Critical thinking and problem solving skill is important for university students to increase their chances of securing a work placement. One way to improve this skill is believed through experiences gained from an industrial training. This study aims to investigate the impact of industrial training on the improvement of students’ critical thinking and problem solving skill. Further, it aims to explore the influence of selected factors on this skill improvement. These selected factors are demographic profiles of students, supervisors and organization, students’ motivation, job scope, supervisor leadership styles and organizational culture. The study adapted Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory as the research instrument of the re-search. A total of 1,227 students and 485 students from six public universities in Malaysia, have completed the pre survey and post survey respectively. Using paired t-test analysis, result exhibited that students’ shown improvement in their critical thinking and problem solving upon completion of their industrial training. The results also exhibited that this skill improvement is best predicted when students performed independence job scope, being supervised by male supervisor and the supervisor and when the supervisors exercise transformational leadership styles. Some practical and empirical implications were drawn from the findings of this study.

The wave of Industry 4.0 which built on technology advancements has brought significant changes in the requirement of skills and qualifications. Industry 4.0 affects not only all industries, but the education sector as well. As preparation to respond towards the wave of Industry 4.0, Malaysian government emphasized on the need to prepare youth who are ready for future technology that change radically. In doing so, the youth in Malaysia as representative of present and future workforce which required to master some blended of skills. This paper will perform a systematic literature review in order to investigate present skill and future skill that meet the requirement of Industry 4.0. The impact of Industry 4.0 to education sector and manufacturing industry will be discussed. This paper also investigates to seek to bridge the gap between present skills and future skills of Industry 4.0 in Malaysia.

Skills mismatch or skill gap is a long-standing issue whereby the levels and types of the existing skills do not meet the needs of the job market. With no exception, this issue also become one of the challenges that facing by Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). If this issue prolongs, it will lead to graduate unemployment, specifically in TVET. Therefore, this study aims to identify the occupational skills (including both soft and hard skills) that are perceived as important by those in public Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the electrical and electronic (E&E) industry which represent the manufacturing industry. A total of 58 academicians from public HEI and 55 industry players from the E&E industry in Malaysia were chosen purposively. These academicians and industry players were selected as they are having experience in occupational skill and training in their respective institutions and industries. Questionnaires were distributed online to these targeted respondents. The results revealed that there are skills gaps in terms of both soft and hard skills, which all skills are skills related to the career in E&E industry. The outcomes of this study should enable the Ministry of Higher Education, mainly in TVET to devise strategies to improve graduate employability. They might also serve as additional evidence for the occurrence of skills mismatch.

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