of competence are key to the advancement of efforts for innovation and entrepreneurship education at higher education institutions, and the multidimensional dynamic structure of instructor abilities determines the baseline for the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education at higher education institutions. On the basis of an empirical survey of a large sample of 1,231 higher education institutions across China, this study designed a scale for the composition of basic abilities among innovation and entrepreneurship instructors, a scale for factors influencing the improvement of abilities, a scale for the operating mechanisms of innovation and entrepreneurship education, and a scale for the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education, and applied a multiple regression analysis model to verify the relationship among the three factors of the composition of instructors’ abilities, the operating mechanisms for innovation and entrepreneurship, and the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education. The study found that the structure of abilities of innovation and entrepreneurship instructors at Chinese higher education institutions is unbalanced, and they lack specialized knowledge and skills; the measures for organizational support provided by higher education institutions as the major agents implementing innovation and entrepreneurship education are undiversified; and the current state of development of the abilities of innovation and entrepreneurship instructors does not suffice to support sustained improvement in the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education. Chinese higher education institutions must construct organizational support systems aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship instructors’ sense of identification and specialized development.