For students with disabilities (SwD), the transition from school to work can be particularly uncertain. Many young people with disabilities face barriers to higher education and formal employment, making upper secondary education a crucial stage for future planning. In Indonesia, special schools, known as Sekolah Luar Biasa (SLB), often provide vocational learning, but entrepreneurship is not always taught as a distinct or structured subject. Instead, it is frequently embedded in activities such as cooking, crafting, selling, or school bazaars. Based on these challenges, there is a need to conduct in-depth research on how entrepreneurship education is practiced and experienced by SwD in special schools.
The study was conducted by Rizka Astari Rahmatika and Hasna Larasati from the Binus Entrepreneurship Center, Management Department, Bina Nusantara University, and Oki Hermawati from the Character Building Development Center, School of Information System, Bina Nusantara University. Accepted on April 22, 2026, and published (DOI: 10.1007/s41959-026-00182-z) in Entrepreneurship Education in 2026, the article examines how entrepreneurship learning is implemented in Indonesian upper secondary special schools and how teachers and learners understand its value and limitations.
The researchers conducted an exploratory qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 17 participants: nine upper secondary special school teachers and eight students with diverse disabilities. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), and guided by the Capability Approach and the Ecology of Equity, the study identified four themes. First, teachers reported structural and resource inequities, including limited professional development, underused equipment, and curricula or assessments that did not always match students’ learning profiles. Second, entrepreneurship was often taught through “safe space” activities, such as Market Day events or classroom-to-classroom food selling. These activities helped students practice communication, teamwork, and basic selling, but they usually involved familiar audiences, such as teachers, classmates, and parents. Third, entrepreneurship learning was often survival-oriented. Students gained task-based vocational skills, but had fewer opportunities to develop pricing, marketing, customer engagement, and independent decision-making. Fourth, family support and disability-identified role models strongly shaped students' aspirations, either expanding or limiting how they imagined their futures.
The authors said the findings show that inclusive entrepreneurship education should move beyond isolated vocational tasks. They said schools can offer an important first step by creating safe and supportive spaces where SwD can practice, repeat, and build confidence. But those spaces should become bridges, not boundaries. Entrepreneurial learning becomes more meaningful when students are gradually supported to make decisions, meet real customers, test demand, and see people with similar lived experiences building independent pathways.
The study offers practical implications for educators, policymakers, families, and community partners. At the policy level, curriculum structures, lesson hours, assessment standards, and teacher development need to better reflect the diverse learning profiles of SwD. At the school level, entrepreneurship should be made more visible, either as a standalone program or as an explicit part of vocational education. Learning activities should gradually move from protected school-based events toward supported real-world market exposure. Partnerships with families, social services, local businesses, and community organizations could help students test products and services beyond school walls. Most importantly, entrepreneurship education should not only prepare students to survive, but also expand their autonomy, choices, and future opportunities.
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References
DOI
10.1007/s41959-026-00182-z
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-026-00182-z
Funding information
This research was funded by the Research and Technology Transfer Office of Bina Nusantara University as a part of Binus Research for Early Career Researchers Grant with contract number 080/VRRTT/IV/2025.
About Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship Education is dedicated to exchanging the latest academic research and practical findings on various aspects of entrepreneurship education. It serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas among academic researchers, policy makers, and entrepreneurs, in order to explore practical experience and summarize theoretical reflections. The journal draws on high-quality work in social sciences, particularly in education, with an interdisciplinary and peer-reviewed approach. The journal primarily focuses on entrepreneurship education with a wide spectrum of sub-fields such as innovative education, technical and vocational education and training, maker education, lifelong learning and skill development, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial universities, curriculum and instruction, policy and governance. We welcome original research, review article, book review, and other types of manuscripts based on the method of international and comparison, policy analysis, case study, quantitative and qualitative study, etc.