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Challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs in Malaysia: career transition

to become a social entrepreneur

Article in European Journal of Training and Development · June 2021

DOI: 10.1108/EJTD-02-2020-0021

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Career
Challenges faced by youth social transition to
entrepreneurs in Malaysia: career become a social
entrepreneur
transition to become a
social entrepreneur
Nur Raihan Che Nawi, Mohd Mursyid Arshad, Steven Eric Krauss Received 11 February 2020
Revised 28 October 2020
and Ismi Arif Ismail 26 January 2021
15 February 2021
Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 21 February 2021
Serdang, Malaysia 6 March 2021
8 March 2021
4 May 2021
Accepted 17 May 2021

Abstract
Purpose – The practice of social entrepreneurship has grown rapidly around the world, including in
Malaysia where it is still considered to be at an early stage. Nevertheless, little is known about the career
transition among youth who choose careers as social entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore
the challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs who run social enterprises in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach – This study used a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data to
answer the research questions. Seven youth social entrepreneurs were interviewed until data saturation was met. An
interview guide was created for the purposes of conducting the interviews. The interviews were recorded using a
voice recorder. Data were transcribed verbatim and grouped in order to identify the codings, categories and themes.
Findings – The findings show the career transition to become a social entrepreneur, as well as the major
challenges that youth social entrepreneurs face, which include acclimatising to the life and career of a social
entrepreneur and not getting support from family.
Practical implications – The study findings are also significant for presenting valuable data on the
experience of the developing social entrepreneur. The qualitative nature of the study provides valuable
experiential insight into the lives and struggles of young social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The findings will
allow local authorities and social entrepreneurship regulatory agencies to design initiatives and plan actions
intended to overcome the challenges.
Originality/value – This study makes an original contribution by showing that the process of career
development as a social entrepreneur has given meaning to the informants. Despite presenting many
challenges, social entrepreneurship has reinforced the role of youth social entrepreneurs, especially in relation
to social responsibility.
Keywords Malaysia, Career development, Career transition, Youth development,
Social entrepreneurship activity, Youth social entrepreneur
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
A career as a social entrepreneur has a positive outlook for involving youth in Malaysia.
Even though social entrepreneurship activity is still in its early stages (Farok, 2011;

Conflicting interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
European Journal of Training and
authorship and/or publication of this article. Development
This work was supported by Universiti Putra Malaysia through GP-IPS Grant, with vote number © Emerald Publishing Limited
2046-9012
9499800. DOI 10.1108/EJTD-02-2020-0021
EJTD Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity, 2015, 2016; Othman and Abd. Wahid, 2014;
Sarif et al., 2013), participation by youth in social entrepreneurship activities in Malaysia is
quite encouraging, with 64% of those engaging in such activities being youth under 40 years
of age. Youth of age 21–30 years have the highest involvement in social entrepreneurship
activities, making up of 37% of all social entrepreneurs (Malaysian Global Innovation and
Creativity, 2016). By comparison, most social entrepreneurs in other countries, such as the
UK, are of age 44–65 years (Villeneuve-Smith and Chung, 2013).
Social entrepreneurs have two roles. First, they conduct social entrepreneurship activities
that are intended to overcome social problems, and second, they use a business to provide
these activities, and this business organisation is known as a social enterprise (Che Nawi,
2018).
An individual passionate about entrepreneurship may embark on a career in it because
of the experience and knowledge gained in their previous career (Burton et al., 2016; Eesley
and Roberts, 2012; Midlane, 2010; Unger et al., 2011). His or her career as an entrepreneur
has been described as a new career opportunity (Inkson et al., 2010), and the decision to
become an entrepreneur can be seen as a career option (Mohamad et al., 2014; Pittino et al.,
2020). A career in entrepreneurship involves an individual deciding to start their own
business (Schreuder et al., 2007). The main reason for an individual deciding to become an
entrepreneur relates to their intention (Fayolle et al., 2014; Krueger, 2017; Renko et al., 2009;
Shaver, 2012) to overcome social problems.
Careers today do not focus solely on promotion within a hierarchical organisation. With
the emergence of the postmodern career within organisations, there is greater career
flexibility. For example, protean careers (Arthur and Rousseau, 2001; Holtschlag, et al., 2020;
Peiperl and Baruch, 1997) are pursued by those who do not want to be tied to any
organisational structure and who want to find meaning that can fulfil their life.
Entrepreneurial activity is a process of finding new opportunities in alternative careers
(Lee and Venkataraman, 2006; Mohamad et al., 2014). Thus, social entrepreneurs act just like
commercial entrepreneurs. What distinguishes them from the latter are their profit motive
(Dees, 1998, 2001) and their greater focus on creating social value (Bacq and Janssen, 2011),
whereby they generate or create mutual good (Murphy and Coombes, 2009; Narangajavana
et al., 2016). Although social entrepreneurs act like commercial entrepreneurs, there is still a
lack of research and discussion on the experience of youth involvement in social
entrepreneurship as a career.

