Strategies in developing graduate employability skills: an investigation on a TVET programme in a Malaysian public university / Faizah Abd Majid ... [et al.]

This paper brings to light the importance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates’ graduate employability (GE) skills development through practical, handson and industry-involved activities. It does so by first identifying the current GE development strategies employed in a selected TVET programme of a public university in Malaysia. The investigation looked at the in-class and out-of-class activities as well as the industry involvement as a concerted effort towards developing the TVET students’ GE skills of a selected programme in a public university in Malaysia. Based on a quantitative research design, a set of questionnaires was administered online to the target samples comprising 169 final year students. The questionnaire was adapted from previous studies and reports namely, Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1995), Bass and Avolio (1996), United States Department of Education (2010) and WEF (2023). A pilot study was conducted to confirm the Cronbach Alpha value of the adapted questionnaire before proceeding to the actual data collection. Instrument validity was established through a panel of experts’ review. The data was analysed descriptively using SPSS version 25. Frequency counts, mean scores and regression analysis provided a basis for the salient findings which were discussed and interpreted based on relevant literature review. It was discovered that much more could be done to the existing teaching and learning practices especially on the activities that could be conducted in and out of the classroom and ones that involve the industries. Specifically, strategies need to be employed within the TVET programme to facilitate the GE skills development through heavy practical, hands-on and industry-involved activities as suggested by the salient findings of the present study. The regression analysis further confirms the strong need for the real-world contexts and industry involvement in the programmes. Lecturers, curriculum designers, policymakers and the higher education institutions’ top management could find the findings and proposed interpretations from the present study relevant especially during the curriculum review of the programme.