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Proceedings of the ASEAN Entrepreneurship Conference 2014 pp 91–101Cite as

Enhancing Graduate Employability Through Social Entrepreneurship

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Abstract

Employability is a major issue for Malaysians. It is even more so for the graduates. Currently the nation has unemployment rate of 3.0 % amounting to 425,000 unemployed people. Numerous efforts are being done to solve the issue, and one of them was by promoting entrepreneurship development with the intention of intensifying the creation of entrepreneurs among graduates by creating job opportunities on their own as well as for others. In relation to the entrepreneurship agenda by the government to cope with the unemployment issue, this study will investigate the emerging concept of entrepreneurship called social entrepreneurship. The main objective of this research paper is to study on how social entrepreneurship could improve the graduate’s employability. A program conducted to promote social entrepreneurship was observed to address a number of unemployment causes that were highlighted in previous studies. Twenty-five students from all over Malaysia participated in the program and were researched using phenomenology method. The findings show that by involving students with social entrepreneurship programs, they are unconsciously being embedded with skills needed for employment such as confidence, English proficiency, creativity and innovation, selflessness, leadership, teamwork, time management, knowledge acquisition, networking, and communication skills.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malaysian Academy of SME & Entrepreneurship Development, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Hardy Loh Rahim & Noor Faizah Mohd Lajin

Authors
  1. Hardy Loh Rahim
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  2. Noor Faizah Mohd Lajin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hardy Loh Rahim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universiti Teknologi MARA, Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia

    Noor Zahirah Mohd Sidek

  2. Universiti Teknologi MARA, Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia

    Siti Meriam Ali

  3. Universiti Teknologi MARA, Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia

    Mahazir Ismail

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Rahim, H.L., Lajin, N.F.M. (2016). Enhancing Graduate Employability Through Social Entrepreneurship. In: Mohd Sidek, N., Ali, S., Ismail, M. (eds) Proceedings of the ASEAN Entrepreneurship Conference 2014. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0036-2_9

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