1.1 Study context and purpose

A career as a social entrepreneur has two significant roles: solving problems and
empowering social enterprises. According to Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity
(2016), it is twice as difficult to develop a social enterprise, as it is to start a commercial
business. This is because social entrepreneurs have the heavy responsibility of developing
and sustaining the organisation while also creating social value and having an impact on
economic development.
This study focuses on how youth develop their careers as social entrepreneurs, as there is
still a lack of research on youth involvement. According to the British Council (2018), the
common challenges facing social entrepreneurs in Malaysia are cash flow (55%), lack of
awareness of social enterprises in Malaysia (36%), recruiting staff or volunteers (33%),
obtaining other forms of financing (31%), obtaining grants (27%), availability of suitable
premises or workspace (22%), lack of access to business support and advice (21%),
government regulations and administrative burdens (19%) and shortage of business skills
(17%). The findings of this report indicate the challenges for social entrepreneurs relating to
running and managing a social enterprise. However, there has been no study on careers Career
among social entrepreneurs. transition to
In Malaysia, youth are regarded as those aged 15–30 years effective on 2018 (Malaysia
become a social
Youth Policy, 2015). Although social entrepreneurship is generally viewed as a high-risk
career, it has become a career of choice among Malaysian youth (Malaysian Global entrepreneur
Innovation and Creativity, 2015). This paper explores the experience of social
entrepreneurship among youth in the Klang Valley area, encompassing the Kuala Lumpur,
Selangor and Putrajaya regions, which are the main economic region in Malaysia. Most
social entrepreneurs start up their social enterprises in the Klang Valley area (British
Council, 2018) because stakeholders and funding can be found there. This is an important
aspect as, according to a report by Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity (2016), social
entrepreneurs in Malaysia face the problem of balancing the two main roles of sustaining
their business and creating social impact without any prior business knowledge.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the challenges faced by youth social
entrepreneurs who run social enterprises in Malaysia. It aims to provide empirical evidence
in the field of human resource development (HRD) as well as in relation to Malaysian social
entrepreneurship activities.

1.2 Significance of study

A study of the experience of youth involvement in social entrepreneurship careers in
Malaysia has significant value in that it can provide a more in-depth understanding of such
careers. As there are few studies on careers as social entrepreneurs, the results from this
study can contribute to a new body of knowledge within the fields of HRD and career
development.
In relation to Malaysia, studies on social entrepreneurship activities have focussed on
economic development (Li, 2010), survival (Ismail and Sarwar, 2013), social
entrepreneurship potential (Radin Siti Aisyah et al., 2013), social entrepreneurship for
Higher Education Institutions students (Hariyaty, 2014) and poverty eradication (Zainol
et al., 2014). More general studies that do not focus on Malaysia include that by UNICEF
(2007) on social entrepreneurs among youth and by Tina (2015) on youth social
entrepreneurship and positive youth development. Ashour (2016) considered social
entrepreneurship as a career of choice for university students in the United Arab Emirates.
Therefore, there is a need for a study that focuses on the process by which youth shape and
develop their careers as social entrepreneurs in the Malaysian context and this study may
contribute worldwide.

1.3 Contribution to human resource development

There are a few studies relating to social entrepreneurship and HRD. Wang (2012)
introduced the concept of social entrepreneurship into HRD to explore how social
entrepreneurs address social or environmental problems by focussing on organisational
development principles. Wang (2012) also called for good cooperation between HRD
practitioners and social entrepreneurs so that the latter could succeed in their mission of
giving back to the community and nation.
According to the Commission Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship (2016), some
social enterprises (i.e. organisations that conduct social entrepreneurial activities) have
helped to solve unemployment issues by creating new job opportunities for youth. Although
the aims of social entrepreneurship are to achieve high profits, some social enterprises
nevertheless provide job opportunities that are more stable and secure in term of jobs for
youth (United Nations, 2020). Stoši
c-Mihajlovi
c and Nikoli
c (2017) found that social
EJTD enterprises have employment policies that offer job opportunities exclusively to vulnerable
groups. For example, some social enterprises offer work and a chance to develop skills to
youth who have no prior work experience and face difficulties in securing a stable job.
This indicates that social entrepreneurship has contributed to HRD by developing the
skills of youth employees as part of their career development. According to McLagan (1989,
p. 53), career development is to focus on assuring an alignment of individual career planning
and organisational career management processes to achieve an optional match of individual
and organisation needs. Career development primary emphasis is on the person as an
individual who performs and shapes his or her various work roles. Its major intervention is
the influence on self-knowledge and on processes that affect individual and organisation
abilities to create optional matches of people and work.
Therefore, the present study can contribute to the HRD field as well as to the area of
social entrepreneurship through its exploration of youth who have transition to social
entrepreneurship from a previous career.

