ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

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© Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing association

Research Article ISSN 2229 – 3795

The role of higher education in promoting entrepreneurship in Malaysia

Anantha Raj A. Arokiasamy
Quest International University Perak (QIUP), No. 227, Plaza The Teng Seng (Level 2),
Jalan Raja Permaisuri Bainun, 30250 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
dinraj18@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming a very relevant instrument in promoting economic

growth in a country. Thus the role of higher education in promoting entrepreneurship in
Malaysia is analyzed in this context and its initiatives tend to explain a greater fall in
unemployment levels as the nation gears up to invest more resources to turn Malaysia into a
education hub. As entrepreneurs have the potential to contribute much to society, researchers
have tried to analyze entrepreneurs’ personalities, skills and attitudes as well as the conditions
that foster entrepreneurship. The growing concern is how should the education institutions,
particularly the higher education institutions, impart essential entrepreneurial knowledge in
the syllabus to equip future entrepreneurs with the necessary skills – the so called
“entrepreneurship education”. This paper looks at the entrepreneurship education in Malaysia
as the Malaysian government has taken great effort to transform the economy into the
knowledge-based economy. In this regard, “entrepreneur” has been identified as one of the
key elements to the development of the knowledge economy. Thus, this paper attempts to
study the development of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia and to investigate the
effectiveness of the entrepreneur education in Malaysia. To achieve the objectives of the
study, a qualitative approach is used to highlight the role of higher education in promoting
entrepreneurship in Malaysia and whether this leads to lower levels of unemployment among
graduates.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education; economic growth; higher education; government

role; university students

1. Introduction

The definition of entrepreneurship has been debated among scholars, educators, researchers,
and policy makers since the concept was first established in the early 1700’s. The term
“entrepreneurship” comes from the French verb “entreprendre” and the German word
“unternehmen”, both means to “undertake”. Bygrave and Hofer in 1891 defined the
entrepreneurial process as ‘involving all the functions, activities, and actions associated with
perceiving of opportunities and creation of organizations to pursue them’. Joseph Schumpeter
introduced the modern definition of ‘entrepreneurship’ in 1934. According to Schumpeter,
“the carrying out of new combinations we call ‘enterprise’,” and “the individuals whose
function it is to carry them out we call ‘entrepreneurs’.” Schumpeter tied entrepreneurship to
the creation of five basic “new combinations” namely: introduction of a new product,
introduction of a new method of production, opening of a new market, the conquest of a new
source of supply and carrying out of a new organization of industry. Peter Drucker proposed
that ‘entrepreneurship’ is a practice. What this means is that entrepreneurship is not a state of
being nor is it characterized by making planes that are not acted upon. Entrepreneurship

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begins with action, creation of new organization. This organization may or may not become
self-sustaining and in fact, may never earn significant revenues. But, when individuals create
a new organization, they have entered the entrepreneurship paradigm. For example, they were
seen variously as economic agents, decision makers, risk-takers, coordinators of scarce
resources, innovators, and agents of economic change (Cantillon, 1755; Say, 1855;
Schumpeter 1934). However, they failed to arrive at one universally accepted definition.
Undeterred by such academic activity, entrepreneurship succeeded to adapt to a multitude of
social settings, historical epochs, and different game rules present at a certain point of time
(Hébert and Link, 1988).

The importance of entrepreneurship education is derived from the importance of the

entrepreneurs to the economic system. Why is entrepreneurship education important? Webb
et al. (1982) cited in Garavan and O’Cinneide (1994a) found that students who participated in
entrepreneurship programmes were more likely to start their own business than other students.
Upton et al. (1995) found that 40 percent of those who had attended courses in
entrepreneurship had started their own businesses, while 30 percent had joined family
businesses and only 30 percent worked for large organizations. This view is supported by
Charney and Libercap (2000, p. 5) who found that entrepreneurship graduates are three times
more likely than non-entrepreneurship graduates to start new business ventures. In other
words, entrepreneurship becomes a valuable asset either as a stimulus to business start-up or
as embedded knowledge for graduates. As understanding of what constitutes entrepreneurs
and entrepreneurship extended to into a wider range of the social sciences this contributed to
more multi-disciplinary perspectives and methodologies. According to Tribe (2006) this is
beneficial as a dominance of one discipline can not only determine what will be excluded or
included in research but it can literally discipline both perception and knowledge creation.

