Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Teacher Trainees: A Study on Entrepreneurship Education for Future Educators

Entrepreneurship education is an essential component of teacher training programmes, equipping future educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to foster an entrepreneurial mindset among students. This study examines teacher trainees’ perceptions of the UHAK 1032 Introduction to Entrepreneurship course at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), focusing on curriculum effectiveness, soft skills development, and entrepreneurial inclination. A quantitative research design was employed, involving 100 participants who completed structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS, with descriptive and inferential statistics applied to assess correlations between key variables. The findings indicate that teacher trainees generally perceive the course as relevant, with a high mean score reflecting positive curriculum evaluations. However, the predominance of theoretical instruction was highlighted as a limitation, with respondents advocating for more experiential learning components. The study also found significant improvements in soft skills, particularly in teamworking and leadership, highlighting the importance of collaborative approaches in the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between perceptions on entrepreneurship course curriculum and soft skills development, entrepreneurship course curriculum and entrepreneurial inclination, and soft skills development and entrepreneurial inclination, suggesting that enhanced engagement in entrepreneurship education fosters greater entrepreneurial confidence. These findings underscore the need for curriculum enhancements that integrate real-world business exposure, digital entrepreneurship, and industry collaborations to better prepare teacher trainees for entrepreneurial roles. This study extends previous research by evaluating the role of entrepreneurship education in teacher training using empirical evidence from Malaysia. Further, this study contributes to ongoing discourse on entrepreneurship education, providing recommendations for policy improvements and future research directions.