1.4 Implications for human resource development

The findings of this study will provide much valuable information for HRD practitioners,
youth social entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholder (especially for sectors that
develop and promote social entrepreneurship in Malaysia, such as MaGIC, myHarapan and
the British Council and also worldwide). This paper aims to explore the challenge of career
development for youth social entrepreneurs. There may be implications for HRD regarding
career development among youth who transition from a previous career to social
entrepreneurship.
Moreover, social entrepreneurship and HRD share similar core values and missions
(Wang, 2012). As discussed above, social entrepreneurs aim to create social value and give
back to the community and nation. The target group of the value proposition are the
disadvantaged population (Martin and Osberg, 2007). This value proposition is similar to
the definition of HRD as any process or activity that, either initially or over the longer-term,
develops adults and their work-based knowledge, expertise, productivity and satisfaction.
Such development can be for personal or group/team gain, or the benefit at the level of an
organisation, community, nation or, ultimately, the whole humanity. (McLean and McLean,
2001, p. 4).

2. Literature review
2.1 Social entrepreneurship as a career
Entrepreneurship can be regarded as a career (Asante and Affum-Osei, 2019; Liguori et al.,
2020; Mohamad et al., 2014). There are positive developments in social entrepreneurship in
Malaysia, where youth social entrepreneurs have switched from the corporate sector to the
social sector, or from commercial businesses to social enterprises (Malaysian Global
Innovation and Creativity, 2015). As a result, a career as a social entrepreneur has attracted
the attention of youth. According to Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity (2016),
61% of social entrepreneurs have backgrounds in the corporate sector, while 36% come
from the social sector and only 3% are fresh graduates. Those interested in social
entrepreneurship should have a foundation in entrepreneurial skills so that their social
enterprises can be successful. According to Hessels et al. (2008), every entrepreneur needs to
have entrepreneurial skills (Bencheva and Stoeva, 2019) if they want to change the world
(Thompson et al., 2017).
2.2 Youth involvement in social entrepreneurship activities in Malaysia Career
Social entrepreneurs’ pattern of career change can be seen either from their involvement in transition to
the social sector or from their transition from commercial business activities to social
become a social
enterprises (Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity, 2015). Social enterprises are here
referred to as business activities that address social or environment issues (Luc, 2020; entrepreneur
Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity, 2015; Seelos, 2014).
By 2020, youth aged 15–40 years are expected to represent 44.7% of the total population
in Malaysia (Economic Planning Unit, 2015). However, the British Council (2018) report
reveals that the percentages of different age categories of youth involved in social
entrepreneurship is as follows: 0% of those aged below 18 years; 7% of those aged 18–
25 years; 12% of those aged 26–30 years; and 36% of those aged 31–40 years. Thus, this
shows that only about 19% of youth aged below 30 years are involved in social
entrepreneurship in Malaysia. The percentage of youth age as a proportion of the total
population is expected to decrease due to the Malaysian Youth Policy’s (2015) definition of
youth as those aged 15–30 years, which was enacted in 2018. Youth play an important role
in the development of the country as future leaders and as agents of change who will
determine Malaysia’s identity and drive national progress. Therefore, it is important to
provide an environment and opportunities that allow them to play a role in national
development (Economic Planning Unit, 2015).

2.3 Motivation to be a social entrepreneur

Personal experience is an important factor in choosing a career as a social entrepreneur. In a
study conducted by Bailey (2012), informants shared how their personal experiences
provided the opportunities to identify, understand, and develop a commitment to specific
issues relating to their social enterprise. Education, the nature of careers, life experiences
and social networks have also been identified as factors that push individuals to become
social entrepreneurs.
Austin et al. (2006) compared social entrepreneurship and commercial entrepreneurship
by discussing how social entrepreneurs observe their environmental context to identify
opportunities. Baron (2006) argued that information value gained through extensive and
varied experience is a priority in identifying profitable opportunities. Tang et al. (2009) and
Kirzner (1999) have considered the importance of alertness when scanning the horizon to
identify opportunities in entrepreneurship. Shane (2000), in a study on the process of
becoming an entrepreneur, showed that prior knowledge can contribute to choosing a career
as an entrepreneur (Asante and Affum-Osei, 2019). Caution of the mind (Kirzner, 1997) refers
to an attitude in accepting missed opportunities. Haugh (2007) discussed the identification of
opportunities in the community as an early stage when one or more individuals consider
opportunities arising from personal experience, implicit knowledge, intuition, environmental
forces, social change or market failure. Guclu et al. (2002), on the other hand, argued that the
process of creating opportunities for social entrepreneurs is a personal experience that can
provide motivation, inspiration, or a source of dissatisfaction in establishing a new
approach. The results of their study found that relevant experience was often not useful in
new fields, such as social entrepreneurship activities.
In a study conducted by Bailey (2012), life experiences (Asante and Affum-Osei, 2019) or
specific events that happen to an individual are seen as important to choosing a career as a
social entrepreneur. Prabhu (1999) maintained that the background of social
entrepreneurship leaders is different. It is based on events in their previous or current
careers that trigger change and lead them to social entrepreneurship activities. Roberts and
Woods (2005) conducted a case study of a social entrepreneur who turned to social change
EJTD after a bad experience in their previous business. Braun (2011) identified three main factors
that lead to individuals becoming social entrepreneurs: (1) a crisis or event that triggers
change; (2) self-confidence; and (3) parents’ influence during childhood. Dhesi (2010),
however, stated that the reason why an individual becomes a social entrepreneur may be the
influence of early socialisation among family members, peers, and even associations.
According to Yitshaki and Kropp (2015), experience is the main factor leading to an
individual becoming a social entrepreneur. In particular, individuals are driven to become
social entrepreneurs in order to prevent others from having the same bad experience the
entrepreneur had (Humphris, 2017; Yitshaki and Kropp, 2015).

