Identifying the Challenges of Involvement in Entrepreneurship Activities among a Group of Undergraduates

Abstract

Entrepreneurship activities have been promoted in Malaysian universities through entrepreneurship education, mainly with the aim to minimize youth unemployment rate in Malaysia. The effort may have been hindered due to many reasons that may explain the lack of effectiveness of entrepreneurship education found in previous studies. The present study was conducted to identify the challenges of involvement in entrepreneurship activities among a group of undergraduates from a public university in Malaysia. Qualitative data was collected from three males and seven female undergraduates who were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. They were asked to provide insights on their lives as students who participated in entrepreneurship activities under the entrepreneurship center in the university they attended. Information gathered in the interviews was then analyzed using thematic analysis. There were two major themes found in this study which are external challenges and personal challenges. The findings are expected to provide insight on the key challenges faced by students as a result of their involvement in entrepreneurship activities. It could also contribute to the efforts to improve entrepreneurship education in Malaysia, and in turn inform the development of programs to develop interventions that improve entrepreneurship activities in higher learning institutions.