In the research study, three (3) variables have been selected that have a negative correlation in relation to graduate unemployment, which are employability, education quality and market demand. Employability skills, educational quality, job expectations and market demand are predicted to have a significant relationship with graduate unemployment.
INTRODUCTION
- Introduction
- Research Background
- Problem Statement
- Research Objectives
- General Objectives
- Specific objectives
- Research Questions
- Significance of Study
- Undergraduate Student perspectives
- Education Department perspective
- Research perspectives
Exploring whether there is a significant relationship between employability skills and unemployment among graduates in Malaysia. To investigate whether there is a significant relationship between market demand and graduate unemployment in Malaysia.
LITERATURE REVIEW
- Underlying Theory
- Human Capital Theory
- Job Search Theory
- Review of Variables
- Graduates Unemployment (GU)
- Employability Skills (ES)
- Quality of Education (QE)
- Job Expectations (JE)
- Market Demand (MD)
- Proposed Conceptual Framework
- Hypothesis Development
- Relationship between Employability Skills (ES) and Graduate Unemployment
- Relationship between Quality of Education (QE) and Graduate Unemployment
- Relationship between Job Expectations (JE) and Graduate Unemployment (GU) 22
In this study, we believe that there is a negative relationship between quality of education and graduate unemployment. H2: There is a significant negative relationship between the quality of education and graduate unemployment in Malaysia.
METHODOLOGY
- Research Design
- Sampling Design
- Target population
- Sampling Frame and Sampling Location
- Sampling Technique
- Sampling Size
- Data Collection Method
- Primary Data
- Data Analysis
- Descriptive Analysis
- Scale Measurement
- Inferential Analysis
- Assumption Testing
We conduct a reliability test using SPSS to test the reliability of the independent variables. In this research, it is important to first know about the reliability or accuracy of the sample data based on the data in the questionnaire.
DATA ANALYSIS
Descriptive Analysis
- Demographic Profile
- Gender & Race
- Age & Marital Status
- Tertiary Education Level & State
- Name of University
- Field of Study
- Expected Minimum Salary Range & Duration of Unemployment
- Type of Institution & Current Employment Status
The other race, such as the Siam ethnic group, had only one female respondent in the survey, accounting for 0.30% of the total. We also found 18 married adults who participated in the questionnaire, 15 are between the ages of 25 and 29, accounting for 3.88% of the total. While the remaining three (3) respondents are aged 30 and above, accounting for 0.78% of the total percentage.
According to the data, Melaka had the largest number of persons with a bachelor's level who participated in the questionnaire, with 88 people accounting for 22.74% of the total. According to the table and figures, one respondent from Melaka has a certificate as tertiary education level, which accounts for 0.26% of the overall proportion. According to the data, Perak had the largest number of respondents participating in the survey at the diploma level, with 11 participants accounting for 2.84% of the total.
Each of these four states had only one credential-level participant in the questionnaire, accounting for 0.26% of the total. According to the table and figure shown, the majority of the respondents could accept a minimum salary range of RM2001 to RM3000, comprising a total of 270 or 69.77% of the respondents. 24% or 38 of respondents are employed but under pressure to lose work, 12% or 18 of them are unemployed but actively looking for a job, 6% or 10 respondents are unemployed but not currently looking for work and 6% or 9 respondents are their own boss.
Scale Measurement
- Reliability Analysis
Third, job expectations, which are measured by 7 items, showed that the Cronbach's alpha value of 0.881 indicates a very good reliability test result. In addition, market demand which is measured by 5 items showed that the Cronbach's alpha value of 0.864 shows a very good reliability.
Inferential Analysis
- Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Analysis
- Multiple Linear Regression Analysis
This indicates that the strength of the relationship between employability skills and graduate unemployment is moderate correlation. Since the significance value (0.000) is less than the alpha value (0.01), the relationship between employability skills and graduate unemployment is significant. This indicates that the strength of the relationship between educational quality and graduate unemployment is moderate correlation.
Since the significance value (0.000) is less than the alpha value, the relationship between education quality and graduate unemployment is significant. This indicates that the strength of the relationship between job expectations and graduate unemployment is a moderate correlation. Since the significance value (0.000) is less than the alpha value, the relationship between expected employment and graduate unemployment is significant.
The coefficient value of -0.643 also indicates a negative relationship between educational quality and graduate unemployment. Therefore, there is enough evidence to prove that there is a significant relationship between job expectations and graduate unemployment at the 5% significance level. Therefore, there is enough evidence to prove that there is a significant relationship between market demand and graduate unemployment at 5% significance level.
