The effect of perceived barriers on social entrepreneurship intention in Malaysian universities: The moderating role of education

Abstract

This paper attempts to identify barriers of social entrepreneurship intention by the moderating role of education amongst research universities in Malaysia. Entrepreneurship is regarded as the major factor for economic development while social entrepreneurship is considered as the alternative method of solving social problems. Entrepreneurship is not new for Malaysia as is evident from various policies and programs initiated by the government. However, social entrepreneurship is a relatively new phenomenon in Malaysian context that requires much attention. To promote entrepreneurship we need to know the barriers influencing on entrepreneurship to overcome the barriers and promote new policies and measures to create new ventures. The study used Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework to investigate the barriers of social entrepreneurship intention. Data was collected through questionnaire and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted by using AMOS 18. The multilevel sampling design was used with purposive sampling scheme in Malaysian research universities. The findings of this study show that overall students consider the lack of competency, lack of self-confidence and lack of resources were the barriers that affect social entrepreneurial intentions. Results also show that the social entrepreneurial education moderated the relationship between the perceived barriers and social entrepreneurial intentions of the students. This implies that teaching of social entrepreneurial can help to reduce perceived barriers. Also, the present study premises future directions that a cross country analysis between developing countries and between developed and developing countries can be done to figure out barriers of social entrepreneurship intention amongst students.