2.4 Support from family and friends

Rajani and Sarada (2008) found that female entrepreneurs received support from family and
others, which helped make their enterprises successful. Omorede (2014), in a study on the
motivation of social entrepreneurs in Nigeria, identified four main categories, one of which is
support from social networks, which refers to friends and family providing emotional and
physical support for social entrepreneurs. According to Caldwell et al. (2020), family, friends
and business contacts are informal networks that help social entrepreneurs sustain their
businesses. As previously mentioned, social entrepreneurship is a high-risk career
(Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity, 2015) due to the dual responsibilities of
running the social enterprise and addressing social problems. Thus, to ensure that the social
mission is accomplished, social entrepreneurs need emotional and physical support from
family and friends. According to Prabhu (1999), close friends are important in providing the
emotional and problem-solving support that social entrepreneurs need when they engage in
social entrepreneurial activities.

2.5 Career transition to social entrepreneurship

The concept of career transition has been discussed in several scholarly studies, such as
Louis (1982), Blalock et al. (2003), North and Lavallee (2004), Motulsky (2010), and Stoltz and
Young (2013). According to Patton and McMahon (2014), an individual’s career development
will be influenced by various individual and contextual factors. In turn, career development
will influence the individual’s career choice.
However, career transition also happens in the social entrepreneurship field, whereby
some entrepreneurs move from being commercial entrepreneurs to become social
entrepreneurs. This happens due to flaws in the social system and to environmental factors.
These factors have driven the social entrepreneurs and become a stepping-stone to create
“something good” for society (Bandinelli, 2019; Bewayo and Portes, 2016; Ferri and Urbano,
2010; Hibbert et al., 2002; Prabhu, 1999). The transition can be initiated by the individual
(youth) as a conscious decision to change his or her course of career in order to advance their
self-development (Miller-Tiedeman and Tiedeman, 1990).
In Malaysia, for example, some youth have made the transition from the corporate sector
(mostly in management), the social sector (teachers, activists, and so on) and the commercial
business sector to become social entrepreneurs (Malaysian Global Innovation and
Creativity, 2015). The Malaysian government have implemented initiatives to support youth
who want to become social entrepreneurs. The Malaysia Global Innovation and Creativity
Centre (MaGIC) and myHarapan provide training and develop individuals’ knowledge and
skills to prepare them for social entrepreneurship.
2.6 The system theory framework of career development Career
This study concerns the experience of youth involvement in the career of social transition to
entrepreneurship in Malaysia. No specific theory can discuss comprehensively the career become a social
development of an individual. This is because various factors (both individual and
contextual) influence individuals in their career choices. Current career theories combine
entrepreneur
several theories under one ‘umbrella’ in order to include various influencing factors in career
formation and individual development (Byrne, 2007; Savickas and Lent, 1994). To guide the
present research, the system theory framework (STF) of career development has been
adopted (Patton and McMahon, 2014). STF is a metatheory that conceptualises various
factors that form an individual’s career. It can formulate and integrate content theories and
processes that influence career development. STF is able to elucidate the interaction between
various influencing factors and allow the content theories to interact with those factors.
In STF, the individual is placed at the centre between two influencing components:
content (such as individual systems, social systems, and environmental systems) and
process (such as recursive processes, changes over time, and opportunities). Existing career
development theories offer explanations of the elements in individual systems, which
include (1) theories of personality (Holland, 1997; Holland et al., 1994) and the Big Five
theory (McCrae and John, 1992); (2) theories focussing on interests and beliefs, such as social
learning theory (Mitchell, 1990, 1996) and cognitive social theory (Lent et al., 1994, 2002); (c)
self-concept theory (Super, 1957); (4) theories about age, such as life term theory (Super,
1953, 1957, 1990); (5) value-based theory (Brown, 2002; Brown and Crace, 1996); (6) and
theories relating to knowledge of the working world, such as information processing theory
(Peterson et al., 1991).
Individuals also live in extensive social systems (such as family, media, community,
workplace, educational institutions and peers) and environmental systems (government
decisions, historical influence, globalisation, socioeconomic status, job market and
geographical location). In these systems, individuals frequently interact with each other.
STF also explains how an individual experiences career development. An individual will
be influenced by the external environment and will cross borders. This interaction is
referred to as recursive in that it involves having a continuous relationship. The boundaries
of each system are permeable by nature. The influences on an individual’s career
development may change from time to time. Opportunity refers to the process that
ultimately influences an individual’s career, and it is represented by “lightning”. All of these
systems are also influenced by the context of time, which includes the past, present and
future of an individual. The context of time is also closely related to the influence of the past.
The result of a combination of past and present will shape how an individual will develop
his or her career in the future.

