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Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective

The importance of developing soft skills competency among students should be the priority of all the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in order to ensure their graduates are marketable. Therefore, it is essential for HEIs to distinguish the knowledge and soft skill levels of their students so t...

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Main Authors: Lim, Khong Chiu, Mahat, Nor Idayu, Rashid, Basri, Abdul Razak, Norhanim, Omar, Hamimi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Center of Science and Education 2016
Subjects:
LB Theory and practice of education
Online Access:http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/1/RES%208-1%202016%20123-133.pdf
http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/
http://doi.org/10.5539/res.v8n1p123
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spelling my.uum.repo.184542016-08-01T07:40:14Z http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/ Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective Lim, Khong Chiu Mahat, Nor Idayu Rashid, Basri Abdul Razak, Norhanim Omar, Hamimi LB Theory and practice of education The importance of developing soft skills competency among students should be the priority of all the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in order to ensure their graduates are marketable. Therefore, it is essential for HEIs to distinguish the knowledge and soft skill levels of their students so that strategies and intervention could be implemented to rectify their capabilities.The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and soft skills competency from the employer’s viewpoints on the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) students participating in the industrial training programme. A total of 438 employers from different industrial backgrounds had participated in this study.A questionnaire consisting of five dimensions of soft skills which are basic knowledge, communication skills, practical skills, leadership, and attitude was utilized to collect data. The results of this study indicate that the employers were satisfied with the knowledge and soft skills competency portrayed by UUM students in preparing themselves for the real work environment. The employers from the service sectors were satisfied with students’ performance in all dimensions of soft skills measured. However, employers from the factory and commerce sector perceived as moderate satisfaction for all dimensions of soft skills.Additionally, the employers of the factory and commerce sector assessed by giving the lowest satisfaction score for “hands-on” skills, but generally they satisfied with the students’ communication skills. The information gathered can provide important insights from the perspective of organizations which is valuable in improving the overall hard and soft skills competency for future professionals and managers. Canadian Center of Science and Education 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/1/RES%208-1%202016%20123-133.pdf Lim, Khong Chiu and Mahat, Nor Idayu and Rashid, Basri and Abdul Razak, Norhanim and Omar, Hamimi (2016) Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective. Review of European Studies, 8 (1). pp. 123-133. ISSN 1918-7173 http://doi.org/10.5539/res.v8n1p123 doi:10.5539/res.v8n1p123
institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
building UUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Utara Malaysia
content_source UUM Institutionali Repository
url_provider http://repo.uum.edu.my/
language English
topic LB Theory and practice of education
spellingShingle LB Theory and practice of education
Lim, Khong Chiu
Mahat, Nor Idayu
Rashid, Basri
Abdul Razak, Norhanim
Omar, Hamimi
Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
description The importance of developing soft skills competency among students should be the priority of all the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in order to ensure their graduates are marketable. Therefore, it is essential for HEIs to distinguish the knowledge and soft skill levels of their students so that strategies and intervention could be implemented to rectify their capabilities.The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and soft skills competency from the employer’s viewpoints on the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) students participating in the industrial training programme. A total of 438 employers from different industrial backgrounds had participated in this study.A questionnaire consisting of five dimensions of soft skills which are basic knowledge, communication skills, practical skills, leadership, and attitude was utilized to collect data. The results of this study indicate that the employers were satisfied with the knowledge and soft skills competency portrayed by UUM students in preparing themselves for the real work environment. The employers from the service sectors were satisfied with students’ performance in all dimensions of soft skills measured. However, employers from the factory and commerce sector perceived as moderate satisfaction for all dimensions of soft skills.Additionally, the employers of the factory and commerce sector assessed by giving the lowest satisfaction score for “hands-on” skills, but generally they satisfied with the students’ communication skills. The information gathered can provide important insights from the perspective of organizations which is valuable in improving the overall hard and soft skills competency for future professionals and managers.
format Article
author Lim, Khong Chiu
Mahat, Nor Idayu
Rashid, Basri
Abdul Razak, Norhanim
Omar, Hamimi
author_facet Lim, Khong Chiu
Mahat, Nor Idayu
Rashid, Basri
Abdul Razak, Norhanim
Omar, Hamimi
author_sort Lim, Khong Chiu
title Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
title_short Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
title_full Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
title_fullStr Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
title_full_unstemmed Assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: The employers’ perspective
title_sort assessing students’ knowledge and soft skills competency in the industrial training programme: the employers’ perspective
publisher Canadian Center of Science and Education
publishDate 2016
url http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/1/RES%208-1%202016%20123-133.pdf
http://repo.uum.edu.my/18454/
http://doi.org/10.5539/res.v8n1p123
_version_ 1644282458887159808
score 13.211869

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