Conceptualising Educational Experience towards STREAMS Skills Attainment among MBA Students

Achieving the 17-Sustainable Development Goals, specifically the fourth goal emphasising quality education, encounters obstacles in adequately preparing graduates for the workforce.A critical approach to this challenge is STREAM education, integrating 21st-century skills essential for workforce readiness.While virtual learning, predominant in Malaysia, offers access to high-quality education, it raises concerns about skills development for professional success.Students engaged in virtual learning face difficulties in mastering technical skills and soft skills due to a lack of engagement, inclusivity, and interaction.Blended learning, despite incorporating physical classes, restricts interaction and engagement, hindering the development of vital skills.This issue extends to postgraduate students, underscoring the urgent need for attention from educators and policymakers.Without effective intervention, Malaysia's higher education system may struggle to produce skilled talent, increasing dependence on foreign workers and undermining the country's SDG targets and development goals.Moreover, it jeopardises Malaysia's ability to achieve the SDG by 2030 and hampers its aspiration to become a developed nation.Therefore, this research aims to examine STREAM skills attainment through an inclusive educational experience.The researchers adopt the Communities of Inquiry (CoI) theory, emphasising social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence as elements of educational experience.Anticipated outcomes include differences in STREAM skills attainment and educational experience between online and hybrid mode MBA students, as well as a significant relationship between educational experience and STREAM skills attainment.The expected contribution from this research is to highlight the challenges in virtual and blended learning environments that could possibly thwart holistic development of the MBA students.Findings aim to provide insights for educators and the Ministry of Education on improving learning methods and employment readiness.