3. Methodology
3.1 Research design
This study used a basic qualitative approach to collect and analyse data to answer the
research questions, which aimed to explore how youth develop careers as social
entrepreneurs in Malaysia. A basic qualitative approach is interested in (1) how people
interpret their experiences; (2) how they construct their worlds; and (3) the meaning they
attribute to their experiences (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016, p. 24). In qualitative research, the
researcher is the main instrument for collecting and analysing data. An interview guide was
created for the purpose of conducting in-depth interviews, which were an opportunity to
explore the challenges facing youth social entrepreneurs. The interviews were recorded
EJTD using a voice recorder to ensure that rich data were obtained. The data were then
transcribed verbatim and analysed into groups so that themes could be identified.

3.2 Sampling
Informants were selected among youth aged 20–30 years who had participated in social
enterprises and social businesses and who worked as social entrepreneur. Information about
the participants was obtained through a website provided by MaGIC, an Internet search,
programme participation, and the snowballing technique. The informants were selected
from different social entrepreneurship sectors, such as economic access and poverty
eradication, education, youth development, women’s issues, and health and nutrition.
Purposive sampling was used, whereby specific criteria for selecting informants were
used. Participants had to (1) have run a social enterprise for a minimum of two years as a
social entrepreneur; (2) be between 20 and 30 years old; (3) be easily contacted; and (4) be
willing to take part in this study. Email, Facebook, telephone and WhatsApp were used to
contact informants. After a participant’s consent had been confirmed, a time, date and venue
were set for the data collection. Before the interview began, the purpose of the study, the
procedure of data collection, and the need for informants to sign a consent form prior to
participating in the study were briefly explained.
After interviews with seven informants, data saturation was reached; in other words,
there was a repetition of data and no new information. According to Merriam and Tisdell
(2016), data saturation is the point at which the researcher realises no new information,
insights, or understanding will be forthcoming.

3.3 Data collection and analysis

After selecting and contacting participants, and prior to the actual interview session, we met
with the informants to introduce myself and to build a relationship so that we could get
some information about the social entrepreneurship activities conducted by the informants
(Merriam and Tisdell, 2016; Patton, 2015). This was done to build a sense of familiarity or
rapport with the informants so that they would feel more comfortable sharing information in
the actual interview sessions.
At the interviews themselves, the goals of the study and how the interviews would be
conducted were explained to the informants. The interview began with a question asking
the informant about their background as a social entrepreneur. The interviews used semi-
structured questions that were prepared before interview session by the researcher for a
more in-depth interview session.
Each interview was transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were then analysed to
determine codes, categories, and themes, which were identified manually. To assist in
managing and analysing the data, Nvivo software was used, which helped to save time
during the data analysis process.
In order to achieve data saturation, constant comparative techniques were used. The
constant comparative method involves continuously adding new cases to datasets up to
saturation point (Harding, 2019). It consists of four steps: (1) an interview session, (2)
transcription of the interview, (3) open coding and (4) obtaining confirmation from the
informant.
In the third step, the open coding of the transcript was compared with that of the
previous informant. By comparing the open coding in this way, it was possible to determine
the saturation of the data. When there was a repetition of information and no new
information emerged, the data saturation point had been reached. In the case of this study, it
was reached after the researcher doing comparing the open coding to group them into
category and theme. So, it was then decided to stop the data collection. According to Career
Harding (2019), the decision to stop data collecting is also based on the amount of time or transition to
other resources that can be devoted to the research.
become a social
entrepreneur
3.4 Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is a concept for determining whether a study is valid and reliable, and
whether it investigated what it set out to do. As suggested by Merriam and Tisdell (2016),
validity can be achieved by comparing descriptions and explanations to ascertain whether
the explanations fit the descriptions perfectly. Validity is a hallmark of qualitative research,
since it determines whether the findings are accurate from the standpoint of the researcher,
the participant or the reader (Creswell and Poth, 2018).
In this study, validity was achieved by using an audit trail, member checks and peer
examination. An audit trail refers to the steps adopted by the researcher at every stage of
data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the researcher needs to document the preparation
of the proposal, the construction of the interview protocol and questions, the data collection,
and the process of analysing the data. Member checks are used to reconnect the researcher
to the informants to verify consistency in the interpretation of the data (Silverman, 2013).
The informants in this study were subsequently contacted for clarification of the facts of the
findings. As suggested by Creswell and Poth (2018), peer examination was also used to
obtain feedback and consultation from several youth experts to verify data analysis and
interpretation.

4. Findings and discussion

4.1 Profile of youth social entrepreneurs
In this study, the seven informants were actively involved in social enterprises or social
businesses. They were between 25 and 30 years old. Two informants five years of social
entrepreneurship experience, while the rest had between two and three years of experience.
Pseudonyms were used to protect the identity of the informants. The informants came from
various social impact sectors, such as economic access and poverty eradication, education,
youth development and health care. Table 1 summarises the profiles of the seven informants
in this study.

