Entrepreneurship as a Career Path among University Students: An Action Research on Hands-On Learning and Follow Up Approach in Business through the Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has become one of the main agenda of the most countries’ economic development including Malaysia. The government through its’ ministries and agencies aim to embed the entrepreneurial culture within the nation’s education system throughout and gives special attention to the development of entrepreneurship through the inception of entrepreneurship education (EE). However, the initiative does not reflect on the reduction over the unemployment rate. In fact, the number is surging particularly post pandemic Covid-19. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a follow-up program called “Beyond BPME1013” to nurture students becoming a potential graduate entrepreneur. Also, this study aims to investigate whether the entrepreneurship program ‘Beyond BPME1013’ able to nurture graduates with a solid ground of entrepreneurship and becoming a prospective entrepreneur. A focus group group of 20 students whom attended the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course (BPME 1013) in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) is employed in this study. Methodoligically, this study which underpinned by both the Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) is using a mixed method approach. A self-administered pre and post-questionnaire survey were used to examine the effectiveness of the program, followed by in-depth interviews among participants. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents agreed that the program is a beneficial one and most importantly, able to ignite their interest in starting up their own ventures in the near future. This study practically implicates the current implementation of EE particularly within higher education institutions (HEIs). While from policy perspective, a more effective measure is required needed to be seen as the continuity of the EE implemented towards achieving the nation’s entrepreneurship agenda as a whole.