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

This study examines employers and instructors' perspectives towards university graduates' work attainment (readiness) as indicated by their generic skills. The specific objectives of the study are 1) to examine the perception of employers and instructors towards generic skills required and displayed by fresh graduates; 2) to examine the perception of instructors towards generic skills being taught (or inculcated) at universities; 3) to identify the mismatch between employers and students' perceptions toward generic skills required in terms of level of priority; Stratified random sampling was used to obtain the data and samples comprised 66 employers (29 multinational companies and 37 local companies) and 58 instructors from Science and Social Science backgrounds from three public universities in the Klang Valley. The data was collected using a questionnaire which was analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis. The findings indicate that there are indeed several areas of dissonance in the perception differential between employers and instructors on the importance of generic skills in terms of their priority in the workplace and the higher education curriculum. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.