According to Charney and Libercap (2000) the significance of study in entrepreneurship

education is generally to foster risk-taking and the creation of new business ventures, it
increase the likelihood of graduates being self-employed; causes a significant positive impact
on the income of graduates; increases job satisfaction from increased income; contributes to
the growth of businesses, especially small ones; promotes the transfer of technology from the
university to the private sector; and promotes technology-based firms and products.

Several factors contribute to the role of higher education in entrepreneurship in Malaysia

such as: 1) the government’s enormous funding allocation for the promotion of
entrepreneurship, 2) the issue of graduate unemployment which had risen to approximately
sixty thousand and 3) the attitude of current graduates who were seen to be too pampered and
dependent on the government and private organization for employment. The integration of
entrepreneurship into several undergraduate courses gives an opportunity to students, at some
degree, in developing entrepreneurial capacities and mindsets, but for a successful and
complete transmission from an entrepreneurial spirit to an entrepreneurial behaviour, there
are still more to be done. It, therefore, still remains unclear if higher education acts as a
successful transmission mechanism for the promotion of entrepreneurship (Greene and
Saridakis, 2008).

Furthermore, entrepreneurship education is essential in equipping the graduates with a variety

of skills and knowledge in order to produce successful entrepreneurs who are not only
competitive locally but also globally. Various measures have been undertaken by the
government with the aim to achieve the goal of complementing and exposing graduates to the
world of entrepreneurship. Among the measures that have been implemented by the
Malaysian government is the inclusion of the entrepreneurial subjects or courses related to

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entrepreneurship from primary school level to tertiary level. The introduction of

entrepreneurial studies is part of the strategy initiated by the government to change the
mindset of graduates from being salaried workers to becoming self-employed. Argument
arises on how the education institutions, particularly the tertiary education institutions, should
impart essential entrepreneurial knowledge in the syllabus to equip future entrepreneurs with
the necessary skills – the so called “entrepreneurship education”?

2. Is Entrepreneurship a Necessity in Today’s Economy? Why?

Entrepreneurial education is recognized worldwide as being critical in facilitating economic

growth which in turn is essential for addressing unemployment. Investing in entrepreneurial
development can create jobs and stimulate productivity. Entrepreneurial education requires
investing time and capital. Gorman, Hanlam and King (1997) postulate that there is
widespread recognition that entrepreneurship is the engine that drives the economy of most
nations. Therefore learning institutions at all levels are under increasing pressure from
government agencies, the public and even students to develop a model at entrepreneurial
education that will provide students with adequate entrepreneurial skills and enhance the
development and promotion of small businesses (Pretorius, 2008).

Mare (1996) summarizes the importance of entrepreneurship in the following four

advantages: advancement of economic prosperity, combating unemployment, improved
future perspectives and the advancement of own initiatives. The establishment of new
ventures through entrepreneurship fuels economic prosperity and leads to job creation that
will combat unemployment. In addition, the prospect of establishing a new venture provides
alternatives to job seeking individuals and could enhance creativity and innovation through
the advancement of their own initiatives.

Entrepreneurship is becoming an integral part of any economy, “promoting entrepreneurship

and enhancing the entrepreneurial dynamic of each country will lead to increased economic
well-being” (Kautz). The most important reason why entrepreneurship helps the economy is
due to the creation of new jobs. In contrast to the belief that most entrepreneurs are those that
were out of work and unable to find a job, it has been found that 76 percent of business
startups in 2003 were driven by the desire to pursue opportunities (Cornwall). This is
evidence that entrepreneurism is not a hindrance on the economy. Furthermore, it has been
estimated that entrepreneurs have created 34 million new jobs since 1980 (Fox). Also, 70
percent of new startups were found to already employ at least one person, and 80 percent
planned to hire within the next year (Cornwall). This data is significant evidence that
entrepreneurism leads to new jobs. This is a major contribution to the economy.

Entrepreneurism also helps the economy by creating wealth for many individuals seeking
business opportunities. Although this is not the number one reason individuals pursue
entrepreneur activities, it plays a major role in our economy. Both a new business and the
wealth the owner can obtain will help boost the economy by providing new products as well
as the spending power created for the entrepreneur. Without entrepreneurs, our economy
would not benefit from the boost they give from added business and ideas. According to
Abdullah (1999), in a developing country like Malaysia, entrepreneurial activities through
venture creation are seen as a mechanism to improve the distribution of income, to stimulate
economic growth, and to reshape an economic structure, which has been highly dependent on
the activities of large firms. In essence, entrepreneurship is crucial to the health of Malaysia’s
economy. The government of Malaysia, throughout its constitutional bodies, has been playing
the crucial role in developing and encouragement home grown business entrepreneurs.

