Entrepreneurship education: an insight from Malaysian polytechnics

PurposeThe paper aims to empirically investigate the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship curriculum delivered in Malaysian polytechnics.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through survey questionnaires, in‐depth interviews, document reviews and focus group discussions. The respondents were drawn from Malaysian polytechnics – training director, centre managers, entrepreneurship instructors in the centre, and polytechnic students who were purposively selected.FindingsThe study identifies that the entrepreneurship curriculum in polytechnics is not effective. Students are not imbued with entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attributes during their study. Teaching approaches appear to be inappropriate and polytechnic lecturers do not appear to have relevant entrepreneurial skills, knowledge or training.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was small to be wholly reliable for generalising the findings to a similar problem in other higher learning institutions. However, the insights gained are a crucial basis for further research and give some variables to be investigated on their significance in shaping entrepreneurship education, especially in a developing country like Malaysia.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights for institutional, educators, and policy makers. Stakeholders could use this study to revisit the existing education system and to improve the teaching methodologies in the area of entrepreneurship education in the higher learning institutions.Originality/valueThis is one of the first comprehensive studies to explore how entrepreneurship education is delivered within Malaysian polytechnics.