International Business Management

Year: 2012
Volume: 6
Issue: 4
Page No. 440 - 445

Relationship Between Employability and Graduates’ Skills

Authors : Kamsuriah Ahmad, Noor Faridatul Ainun Zainal and Masura Rahmat

Abstract: As a developing country, Malaysia’s economic sector relies heavily on industries like agriculture, services, banking, transportation, hotels and others. These industries need qualified skilled labor that supposed to be produced by higher education institutions systems. Measuring the quality of the graduates produced is important. This measurement can be used as an indication on the effectiveness of the program offered at the university. Therefore, this study aims to examine whether graduates produced by higher education institutions systems are able to meet the market requirements. This study was conducted on graduates at the National University of Malaysia particularly at the Faculty of Information Science and Technology (FTSM) for the 2010/2011 session. FTSM has produced thousands of graduates since it was first established so there is a need to measure the employability of the FTSM graduates. Measurement carried out is based on the skills possessed by graduates, the effectiveness of the program offered by the faculty in meeting the needs of the industry and the ability of graduates in the job market. There are six programs offered at FTSM and the effectiveness of these programs are evaluated based on students perceptions towards the learning outcomes associated with the program and their ability to get employed based on the knowledge they gained. As an IT graduates, their skills are assessed based on their basic knowledge of programming, system development, soft and entrepreneur skill. The data used in this study were obtained in September, 2011 which means 5 months after the graduates completed their studies. The methodology used in the study is by circulating the questionnaire online and manual distribution. A total of 152 questionnaires (87.86%) were collected. Descriptive inference and statistical analysis technique were used to analyze the data. This analysis seeks to find a relationship between the achievement of programs’ objective, graduates' perception of their own skills and the employability of graduates. The findings are important to ensure that the programs offered at FTSM are compatible with market requirements.

How to cite this article:

Kamsuriah Ahmad, Noor Faridatul Ainun Zainal and Masura Rahmat, 2012. Relationship Between Employability and Graduates’ Skills. International Business Management, 6: 440-445.

Design and power by Medwell Web Development Team. © Medwell Publishing 2024 All Rights Reserved