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3. Can Higher Education Cultivate Entrepreneurship?

Alberta and Gray (2000) concluded that business schools offering entrepreneurship as a
program were more involved in the creation of a new business ventures as compared to non-
entrepreneurial programs of other business schools. Solomon (2002) reported that
entrepreneurial education is one of the vibrant areas in leading business schools of U.S.
Teaching entrepreneur-ship and concluded that entrepreneurship capabilities can be
developed through education (Gorman et al., 1997). Donald (2004) reported that
entrepreneurship, or number of parts of it, can be learnt through education (Vesper and
Gartner, 1997). Solomon et al. (2002) stated that entrepreneurship education is different as
compared to normal/conventional business education.

Entrepreneurship education can also increase the interest of the students to choose
entrepreneurship as a career where it can significantly raised their attitude, perceived
behavioral control and intentions toward entrepreneurship (Wilson, Kickul and. Marlino,
2007; Souitaris, Zerbinati, and Al-Laham, 2007). In a study on entrepreneurship behavior
amongst Malaysian University students by Othman and Faridah (2010), several suggestions
on how entrepreneurship education can be useful in opening up the minds and interests of
potential entrepreneurs have been brought. They stressed on the reality and hands-on
approach in the business world because students need to be exposed early to this real
situation for better understanding and to build up their self-confidence in business. Smart
partnership between institutions and the business sector also been suggested which students
can also spend some time in firms as part of the training or practicum programme so as to
introduce them into the business culture.

The purpose of teaching entrepreneurship is to give the students an exposure towards a better
understanding of the concept of entrepreneurship and to nurture interest and awareness in
business and to help them discover possibilities of various opportunities out there in the
business world. The knowledge gained from this subject, that is, by learning the theoretical
aspects of entrepreneurship and sharing of experience and success stories of others is
anticipated to become their prior knowledge. It is believed and also hoped that the prior
knowledge will help them embark into business or explore business opportunities after
graduation.

An exponential interest in entrepreneurship studies has increased amongst both undergraduate

and graduate students over the last decade (Solomon, Weaver et al. 2005). One of the key
factors explaining this unparalleled phenomenon is the fact that wages employment or
‘secure’ employment is no longer a guarantee especially in the public sector for university
graduates (Collins, Hannon et al. 2004; Kamau-Maina 2006; Postigo, Lacobucci et al. 2006).
In addition the luxury thought of university graduates are the elite and intelligent group in the
society, whom can easily acquire a job upon graduation has no longer reflected the realities of
today’s employment world (Seet and Seet 2006). In today’s competitive job environment,
total job opportunities are inevitably limited and thus one must compete to secure a job as
supply of jobs is limited.

As a result, many graduates are unable to get a job upon graduation. Students are now
apparently searching for a business education that can equip them with the necessary
entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to succeed in running businesses or to create a job from
seizing existing entrepreneurial opportunities (Brown 1999; Henry 2003).Therefore many
universities and colleges around the world have responded to this demand by introducing
entrepreneurial courses to students in an effort to promote entrepreneurship as well as a

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professional entrepreneurship career (Postigo and Tamborini 2002). For instance, in the
United States, there are more than 1500 colleges and universities that offer courses in
entrepreneurship and small business management to some 15,000 students (Scarborough and
Zimmerer 2003; Kuratko 2005).Many dialogues, forums and training programmes organised
by educational institutions are all in favour of entrepreneurship development apart from being
the subject taught at colleges and universities (Landstrom 2005). Undoubtedly, all these are
being done with one major goal, namely to foster entrepreneurial spirit and expect attitude
change in students, after undertaking entrepreneurial courses. Students are also expected to
value entrepreneurship as a personal and future career development alternative (Kantis,
Postigo et al. 2002).

Functionally entrepreneurship education has been lauded as being able to create and increase
awareness as well as promote self employment as a career choice among young people
(Clayton 1989; Fleming 1996). Therefore the role of entrepreneurship education is mainly to
build an entrepreneurial culture among young people that, in turn, would improve their career
choices towards entrepreneurship (Deakins, Glancey et al. 2005). In other words, the
objectives of entrepreneurship education are aimed in changing students’ state of behaviours
and even intention that makes them to understand entrepreneurship, to become
entrepreneurial and to become an entrepreneur that finally resulted in the formation of new
businesses as well as new job opportunities (Fayolle and Gailly 2005; Hannon 2005;
Venkatachalam and Waqif 2005). In achieving this, the design of entrepreneurship education
curriculum need to be creative, innovative and imaginative and most importantly is ‘tying
academic learning to the real world’ (Robinson and Haynes 1991, p. 51).

