Perception Differential between Employers and Undergraduates on the Importance of Employability Skills

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate if the undergraduates’ core competencies are able to meet with the requirements set by the employers and to analyse the effectiveness of personal qualities and employability skills development in private university in Malaysia. Questionnaires survey, mean score comparison, and independent sample t-test are used to capture the perception differential between 30 employers and 600 undergraduates from a local private university on the importance of employability skills. Our results show that the undergraduates are all highly competent in possessing the said personal qualities and skills. However, such skills as critical analysis, planning, problem solving, oral communication, decision making, and negotiating report a slightly higher level of mismatch between employers’ and undergraduates’ perception on their importance and development in the University.