Embedding Entrepreneurship in Arts and Design curricula: expanding innovation capacity through curriculum development in higher education

The transformation of contemporary labor markets, intensified by digitalization, cultural hybridization, and structural economic instability, has profoundly reshaped professional trajectories in the arts and creative fields. Linear career paths have increasingly given way to portfolio careers, hybrid identities, and project-based professional configurations. In this context, curriculum development in arts education must evolve beyond disciplinary mastery and incorporate entrepreneurship as a structural and cultural component rather than a peripheral add-on. This paper argues that embedding entrepreneurship within arts and design curricula expands students’ professional agency, enabling them not only to access employment but to create opportunities across institutional and independent contexts. Drawing from established literature in entrepreneurship studies, creative industries research, and curriculum theory, the study proposes an integrated framework for curricular transformation based on three interrelated dimensions: entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial capabilities, and experiential venture engagement. The contribution aligns with the track on Curriculum Development and Evaluation by offering a theoretically grounded and structurally coherent model for embedding entrepreneurship in interdisciplinary arts education.