TVET Students’ Employability Skills: An Investigation on Graduate Employability Level at a Malaysian Higher Learning Institution

This research examines the TVET graduate employability level at a Malaysian higher learning institution. In keeping up with current trends of the industry, there is an increasing need of higher learning institutions to prepare graduates who are ready for the work force. The World Economic Forum (2020), in its effort to map trends of jobs, skill relevance and rates of change within the industry constantly discusses the skills needed from graduates before they enter the workforce. Adding the extra challenge from the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is becoming more paramount for higher learning institutions to produce graduates that are well-equipped with the relevant skills to meet with the demands of the industry. The TVET field, being a key player in producing human capital for the industry, is not exempted from the pressure of producing such graduates. Hence, this study attempts to investigate the Graduate Employability (GE) skills among TVET graduates and to assess how they perceive their GE levels. A quantitative research design was employed with the administration of an online survey. As part of a bigger data collection procedure, the survey was completed by 169 TVET students from one faculty at one Malaysian public university. The survey focused on five GE skills; namely communication skills, technology skills, adaptability skills, self-efficacy skills and leadership skills. The data was analyzed using SPSS, utilizing the descriptive statistics. The overall findings are first discussed, followed by the discussion of each skill, which help the study to identify skills that require further intervention needed by the students. Some of the salient findings suggest the students are least confident in their technology and adaptability skills, which confirms existing literature’s discussion on the need of reskilling and upskilling in the work force. The findings also suggest a further investigation in examining existing TVET curriculum, as to how the curriculum could support these TVET students better in their technology and adaptability skills.