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Why social entrepreneurship is gaining traction among Indonesian youths

Our research found that youths’ desire to serve the public (their public service motivation) positively triggered their intention to be social entrepreneurs, while their desire for money and success negatively triggered the intention. 

Yanto Chandra and Fandy Tjiptono (The Jakarta Post)
Premium
Hong Kong/Wellington
Tue, September 14, 2021

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Why social entrepreneurship is gaining traction among Indonesian youths Children celebrate an early Independence Day with new books and stationary in Rusun Bidara Cina, a poor neighborhood in East Jakarta, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. The books and stationary were bought using the proceeds of an auction led by gay activist Hartoyo and women rights campaigners Endah Agustiana and Ezki Suyanto. (Courtesy of/Dapur Umum Rusun Bidara Cina)

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mong the vocations that have gained popularity during the pandemic is “social entrepreneurship”, which is defined as the use of business mechanisms to tackle social challenges, or combining commercial and welfare logics to operate organizations. According to a study by British Council Jakarta, social entrepreneurship has become an attractive career option for young people in Indonesia.

What makes social entrepreneurship interesting is that it transforms social problems into business opportunities that create value. Take for example Noor Huda Ismail, a well-known social entrepreneur and an Ashoka fellow. Instead of using a “hard approach” to tackle terrorism and youth unemployment in Central Java, he chose to set up Dapoer Bistik, a warung (food stall) selling beef steak, which opens doors for former terrorism convicts by providing them with new skills, income, shared ownership, new social status and a new identity, helping free them from discrimination and stigmatization.

If food, entrepreneurship, innovation and technology can settle conflicts, why can we not use them as tools for social transformation? Accordingly, many experts also call social entrepreneurship “transformative entrepreneurship”, given its promise to transform social problems into opportunities that create social and commercial value.

The bigger question is, why do some people choose to become social entrepreneurs? What factors drive them to take the plunge?

While many experts have published studies on why young people develop an intention to become social entrepreneurs, most of these studies were conducted in Western or other Asian contexts. Few have examined why youths in Indonesia, particularly those who are at the career contemplation stage, may have an intention to become social entrepreneurs and what drives this intention.

An answer to this question is critical as it can help us understand not only the factors that trigger the intention but also offer concrete guidance and policies to support youths who want to be social entrepreneurs.

Our interest in what makes people entrepreneurial and with what outcomes in the past two decades has led to a collaborative research journey to examine what drives Indonesian youths who are at the career contemplation stage to develop the intention to be social entrepreneurs.

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