Academic Innovation and Autonomy: An Exploration of Entrepreneurship Education Within American Community Colleges and the Academic Capitalist Context

Employing interviews with individuals from 16 community colleges across the country, as well as an independent consultant engaged in activities of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), this study considers the organizational structures and academic practices associated with community college entrepreneurship education. More specifically, community college entrepreneurship education is argued to be a market-oriented trend that has been largely overlooked as a curricular alternative to workforce development models. The exploration is guided by and placed within the context of academic capitalism as articulated by Slaughter and Rhoades.