Entrepreneurship education: incorporation of soft skills through hands-on experience

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is of paramount importance in the present era of education for higher learning due to limited employment opportunities for graduates. Realising this importance, institutions of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia have adopted to provide entrepreneurship education and skills while undergraduate students are still undergoing their studies. The skills which are considered vital in entrepreneurship education are soft skills. Therefore, this paper aims to explain how IHL students acquire entrepreneurship soft skills through hands-on experience. In order to describe the acquirement of soft skills, this research utilized qualitative investigation using semi-structured interview in gathering data. The research respondents came from engineering and science backgrounds who took part in entrepreneurship education. Based on the findings of the study, it was found that soft skills are significant for future entrepreneurs in facing the challenging business environment. As a conclusion, this paper provides several recommendations for future research and implications beneficial for entrepreneurship practices.