THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS TO DEVELOP ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract This study analyses the factors that influence the development of students' entrepreneurial talents in higher education, focusing on the role of curriculum content, teaching style, and entrepreneurial skills. Although entrepreneurship education has been widely implemented, there is still a gap between the implementation of education and students' success in entrepreneurship. This study uses a qualitative and quantitative approach and takes 300 students from Indonesia and Malaysia who take entrepreneurship courses as respondents in this study. Interviews were also conducted with entrepreneurship lecturers. Data analysis uses SEM-PLS to test the relationship between variables. The results of the survey indicate that curriculum content has a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial skills (0.452; p<0.001) and entrepreneurial talent development (0.369; p<0.001). Entrepreneurial skills significantly influence talent development (0.468; p<0.001). However, teaching style did not show a significant influence. Entrepreneurial skills proved to be an effective mediator between curriculum content and talent development (mediation coefficient = 0.212; p<0.001). The conclusion drawn in this study states that curriculum content is the most crucial factor in developing entrepreneurial talent, with "what is taught" being more important than "how to teach it". The recommendations given as managerial implications in this study are aimed at educational institutions, focusing more on developing quality entrepreneurship curricula and transforming entrepreneurship teaching to be more attractive to students.