For young people to be accommodated in the economy they will have to be trained and
educated in the field of entrepreneurship. This will hopefully encourage them to become job-
creators instead of job-seekers once they leave the educational system. Entrepreneurial
behaviour has become important and there is a need for better entrepreneurial skills and
abilities when dealing with current challenges and an uncertain future. Entrepreneurship
education is vital in ensuring development and enhancing economic growth.

Nieuwenhuizen and Groenewald (2008: 129) postulate that entrepreneurs who attend
entrepreneurship courses have a high tendency to start their own business compared with
those attending other business courses or not attending any courses. They maintain that
entrepreneurship training is critical to venture success. According to Ladzani and Van
Vuuren (2002: 158) entrepreneurship education plays a pivotal role in supporting small
businesses and they recommend that entrepreneurship education should be seen as one of the
basic requirements of starting and managing a business.

Sullivan (2000: 168) revealed in the study conducted on entrepreneurial learning and
mentoring, that entrepreneurs believe that the underpinning knowledge gained in taking part
in entrepreneurship courses has been critical when faced with “real life” incidents and is of
the view that this enabled them to reflect on the incidents and internalize any learning that
took place. Thus, theoretical knowledge gained in entrepreneurship courses enhanced the
ability to dissect, reflect, learn and act on critical incidents. Furthermore, Henry, Hill and
Leitch (2005: 101) indicate that through the study of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs will be
able to benefit change, become more self-reliant and develop their creativity. All these
attributes constitute a viable platform for economic development in any society. This creates
a need for a focused approach on the development of entrepreneurial skills.

4. What is the Government’s Role in Promoting Entrepreneurship?

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Government influences and supports for entrepreneurship is very crucial to promote the
entrepreneurial development in order to guarantee SMEs future business success. Thus, it will
contribute to the greater ability and power to the success factors in entrepreneurship. In
developing areas, satisfactory government support has been shown to be important for small
firm success (Yusuf, 1995). Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in market
economies are the engine of economic development. Owing to their private ownership,
entrepreneurial spirit, their flexibility and adaptability as well as their potential to react to
challenges and changing environments, SMEs contribute to sustainable growth and
employment generation in a significant manner. SMEs have strategic importance for each
national economy due a wide range of reasons. Logically, the government shows such an
interest in supporting entrepreneurship and SMEs. There is no simpler way to create new job
positions, increasing GDP and rising standard of population than supporting entrepreneurship
and encouraging and supporting people who dare to start their own business. Every surviving
and successful business means new jobs and growth of GDP.

Therefore, designing a comprehensive, coherent and consistent approach of Council of

Ministers and entity governments to entrepreneurship and SMEs in the form of government
support strategy to entrepreneurship and SMEs is an absolute priority. A comprehensive
government approach to entrepreneurship and SMEs would provide for a full coordination of
activities of numerous governmental institutions (chambers of commerce, employment
bureaus, etc.) and NGOs dealing with entrepreneurship and SMEs.

Malaysia is one of the countries that have an emerging economy. The number of companies
in Malaysia is growing rapidly and is now becoming a centre of new business opportunities
as international investors have begun to view Malaysia as the place to invest their money and
establish their businesses. Of consequence, the development of entrepreneurship has become
the main agenda which is evident by the introduction of mechanisms that cater for
entrepreneurs (Ariff and Abu Bakar, 2005; Ismail et al., 2009). Such mechanisms would spur
the economic activities and in turn, create employment growth. One of the mechanisms
introduced by the government is support on entrepreneurship education which has become an
important curriculum in the higher education institutions in Malaysia (Ismail et al., 2009).
The purpose of entrepreneurship education is to produce graduate entrepreneurship that
defines the interaction between the graduate as a product of a higher education institution and
their readiness to pursue their career as an entrepreneur (Nabi and Holden, 2008).

