STUDENT PERCEPTION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Authors

  • Rosnizza Ramlan Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute, Bangi, Malaysia
  • Suhaiza Ngah Universiti Kuala Lumpur British Malaysian Institute, Gombak, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2015.s11.696708

Keywords:

Student Awareness, Soft Skills, Hard Skills

Abstract

Student acquisition on soft skill is becoming more important in today highly global market. Most of the companies now are prefer to hire graduates that possess both skills; hard and soft. In certain cases, some companies are even emphasizing more on soft skills instead of hard skills. For non-technical student, most of the subjects by nature are embedded with soft skills. But for technical students the scenario might be different. The subject offered in their courses mostly focuses on hard skills. This somehow makes students having less awareness on the importance of soft skills. The purpose of this study is to discover student awareness and perception towards the importance of soft skills among engineering student. A total of 150 engineering students from Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute are chosen as respondent. A questionnaire is used to gather the data. Based on the finding,students are aware, understand and perceived that soft skill is important for education and employment. Some methods recommended to improve students’ soft skill are problem- based learning approach and integration of entrepreneurial element in technical subject.

References

Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET), 2012.

Archer, W. and Davison J. (2008) Graduate employability: What do employers think and want?. The Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), London.

Azami, Z. (2008). A gap study between employers’ perception and expectation of engineering graduates in Malaysia, in Proc. International Conference on Engineering Education, Heraklion, Greece, pp. 404-407.

Butcher, D. (2013). 5 Must-Have Soft Skills for Engineers' Career Success. Retrieved at http://news.thomasnet.com/

Catelly, Y.-M. (2011). Developing Engineering Students’ Soft Skills – Poster Design and Presentation. Limba, Cultura, Civilizatie, Orizonturi Deschise, a V-a Conferinta cu Participare Internationala, Bucuresti: Editura Politehnica

Cuello, J.L. (2013). 10 Things Engineering Students Should Mind to be Successful. Retrieved at https://cals.arizona.edu

Iouri Belski. (2007). Improvement of Thinking and Problem Solving Skills of Engineering Students as a Result of a Formal Course on TRIZ Thinking Tools.Retrieved at http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/021/vol1/002/ecp2107002.

Schulz, B. (2008). “The importance of Soft Skills: Education beyond academic knowledge”. Journal of Language and Communication.

Steve. (2010). Can Civil Engineers Be Civil? Retrieved at http://www.negotiation skills.com/ qacivil.php.

Yassin, S., Hasan, F, Amin, W. and Amiruddin, N. (2008). Implementation of Generic Skills in the Curriculum.Proceedings of the EDU-COM 2008 International Conference. Retrieved at http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ceducom/54

Downloads

Published

2015-07-01

How to Cite

Ramlan, R., & Ngah, S. (2015). STUDENT PERCEPTION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT. PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 696–708. https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2015.s11.696708