Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities
Pertanika Journal Home Facebook
Pertanika · Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities

Official journal of Universiti Putra Malaysia for scholarly work across the social sciences, humanities and related interdisciplinary fields.

e-ISSN 2231-8534 ISSN 0128-7702
Research article

Entrepreneurial Leadership Competencies Development among Malaysian University Students: The Pervasive Role of Experience and Social Interaction

Bagheri, A. and Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie

KeywordsEntrepreneurial leadership development, entrepreneurial learning, experiential learning, social interactive learning, university students
Article content

Abstract

Recent developments in entrepreneurial leadership have raised many questions about how to develop entrepreneurial leadership competencies, particularly among university students. This qualitative research attempts to answer some questions on entrepreneurial leadership competencies development among university students. In more specific, this paper provides deeper insights into the mechanisms through which students learn and develop their entrepreneurial leadership competencies. Fourteen undergraduate students who successfully involved in leading entrepreneurial clubs and projects in university entrepreneurship programmes were purposefully selected as the participants. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to determine how the participants had developed their entrepreneurial leadership. Our findings revealed that students' entrepreneurial leadership was developed through a dynamic and continuous process of experiential and social interactive learning. In addition to availability, a variety of leadership experiences and social interactions influence students' entrepreneurial leadership learning and development. Meanwhile, implications of the findings to entrepreneurial leadership education and practice, as well as areas for future research are also discussed.