4.2 What are the challenges facing a youth social entrepreneur?

Based on the interview sessions, two themes were identified to answer the research question,
career transition to become a social entrepreneur. This consisted of two themes: (1)
acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur and (2) not getting support from
family. Theme and category are further explained through the classification as presented in
Table 2.

Pseudonym Age Years as social entrepreneur Social impact sector

Irika 30 3 Economic access and poverty eradication

Betty 30 3 Education
Jeena 28 4 Education
Mateen 28 5 Youth development
Lily 29 2 Youth development
Selva 25 2 Economic access and poverty alleviation Table 1.
Rose 30 5 Healthcare Informant profile
EJTD 4.2.1 Acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur. Acclimatising to the life
and career of a social entrepreneur after leaving a previous career was regarded as a
challenge by the informants. Irika’s willingness to let go of her previous luxurious life to
become a social entrepreneur was driven by a personal reason:
I made the decision myself to strip away everything that I had. I sold my house, I used the
existing car that I had, I stopped working. I did not wait for the bonus ever. My position, whatever
I put aside. This is adjustment, its humanity. We cannot, you cannot live luxuriously[. . .].
The same predicament was also faced by Lily who was more reluctant to leave a
comfortable position and the chance to go abroad for work:
To leave the position was not an easy decision because I was in the comfort zone. And I got the
opportunity to travel worldwide, because it was an international company and they always have
meetings overseas. To let go of this position was a very big decision to make.
Betty, who used to work in an environment with a lot of people such as a school, commented
on her experience of changing her working environment when she started to be involved in
social entrepreneurship activity: “Yes, you know when you work, because I always work
with people, work with students. And then suddenly, I’m like all alone.” Even Selvan from a
business background, he also has a challenge in term of acclimating to life and career as a
social entrepreneur:
Single mother has a lot of the issue, you know that they have a personal issue, as a social
entrepreneur I have to understand them. At the same time, I have to make sure social enterprise
have to sustainable. It’s not easy to adapt, because before this I can say, I am old fashion
businessman, where money is the king.
Self-adjustment in life and to the environment while doing social entrepreneurship activities
can be seen as a challenge that faced the youth social entrepreneurs in this study. However,
as they were passionate about achieving their social mission, they did not give up; instead,
they continued to adapt and adjust to their new environment. Both Irika and Lily
commented on their willingness to let go of their previous positions and the luxury that went
with them in order to choose social entrepreneurship as a career. While Betty and Selva have
to adapt to the new environment to achieve their social mission.
4.2.2 Not getting support from family. A challenge experienced by many informants in
this study was not receiving family support when they chose to become a social
entrepreneur. Irika, who was a former human resources manager in the banking sector, did
not receive support from her parents when she chose to become a social entrepreneur:
Like that, my parents have a successful daughter. So, they’ve seen me in the corporate world.
When they compared the two lives, different right? She asked, ‘How long do you want to work
with the Islamic Bonding, why not go somewhere, you do not want to migrate oversea? So, here’s
what it means, we have a role to educate, because of the other generation gap. To educate that

Theme Category

i) Acclimating to life and career as a social entrepreneur i) reluctant to leave a comfortable position
Table 2. ii) changing working environment
Theme and ii) Not getting the support from family. i) not receive support from parents
categories ii) not receive support from a spouse
 success is not measured by material goods. Success is not measured by numbers. So, I always Career
constantly remind them. Success is not measured in any quantitative way, and so on.
transition to
Jeena faced a similar situation whereby her parents had perceptions about her educational become a social
status when she mentioned wanting to leave her career as an analyst: “I think they were a entrepreneur
little bit sceptical at the beginning, you know when you’ve gone abroad, then coming back;
why I just want to be a teacher, then to be a social entrepreneur[. . .]”. Mateen, who had
worked for fives year in an NGO as a social entrepreneur, reported a similar response from
her parents:
My parents actually, when I finished my university, they started to be happy. But my mum, she
personally wants me to become a lecturer. It’s typical parents, to work with the government, all
that. I understand that. But I can see along the way when I was at ourDream, she said, ‘Eh, you
don’t want to apply as lecturer, is that it? There’s still [a place] for a language teacher.’ So, I can
see the inclinations there. But when I have been around ourDream, let’s say now five years, she
can already see my development, I don’t think my mum knows exactly what I do at ourDream.
Because mostly parents, they don’t understand the scope of work that the NGO do, all of that.
While Rose, who had run the social enterprise for fives year, also faced not getting the
support from the family:
So, I said like very hard for me, I mean I’m spending money, of course at that time 2013, 2014
really bad for me because I don’t have really much money. That time I’m still on my own. Because
I found my partner only in July 2015 when I start to form a social enterprise. But before that, all
by myself. So, I have like, no money. My family doesn’t know my problem. I never talk to my
husband about my challenges, because he does not support me.

