Language Capital and Entrepreneurial Orientation Among University Students: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Malaysia as a Basis for Business Ecosystem Development

Abstract

Abstract: Youth unemployment among university graduates remains persistent in both Indonesia and Malaysia, prompting national policies that position entrepreneurship as a strategic pathway to graduate employability. This study examines the relationship between language capital and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) among university students, comparing Indonesia and Malaysia as two ASEAN neighbors with markedly different national language ecologies. A quantitative, comparative, cross-sectional survey design is proposed, involving undergraduate students at Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA), Indonesia, and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. Language capital is operationalized as a multidimensional construct covering proficiency in English, the national language, and heritage/regional languages, together with the breadth of domains in which these languages are used. Entrepreneurial orientation is measured using the established five-dimension framework of autonomy, innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness. Partial least squares structural equation modeling with multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) is proposed for hypothesis testing. Contextual secondary indicators already show substantial cross-country contrast: Malaysia ranks 24th globally and 1st in Asia in English proficiency, while Indonesia ranks 80th of 123 countries, alongside differing entrepreneurial-activity and graduate-employment profiles reported by national statistical agencies and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The study extends Bourdieu's theory of capital into the entrepreneurship domain and offers one of few dual-country, dual-institution comparative accounts of how language capital shapes entrepreneurial orientation among ASEAN university students, with direct implications for bilingual/multilingual entrepreneurship curriculum design.