Assumption Testing
- Multicollinearity Test
- Auto-correlation Test
- Heteroscedasticity Test
- Multivariate Normality
Multiple regression assumes that there is no autocorrelation problem in the model, in which the values of the same variables in the data are not highly correlated. From the ranges 0 to 4, values close to 2 indicate less autocorrelation, while values close to 0 and 4 indicate greater autocorrelation problem. From the Durbin-Watson test of the actual study (refer to Appendix 4.9), the value of 2.057 is not very close to 0 or 4, thus indicating that the model has no autocorrelation problem.
Multiple regression assumes that the model is homoscedasticity, where the variance of error terms is similar for the values of independent variables. We can test with the Breush-Pagan test to determine the presence of heteroscedasticity problems in the model. If the p-value of the test is less than the significance value of 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the heteroscedasticity problem is present in the regression model.
Since the p-value of our Breusch-Pagan pilot test (0.175) is greater than 0.05, we have sufficient evidence to conclude that there is homoscedasticity in the model. Multiple regression assumes that the residuals in the model are normally distributed, the histogram of the regression residuals was used to determine normality. From Exhibit 4.11, we can clearly see that the residuals are normally distributed in our current study.
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Discussion of Major Findings
- Hypothesis 1: Employment Skills
- Hypothesis 2: Quality of Education
- Hypothesis 3: Job Expectations
- Hypothesis 4: Market Demand
In the analysis, most respondents agree that employability skills are important for graduates to be employed, with 35% of respondents agreeing with it and 57.62% of respondents strongly agreeing with it. Regarding communication skills, 34.11% of respondents disagree that they lack communication skills, while 39.02% of respondents agree that they lack communication skills. However, communication skills appear to be a challenge for current graduates in Malaysia as a greater proportion of respondents agree that they are weak in communication skills.
In addition, it is also worth noting that a larger percentage of the respondents agree that they lack relevant work skills within their field of study, which amounted to 43.15% (see appendix 4.3). According to the survey, 43.67% of respondents agree and 31.27% strongly agree that the administrative support system determines student quality. According to the survey, the majority of respondents agree that one expects a high income amount to accept an offer with 37.21% agreeing and 28.17% strongly agreeing.
In addition, the majority of respondents agree with location as a preference for finding a job, with 38.50% agreeing and 33.85% strongly agreeing. According to this data, more than 50% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. According to the findings, the majority of respondents believe that market demand strongly influences their unemployment rate.
Implication of the Study
- Managerial Implication
- Employability Skills
- Quality of Education
- Job Expectations
- Market Demand
- Theoretical Implication
This also confirmed the hypothesis that the lower the demand on the market, the higher the unemployment rate among graduates. Therefore, graduates need to improve their employability skills in order to reduce the rate of graduate unemployment. According to a study by Hassan (2018), there is a significant relationship between graduate unemployment and internship courses.
Universities are therefore required to improve their quality of education in order to reduce the graduate unemployment rate. Graduates are therefore required to reduce their unrealistic job expectations in order to reduce the graduate unemployment rate. We use Human Capital Theory to examine the relationship between graduate unemployment and employability skills and the quality of education.
Based on the results from the previous chapter, employability and educational quality have a significant correlation with graduate unemployment. We use job search theory to examine the relationship between graduate unemployment and job expectations and market demand. According to the results shown in the previous chapter, job expectations and market demand have a significant relationship with graduate unemployment.
Limitations of the Study
It is based on the assumption that individuals have imperfect knowledge of the job opportunities available in the labor market, so graduates may have unrealistic job expectations. Based on the survey, some respondents who have high job expectations said it took longer to get hired. In short, although the study is not remarkable enough to illustrate the whole of Malaysia due to the reason mentioned above, but it does not affect the overall understanding and can also be a good reference for future research.
Due to the time frame during the researchers' internship period, we faced limitations as we also had to deal with the company supervisor and the internship report while continuing the data collection process. For example, a respondent may have experienced unrecognized employability skills or may have been rejected by a company due to the current pandemic before the respondent completed the survey. In addition, some respondents may choose not to give an accurate answer to questions they consider private, such as duration of unemployment and expected salary.
Because the literature we accessed identified many determinants that affect graduate unemployment, and many determinants change over time. Due to time and human constraints, we decided to include only four main factors that explain graduate unemployment, i.e. employability, quality of education, job expectations and market demand. Although there are some limitations throughout the study, the overall significance of the findings is not greatly affected, but it may slightly affect the accuracy of the results.
Recommendation for Future Research
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Retrieved from https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=476&bul_id=U1ltVWpw NXRNRUR2NlhRSHZmenRMUT09&menu_id=Tm8zcnRjdVRNWmWlp. Retrieved from https://www.cloudresearch.com/resources/guides/sampling/pros-cons-of-different-sampling-methods/. Retrieved from https://www.thesundaily.my/business/conservative-job-market-expected-in-most-sectors-in-2021-FE6350025.
Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news tough-times-for-fresh-graduates Wang, C.