As a consequence, governments have a central role in supporting ventures whose success

potential is not necessarily visible in the short term, but which may have a significant
contribution to economic development (Hustedde & Pulver, 1992). Indeed further research
has shown that provision of management and entrepreneurship training programs, various
forms of start-up incentives (e.g., exemption of custom duty, tax concession) and provision of
consulting services enable a person to start a business (Dana, 1987; Hawkins, 1993).
Moreover, an extra measurement of the environment is the governmental and supporting
environment. Overall, these showed that governments in many countries are actively
contemplating measures, both at the local and state levels, to stimulate entrepreneurial
activity and to ensure that adequate financing and advice is present to back up business
formation (Keuschnigg & Nielsen, 2000).

5. What is the Higher Education Institution’s Role in Promoting Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship education has experienced unprecedented growth over the last twenty years.
This can be seen in the growth of positions, organizations, research and publications devoted

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in the area of entrepreneurship. Among entrepreneurship researchers, the role of

entrepreneurship education has been recognized as one of the crucial factors that help youths
to understand and foster an entrepreneurial attitude (Gorman et al., 1997; Kourilsky and
Walstad, 1998).

The significance of this study is parallel with the intention of the Ministry Of Higher
Education (MoHE) of revitalizing entrepreneurial acumen of all graduates and also in tandem
with the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development (MECD) to encourage
young generations to venture into business and be courage to explore opportunities through
this sector. Key success factors for entrepreneurship education as mentioned by Galloway, L
& Brown, W (2002) stressed two fundamental factors that enable the entrepreneurial
educational program to be more successfully implemented: firstly, the objectives of the
program – must be clear and achievable and secondly, the education or program delivery
methods – must be effective.

Entrepreneurship is a young developing field with growing importance in the global business
environment. Because of this, there has been an increased demand for entrepreneurship
courses that come from students who are interested in starting their own businesses. Because
the demand has increased, there has been a need for an increased number of faculties to
deliver these courses, administer programmes and conduct research in the area. As a result,
the preparation of faculty to participate in entrepreneurship activities is of substantial
importance.

The objective as well as the delivery methods to be implemented should be developed based
on a thorough research of the existing situation, i.e. Gap analysis – to determine the
differences between the norms (most ideal) and the actual performance. Since each higher
education institution (HEI) is having its own activities and programs on entrepreneurship
education, the best and effective programs need to be identified and created to ensure that all
institutions are given fair opportunity to prepare the best methods on entrepreneurship
education. Although the curriculum is the same, the difference in implementation
entrepreneurship education can occur, and the result could be a significant gap between the
achievement and the ability of students who had chosen entrepreneurship as their career. This
study is significant in creating as many as successful entrepreneurs from HEIs in Malaysia.

Entrepreneurship education has achieved significant heights. Kuratko (2006) cited that there
are 550 schools offering majors in entrepreneurship, an additional of 350 with concentrations
in entrepreneurship and at least one course in entrepreneurship taught in over 1600
universities worldwide. Many countries have begun to address the entrepreneurship education
in schools and universities (Rubin and Cunniff, 1996; Erkkila, 1996; Cohen, 2000; Fayolle,
2005; Kuratko, 2006; Turker and Selcuk, 2008; Cheung, 2008).

Universities and colleges in Malaysia have started to offer entrepreneurship as a major or a

subject in most programme since mid-1990s, both at the first degree as well as master levels
where the students took up courses on entrepreneurship or related subjects. Universiti Utara
Malaysia (UUM) is one of the public universities, which is among the first to offer several
programmes related to the area of entrepreneurship. Apart from the formal exposure through
the subjects taught in classes, UUM has long established the business and entrepreneurship
development centre since March, 1990 in line with her philosophy and objective of
generating entrepreneurs (Habshah, Faudziah and Rosli, 2005).

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With an economy in transition, small businesses now account for an increasing proportion of
economic activity, Hence, higher education institutions need to redefine their role in the
economy and society, specifically in what they offer. Higher education institutions can help
create a more entrepreneurial disposition among young people by instilling a clear
understanding of risks and rewards, teaching opportunity seeking and recognition skills, as
well as creation and “destruction” of enterprises. They can also play a role in developing
entrepreneurial traits in students and can provide the necessary support for entrepreneurs as
well as provide legitimacy to their endeavours. These institutions however need to go much
further and should become more active in economic development and link their research
activities to local development. They must also be encouraged to inform local planning and
policy making, support the development of industrial infrastructure, and improve access for
historically disadvantaged communities.

