The number of students graduating from universities in Malaysia is increasing every year. According to the Ministry of Higher Education (2011), 113 618 students from public universities and 44 586 students from private universities graduated in the year 2009. However, 115 015 students and 66 767 students from the public universities and private universities graduated in the year 2010 respectively. This shows an increase of 23 578 in the number of graduates from 2009 to 2010. It is a good thing to see the number of graduates increasing every year, but the question is do they possess the same qualities like those holding overseas degrees. While many believe that the quality of local graduates is constantly improving, it is undeniable that they are still unable to compete with the foreign graduates especially in the world of globalization.
As mentioned above, there are people affirming that the quality of local graduates improving day by day. According to the Star newspaper (2011), Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin stated that local graduates are just as good as those from foreign universities. He added multi-national companies would not have employed local graduates if they are not good. Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsudin Bardan said there is not much difference between local graduates and foreign graduates in terms of qualification. Local graduates are intelligent and bright as those from foreign. Often, graduates presume that they can easily get a job because they are considered ‘professionals’ after obtaining their degree (The Star, 2011). We have to bear in mind that employers look for performers and not a person with a string of paper qualifications (Ong, 2009). They look for a person with a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and personal traits (Fulton-Calkins, Rankins and Shumack, 2010). Some of the employability skills needed by graduates to secure jobs are academic skills, personality management skills, exploration skills, and connectivity skills (Mohamad and Hamzah, 2009).
We have to accept the veracity that our local graduates are still lack of some skills unlike the foreign graduates. One of the aspects that we should concern about is the soft skill of our local graduates. Does soft skill really leaving impact on the performance of the local and foreign graduates? Yes, of course. Soft skills include how a person communicates, language level, and obedience. It is commonly accepted that our local graduates are lack of soft skills; especially the level of their English proficiency is still very poor.
Eckel, P. D., King, J. E. (2004). An overview of higher education in the United States: Diversity, access and the role of the marketplace. Washington: Springer
14 Welch, A. R. (2011).Higher Education in Southeast Asia :Blurring Borders, changing balance. New York: Routledge.
Post-Secondary education can be a very important aspect to an individual’s life. Pursuing post-secondary education and obtaining a university degree opens up a wide range of high-paying career opportunities. However, there has recently been an increase in the number of students who do not finish their program and graduate. If a university degree gives us more job opportunities and a better salary, why are students leaving their universities and not finishing their degrees? There are many macro and micro sociological factors that students deal with every day. Macro sociological factors are events or predicaments that the individual has no control over (Steckley, 2014). Micro sociological factors are events that an individual does have control over (Steckley, 2014). The students who are leaving without finishing their degrees are faced with many social and economic problems that require their attention and have priority over school.
A very dramatic educational development in the past decades has been the global expansion of higher education. Harvard economist Richard Freeman has estimated that the total number of post-secondary students (students who continue school past the required level) fell from 29% to 12% from 1970 to 2006, a 60% decline. In China alone, postsecondary enrollments exploded from fewer than 100,000 students in 1970 to 23.4 million in 2006. The increase over the same period in India was from 2.5 million to 12.9 million students. According to the EPE on average there are 1.1 million American students dropping out of school every...
[5] Snyder, Tom. "Degrees earned by foreign graduate students: Fields of study and plans after graduation" National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics, November 1997. Web. December 6th 2013.
In today’s society, it is much more challenging to find a job inside the designated field of work for which a specific degree would apply. A myriad of graduates are left unemployed due to this factor. It is now relevant for individuals to research if jobs in the area he or she lives in,in which a specific degree earned by such individual would apply to such job, are available. Many may question if the option of moving away from family and familiarity in order to pursue work is worth
Skills given above are what students should develop and invest during the process of studying for a degree. Obviously, these skills called transferable skills are both relevant to employment and study. 'These skills are interpersonal as well as intellectual, and include the skill to learn from experience as well as reading, the ability to manage yourself, basic skills in numeracy, literacy and IT, interpersonal group-working and communication skills in analyzing and solving problems' (Cameron, 2008:19). So whether students could gain transferable skills in the university has become a major factor of developing a career after their graduation.
In the past, the difference between the non-graduate and graduate job level was significantly pronounced (Economic Indicators, 2011, p. 2). Those who leave the universities tend to get into tradition graduate professional fields, for example, medicine and law. In other scenarios, they have been accepted onto graduate management training schemes with prestigi...
People in the past did not stress value of receiving a higher education because it was not as indispensable as it is today. Now, people perceive others not only by their appearances, but by their accomplishments. Employers always hire people with the most education and experience. The majority of students are concerned about getting a higher education throughout the years. Nevertheless, some people question the purposes of getting educated, and consider it meaningless. The concept of education has a significant meaning. It enables one to take control of knowledge and apply it. It is education what prepares the mind to comprehend and learn important ideas. A higher education is very important for an individual's success in life. It offers students skills that prepare them mentally, physically and socially for the world of work later in life. A higher education should not be a choice, because it is the foundation of our society. It helps students with their personal development, provides economic growth, helps students understand and interpret the world around them, and affects individuals’ job positions. It will promote new interests, economic stability, help students understand others, and prepare better individuals for the future.
In this sophisticated era, it is not easy for graduates to get job according to their qualification. The first factors that influence the graduate employment is the capability of graduates themselves. This is because graduate...
Education is very crucial part of my life. There is a rapidly growing demand for a higher education in the nation’s economy. Although a higher level of schooling is difficult to receive, the rewards
Nowadays, University Education is becoming the most important thing. There are dozens of benefits such as knowledge, social skill, living experience, living standard, thinking ability for better future lives. However, it has generated large number of discussions and arguments. Opponents claim university education is not necessary for a successful life, whereas supporters say that university education is necessary for successful life furthermore university education Allow student getting more knowledge changing the view in life, opening a gate to social change. This essay will argue that, while University Education have both positive and negative aspects, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
The American higher education system has always been deemed as the best in the world. Statistics consistently show that most Nobel winners received higher education in America and a majority of international students choose America as their dream county to study abroad. The standard of higher education in America is unique and unparalleled in many ways. However, it’s always hard to live up to a great reputation. The system suffers from deficits in many respects.
But still there is a vast skill gap that causes a mismatch between industry needs and institutional output. India being a nation with a high percentage of youth nearly 35% are between the age group of 15 to 21 who after completing their graduation are in a position to enter into a job market. But due to the lack of skills that are required for an industry many people out of that lot fail to enter the job market (Murugaia S. 2014) Employers recognize that “soft” skill development is essential for their employees. These skills are difficult to teach to employees once they are on the job. Therefore, they should be learned through development opportunities such as higher education (Arensdorf,Jill
After all this paper, the most important conclusion is that a university degree is a tool, but not a ticket to success. It is not saying that is not worth going to college; but, surely, it was not as good as was in the 80s. Another important fact to be clear about is that degrees does not guarantee success, people do. In order to be a successful in your professional life it is very important to have a university degree, but it is also very important to show responsibility, commitment and character in order to succeed. In this time, millions of people are spending lot of money in university, which is good, but also we have to take in mind the different aspects that contribute to success.