Employability Skill Acquisition among Malaysian Community College Students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the acquisition of employability skills among Malaysian community college students. The sample size of the present study 325 students selected randomly. Employability skills were measured using an instrument developed by the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). The overall mean of employability skills among community college students was 3.63 (S.D. = 0.47). Thus, we consider the employability skills of community college students to be moderately high. Of all measures of employability skills, students scored the highest on personal qualities (Mean= 3.86, S.D. = 0.59). The lowest score was identified in the area of resource skills (M =3.52: S.D. = 0.55). Three aspects of employability measures were above the mean: basic skills (M = 3.66, S. D. = 0.59), interpersonal skills (M = 3.72, SD. = 0.71) and personal qualities (M = 3.86, SD. = 0.59). The three aspects of employability that were below the mean were thinking skills (M= 3.61, SD. = 0.62), resource skills (M = 3.52, SD. = 0.55) and informational skills (M = 3.55, SD. = 0.59). We also tested whether employability skills among students differed as a function of gender and work experience. The result of an independent t-test showed that there was no significant difference in employability skills by gender or work experience. We presented some recommendations for improve the employability skills acquisition among community college students.