In Kroon and Meyer’s (2001) study on university students taking an entrepreneurship course,
they found that although strong emphasis has been placed on entrepreneurship education in
tertiary institutions since the early nineties, exposure to one course in entrepreneurship does
not ensure entrepreneurial orientation or more positive expectations about entrepreneurial
abilities and careers. They recommend that entrepreneurship education must be implemented
earlier in the educational system.

The integration of entrepreneurship into several undergraduate courses gives an opportunity

to students, at some degree, in developing entrepreneurial capacities and mindsets, but for a
successful and complete transmission from an entrepreneurial spirit to an entrepreneurial
behaviour, there are still more to be done. It, therefore, still remains unclear if higher
education acts as a successful transmission mechanism for the promotion of entrepreneurship
(Greene and Saridakis, 2008). This could be dissolved by utilizing a mechanism which
supports students in every stage of the entrepreneurial transmission: from creating and
shaping innovation to building up a start up. Such an approach needs dual support; academic
guidance from the college, and entrepreneurial guidance with inputs from the companies. The
guidance from the companies lets real entrepreneurs to be involved in the teaching and
mentoring, forming an experience-based teaching environment.

According to Kirby (2002), entrepreneurship education is different than “traditional”

management studies as the traditional management education may impede the development
of the necessary entrepreneurial quality and skills. Entrepreneurship education needs a
different teaching pedagogy, hence, there are studies trying to relate entrepreneurship
education to work related learning (Dwerryhouse, 2001); experiential learning (Kolb, 1984);
action-learning (Smith, 2001), and entrepreneurial training (Gibb, 1999).

Entrepreneurship education is more than business management, it is about “learning”, i.e.

learning to integrate experience, skills and knowledge, to get prepare to start with a new
venture. Hence, for the purpose of this study, entrepreneurship education refers to the
formalized programme to equip students with the needed skills and knowledge to:

• recognizing business opportunities

• searching customers insights
• understanding the needs of the market
• creating an idea
• developing the business plan

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• running the business

• evaluating environmental, institutional and political issues

5.1 Conclusion

Entrepreneurship education is in a period of rapid development. Entrepreneurship education

at the college level has evolved from courses in small business management to full-scale
curriculums at many schools. While these programs are struggling to shed their traditional
orientations, progress has been made in creating courses that are more relevant and designed
to appeal to students who may not be in traditional business school programs. At the
precollegiate level, entrepreneurship education began in the vocational schools and is now
beginning to take hold throughout the school curriculum. Much more needs to be done to
recognize that entrepreneurship can and should be an integral part of courses in government,
business, sociology, and history. At the elementary level, entrepreneurship education can be a
way of freeing the creative instincts of young students.

There is a greater supply of potential entrepreneurs in society than what is now being
produced by the education system. Whether this nation or any other will be able to solve its
economic and social problems will depend on the availability of a continued and increasing
stream of creative talent. Entrepreneurship education can be a major contributor to creating
new education structures that are themselves entrepreneurial. If this happens, then the future
of the nation will be insured.

Higher education can support greater self-employment and can contribute to entrepreneurship
and employability in general. It cannot guarantee the outcomes, although it can increase the
chances of certain sorts of outcomes arising. Nor does the story end with higher education.
Employability and entrepreneurship need to be continuously refreshed throughout a person’s
working life. There is a need to identify the objectives of entrepreneurship education to
determine the most effective teaching method. There is a possibility that young graduates
would opt to work for few years gaining experience before venturing into own business.

The impact of the National Higher Education Action Plan (2007-2010) which is triggering
the higher education transformation is that Malaysian universities are expected to contribute
more to economic development through research and development, and commercialization
activities; universities must seek closer relationships with the government and industry; and,
universities need to drive resource efficiency and quality management approaches through all
aspects of their business, requiring a high level of both financial and outcome accountability.

From the analysis, the role of higher education in promoting entrepreneurship education in
Malaysia is viewed as a positive, self-sustaining initiative to combat unemployment but there
is no specific conclusion that can be drawn to support this theory concretely. Although a lot
of the points highlighted can lead to lower levels of unemployment if entrepreneurship
education is taught at higher education institutions in Malaysia, much more research is
needed. Hardly a surprising conclusion but still correct. Much of what is "known" about
entrepreneurship education is not firmly based on research. Particular emphasis should be
placed on relating the theory of learning to entrepreneurship instruction. Much valuable
information discovered by other disciplines, particularly the social sciences, needs to be
transferred and applied.

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