Employability Skills Based on Polytechnic Graduate Job Role: Immediate Supervisor Perception

Abstract

Twenty first century employers need quality graduates to be competitive in global currents. This study was conducted to identify the importance of employability skills constructs required to improve the work performance based on the perception of the immediate supervisor’s in the polytechnic electronic graduates’ job role. This study uses a descriptive survey study involving a quantitative approach. Data collection was done by obtaining and analyzing quantitative data through self-developed questionnaire consisting of 31 items based on seven constructs of employability skills such as communication skills; personal qualities; teamwork skills; critical thinking skills and problem solving; technology skills; organizational skills and continuous learning skills. The sample consists of 170 immediate supervisors who represent the employers in four units of electrical and electronics industries namely research and development unit, maintenance unit, production unit and; quality and assurance unit. The findings of the quantitative study were analyzed using the Winstep V3.69.1.11 software. The findings of the analysis of the importance level of employability skills construct needed to improve work performance in all units are high with different priority rankings based on the role of graduates in the unit. In addition, the findings also show that critical thinking skills and problem solving are the most important employability skill constructs as well as the personal qualities and the latter are technology skills that must be owned and possesses by graduates who choose career paths in the electrical and electronic industries. Therefore, with the clarity of the concept of employability skills based on the job role as a result of this study it will facilitate graduates to adapt to the current wave of industrial change towards the concept of industry 4.0 with the application of precise employability skills oriented in the polytechnic electrical engineering curriculum.

Do Urbanized Socioeconomic Background or Education Programs Support Engineers for Further Advancement?

“…This belief is undermined by the problem of budget cuts to education so the system is currently ineffective (Varaprasad, 2015). Critics have argued that engineering education provides some support for students from underprivileged backgrounds, despite the little success of a particular institute in getting them jobs (Rahmat et al, 2018).…”

“…The argument made by Rahmat et al (2018) is not acceptable for various reasonsquality education is a right of everyone which should not be limited to particular groups; effective usage of "schooling period" regardless of the backgrounds of students is important. Consequently, a relatively longer "schooling period" invested by a particular group of graduates with less return on their investment must be considered a form of victimization.…”

“…On the other hand, paper-qualified engineers holding leadership positions without adequate field or practical knowledge, so they often fail to ensure proper management of engineering scenarios, leading to an "unhealthy organizational culture." For example, mismanagement, corruption, and "red tape" compromise service delivery (Rahmat et al, 2018). For this reason, it is important to ensure a decent engineering program where learners would accrue relevant skills without experiencing any form of discrimination (Alam & Forhad, 2021).…”

Online technology: Sustainable higher education or diploma disease for emerging society during emergency—comparison between pre and during COVID-19

“…Unidentified and ambiguous demand and supply sides plus their non-demarcated roles might have restricted the ‘sustainable production function cycle’ in HE ( Alam and Parvin, 2021 ). Under such a limitation, the ‘quality assurance’ concept has become topical for investigating whether HE passes the ‘realism test’ or otherwise ( Rahmat et al., 2018 ). Several approaches are considered to test the ‘quality of HE’ of which three are well regarded globally.…”

“…To verify the ‘quality of HE’ the ‘inputs and outputs tests’ model is widely used and in fact an orthodox approach to the subject ( Alam et al., 2014 ). The HE institution uses this model without the participation of demand sides ( Rahmat et al., 2018 ). This model uses both continuous and terminal examinations as fundamental parameters.…”