Assessing “ME generation's” entrepreneurship degree programmes in Malaysia

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of undergraduates' specialised entrepreneurship programmes in Malaysian universities that have been made available to “ME generation” students. By analysing the antecedents and predicting self‐employment intention, the paper evaluates the impact of such programmes upon the employability value of undergraduates who are part of the ME generation in a developing country such as Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA census survey was conducted on final and penultimate year students from major public and private universities in Malaysia. From these data, analyses of variables that affect self‐employment intention were performed, and the prediction of self‐employment intention was obtained.FindingsThe results show that the students do not perceive self‐realisation as their most salient beliefs and perceived that their entrepreneurship lecturers' expectations towards them to become self‐employed are not highly influential and need to be complied with. However, they believed that specialised entrepreneurship education (SEE) contributes to increasing entrepreneurial self‐efficacy and subsequently towards their self‐employment intention, and thus increases their employability value.Research limitations/implicationsThis research only studies students' self‐employment intention in their respective universities and not their actual behaviour. Results from the paper are limited in ability to demonstrate “actual” outcomes that result from the interaction of the antecedents in universities' confinement.Practical implicationsThe paper provides an important analysis of the current status of entrepreneurship students in Malaysian universities. The findings provide insight on the development of effective entrepreneurship programme deliveries and methodologies.Originality/valueThe paper provides a basis to improve the effectiveness of SEE in Malaysian universities and in turn produce highly employable graduates.