5. Discussion
This study addressed an important topic relating to social entrepreneurship activities and
career development by exploring the challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs. The
subject is important because 64% of social entrepreneurs are youth. The results of this
study show that among the challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs is career
transition to becoming a social entrepreneur. In particular, two categories have been
identified within that theme: acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur, and
not getting support from family.
The informants in this study shared the experiences they faced as they developed their
careers as social entrepreneurs. Irika, Lily, Betty, Jeena, Mateen and Selva chose to be social
entrepreneurs due to their experience of life events. For example, Irika, who had previously
held a stable position in the banking sector, was willing to leave her luxurious life to choose
a career that gave her satisfaction. Similarly, Lily was initially reluctant to relinquish her
position and the benefits she received from her previous company, but she prepared herself
by attending courses and appointing a coach before becoming a social entrepreneur. Betty,
on the other hand, experienced a shift in the working environment: she had previously
worked as a schoolteacher in rural areas, which involved working with many people. While
Irika, Lily, Betty, Mateen and Selva chose to be social entrepreneurs, they also faced initial
challenges in the transition from their previous careers to their new careers as social
entrepreneurs.
The career transitions of Irika, Lily, Betty, Mateen and Selva can be categorised as
subjective career choices. A subjective career is one driven by personal desire (Arthur et al.,
2005; Arthur and Rousseau, 2001; DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994, 1996; Sullivan, 1999). By
overcoming the challenges of acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur,
EJTD Irika, Lily, Betty, Mateen and Selva had acquired personal meaning and satisfaction in their
social entrepreneurship activities.
The lack of support from family was an early challenge for Irika, Jeena, Mateen and Rose
as they embarked on their careers as social entrepreneurs. For example, Irika did not receive
support from her parents as she was leaving a career with a good position and salary. Thus,
when Irika became a social entrepreneur, her salary was lower than that she had received in
the banking sector, which led to her parents not supporting her social entrepreneurship
activities. Jeena, on the other hand, did not receive family support because her parents were
sceptical of her choice and had high career expectations for their daughter, who was a
graduate from overseas. The approaches taken by Irika and Jeena to overcome these
challenges differed. Irika explained to her family the satisfaction she got from her career so
that they would be more willing to accept and support her. Jeena’s parents became more
accepting as their daughter’s social entrepreneurship activities bloomed and Jeena achieved
more success, which was often reported in newspapers and other media. This success gave
her parents confidence that Jeena had made a good choice of career, so they increasingly
gave their full support to it. Mateen and Rose also used the same approach as Irika and
Jeena, where both of them explained this career gives them satisfaction in terms of helping
other people to their family.
Challenges such as not getting support from families may have impacted the informants’
motivation when they were developing careers as social entrepreneurs. This is because
social entrepreneurs need emotional support from family members (Davidsson and Honig,
2003; Omorede, 2014; Prabhu, 1999; Rajani and Sarada, 2008). As mentioned above,
Omorede (2014) identified emotional and physical support from social networks as
important for social entrepreneurs. For example, Irika, Mateen and Rose did not receive
support from his/her family to become a social entrepreneur, but he/she had a good friend as
well as the head of social entrepreneurship activities who gave his/her full support to
become a social entrepreneur. It can be argued that Irika, Jeena, Mateen and Rose had the
intention and passion when choosing a career in the social entrepreneurship field. Although
they did not initially receive family support, they did receive strong support and
encouragement from their friends or employers, and this helped them to establish their
careers as social entrepreneurs.
This study contributes to the literature on HRD and career development, as well as to the
understanding of social entrepreneurship activities. It deepens our knowledge of the career
development process by which youth social entrepreneurs shape their careers and achieve
their social and environmental goals. Even HRD and social entrepreneurship share similar
core values and missions, there are a few studies relating to HRD and social
entrepreneurship. For example, Wang (2012) focussing on organisational development of
social entrepreneurship, while this study focuses on career development, and still lacking
study on training and development.
The findings of the study provide empirical data on how youth faced challenges in terms
of career transition to become a social entrepreneur. As discussed above, MaGIC and
myHarapan provide training and develop individuals’ knowledge and skills to prepare them
for social entrepreneurship. Therefore, the researcher suggests further research to
understand the forms of training and development this agency provides, how the training
and development process helps career development as social entrepreneurs and how
learning transfers among social entrepreneurs after they attend these trainings. These
suggestions due to this study’s limitations which are focussed on career development
among youth social entrepreneurs instead of exploring training and development as well as
organisational development.
6. Conclusion Career
The findings of this study show that the career transition to becoming a social entrepreneur transition to
encounters two important challenges: acclimatising to the life and career of a social
become a social
entrepreneur and not getting support from family. These are new discoveries on this topic.
The findings also show that the challenges became a valuable learning process for the entrepreneur
informants in developing their careers, with the result that the process of career
development as a social entrepreneur gave meaning to the informants.
These findings have implications: future social entrepreneurs must be aware early in the
career development process of the need to be prepared for the career transition if they are coming
from a different background into social entrepreneurship. Moreover, they must be mentally and
physically prepared to face various challenges. As mentioned before, social entrepreneurship is a
high-risk career. At the same time, youth social entrepreneurship activity reinforces social
responsibility. Based on these finding, it is to be hoped that authorities, such as the Ministry of
Youth and Sports, and social entrepreneur regulatory agencies in Malaysia, such as MaGIC,
myHarapan, Malaysian Innovation Foundation, British Council, my Hope, Scope Group,
Tandemic, and the Social Enterprise Alliance, will look to empower youth social entrepreneurs in
Malaysia by helping them to overcome the challenges presented by career transition.
Implication of practice: the aim of this study was to explore the challenges faced by youth
social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. It provides rare empirical data on the career development
of young Malaysian social entrepreneurs, with a focus on the challenges faced by young
people embarking on what many consider to be a high-risk career. The study findings are
also significant for presenting valuable data on the experience of the developing social
entrepreneur. The qualitative nature of the study provides valuable experiential insight into
the lives and struggles of young social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The findings will allow
local authorities, such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and social entrepreneurial
regulatory agencies to design initiatives and plan actions intended to overcome the
challenges currently faced by youth social entrepreneurs.
Another important implication of our study derives from the originality of our findings
regarding career development among youth social entrepreneurs. The British Council (2018)
report shows the challenges for social entrepreneurs relating to running and managing a
social enterprise. However, our findings point to a specific challenge in terms of career
development among youth social entrepreneurs.

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Appendix 1 Career
transition to
Theme: become a social
Acclimating to life and career as a social entrepreneur entrepreneur
Category: “I made the decision myself to strip away everything that I had. I sold my
let go of previous luxurious house, I used the existing car that I had, I stopped working. I did not wait for
life the bonus ever. My position, whatever I put aside. This is adjustment, its
humanity. We cannot, you cannot live luxuriously. . .”. (Irika)
“To leave the position was not an easy decision because I was in the comfort
zone. And I got the opportunity to travel worldwide, because it was an
international company and they always have meetings overseas. To let go of
this position was a very big decision to make.” (Lily)
Category: “Yes, you know when you work, because I always work with people, work with
changing working students. And then suddenly, I’m like all alone.” (Betty)
environment “Single mother has a lot of the issue, you know that they have a personal issue,
as a social entrepreneur I have to understand them at the same time I have to
make sure social enterprise have to sustainable. It’s not easy to adapt, because
before this I can say, I am old fashion businessman, where money is the king”
(Selva)
Theme:
Not getting the support from family
Category: “Like that, my parents have a successful daughter. So, they’ve seen me in the
Not getting the support corporate world. When they compared the two lives, different right? She asked,
from parents ‘How long do you want to work with the Islamic Bonding, why not go
somewhere, you do not want to migrate oversea? So, here’s what it means, we
have a role to educate, because of the other generation gap. To educate that
success is not measured by material goods. Success is not measured by
numbers. So, I always constantly remind them. Success is not measured in any
quantitative way, and so on” (Irika)
“I think they were a little bit sceptical at the beginning, you know when you’ve
gone abroad, then coming back; why I just want to be a teacher, then to be a
social entrepreneur. . .”. (Jeena)
“My parents actually, when I finished my university, they started to be happy.
But my mum, she personally wants me to become a lecturer. It’s typical
parents, to work with the government, all that. I understand that. But I can see
along the way when I was at ourDream, she said, ‘Eh, you don’t want to apply
as lecturer, is that it? There’s still [a place] for a language teacher.’ So, I can see
the inclinations there. But when I have been around ourDream, let’s say now
five years, she can already see my development, I don’t think my mum knows
exactly what I do at ourDream. Because mostly parents, they don’t understand
the scope of work that the NGO do, all of that.” (Mateen)
Category: “So, I said like very hard for me, I mean I’m spending money, of course at that
Not getting the support time 2013, 2014 really bad for me because I don’t have really much money. That
from a spouse time I’m still on my own. Because I found my partner only in July 2015 when I
start to form a social enterprise. But before that, all by myself. So, I have like, Table A1.
no money. My family doesn’t know my problem. I never talk to my husband Table of extract to
about my challenges, because he does not support me.” (Rose) match the theme
EJTD Appendix 2. Interview Protocol
Research title: exploring the involvement experience of youth social entrepreneurs in the Klang
Valley, Malaysia.
Explain to the informant:
a) Thank the informants for their willingness to share information
b) The purpose of the interview, how it will be conducted, and how long it will be taking time.
c) Data will be kept confidential and used for research purposes
d) Ask permission to record the interview
1. Social entrepreneur background:
 Name, age, where do you live, married status?
 What are you doing now?
 Working as what? (current job)
 What is your role in this social enterprise?
2. Social enterprise background:
 Can you share the history of the establishment of social enterprise?
 Target groups, services/products, conditions of service recipients/products? Why choose this
target group?
 How does this social enterprise operate? Service? Skills?
 How to generate income for this social enterprise?
3. Challenges and obstacles as social entrepreneur:
 What are the challenges and obstacles in social entrepreneurship activities?
 challenges in terms of the family? Spouse?
 How to divide time to the current job, social entrepreneurs and family?
 What else do you face challenges as social entrepreneur?

Corresponding author
Nur Raihan Che Nawi can be contacted at: raihannurche@gmail.com

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