Post on 01-Mar-2021
Engineering Employability Skills for Malaysian Industry: Framework
Development
YUZAINEE MD YUSOFF1,2,
*, AZAMI ZAHARIM1, MOHD ZAIDI OMAR
1,
AZAH MOHAMED1, NORHAMIDI MUHAMAD
1, RAMLEE MUSTAPHA
3
AND RIZA ATIQ ABDULLAH O.K. RAHMAT1,4
1 Centre for Engineering Education Research,
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 Bangi, Selangor; 2 College of Engineering,
Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN); 3 Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS),
Sultan Idris University of Education (UPSI),
35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak Darul Ridzuan; 4 Director of Centre for Academic Advancement,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 UKM Bangi Selangor Darul Ehsan;
MALAYSIA
Email: yuzainee@uniten.edu.my, azami.zaharim@gmail.com, zaidi@eng.ukm.my,
azah@eng.ukm.my, hamidi@eng.ukm.my, dr.ramli@upsi.edu.my, riza@eng.ukm.my
Abstract:- The purpose of this paper is to present a framework of engineering employability skills for
malaysian industry in assisting engineering graduates to develop their employability skills before entering the
workforce. The framework explains the concept of employability to those new to the topic and to clarify the
idea of engineering employability skills to engineering students and their future employer. The development of
the framework is based on existing research on engineering employability skills issues, the overseas
frameworks for employability skills and the accreditation requirement for engineering programme. It was
developed in exactly what is meant by engineering employability skills that integrate the nontechnical and
technical skills. The framework, malaysian engineering employability skills (MEES), suggest directions for
interaction between the various attributes in a simple approach. MEES comprise three main components that,
integrated by ten sub-components of skills. The ten sub-components represent what engineers should know,
what they do with their knowledge and how they should do it. The framework demonstrates the engineering
graduate attributes that suits malaysia’s industries, recognised by national accreditation criteria and aligned to
the international frameworks of engineering employability skills. Other than engineering graduates and their
future employers, MEES also will be very useful information for higher education providers, parents, career
advisors and any other individual or organisation who are interested in the employability skills of engineering
students.
Keywords:- Framework, engineering, employability skills, employers and graduates.
1 Introduction In today’s job hunting, a degree alone is no longer
sufficient to convince employers that the candidate
is a right person for the job. Employers are
increasingly looking for highly skilled workers
where the employability skills typically required
within the organisation. They belief that highly
skilled workforce is a key competitive requirement
[1]. Most of the engineering firm understands that
highly qualified graduates accompanied with
required attributes are the products of accredited
engineering programme. In an effort to meet
industry’s requirements and needs, engineering
education generates skilled engineers using a
guideline provided in accreditation and profesional
bodies’ requirements. Engineering profesion
continuously go through significant changes in
knowledge, equipments, and tools [2],[3],[4],[5].
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 36
Hence engineering education has to prepare their
graduates with necessary skills to experience a
different situation, new challenges [6], new
opportunities and on-going environment changes
[7]. Several studies suggested engineering students
to develop the skills such as self-learning [8],
problem solving [6],[9], and other related skills,
while they are in the undergraduate’s studies.
There has been a broad consensus among
employers, higher education providers and
government, that graduates need a set of personal
attributes and skills that help them ready
for employment [1],[3],[4],[5],[10],[11],[12].
In addition, this set of skills will be useful for
a promotion [1],[4] and further learning [1],[4],[5].
Since 1980’s, a number of researchers from
overseas conducted a study to find a set of
employability skills. As a result, a number of
national frameworks of employability proposed in
the United State of America, the United Kingdom,
Australia, Japan and the European Union [1],[4].
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop
and present an engineering employability skills
framework for Malaysian engineering graduates.
This framework constructed using previous research
findings on employability activities from both local
and international institutions, professional bodies’
expectation and accreditation requirement. The
focus of this study is on engineering students and
graduates in Malaysia. The proposed framework
will help to explain the concept clearly and work
with engineering graduates in order to develop
employability skills in them before entering the
workforce.
2 Overseas Employability Skills
Requirement For Engineers Issues on employability skills are not new.
Employability is an issue of interest in many areas
of education and economy [4]. Employability skills
are popular since 1980 [5],[13] and is still one of the
main topic of discussion in engineering education.
It is also known as generic skills and soft skills
that highly related to nontechnical skills or abilities.
These skills are teachable and transferable skills
[14]. The concepts of employability skills have
common intention that is to recognise a set of skills
that support the effectiveness of practising technical
and nontechnical skills in the workplace [1],[9],[13].
Countries such as the United States (USA), the
United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), Japan, and
the Europe Union (EU) identified a set of
employability skills to develop a national
framework with common attributes and qualities
[1],[15]. The purpose of these frameworks is to
clarify the needs of these skills for various
professions in different industries. In the
engineering sector, these five countries have their
own national framework for their engineering
graduates and employers in order to cater
engineering professions needs. The criteria defined
for the framework of engineering employability
skills mainly identified through industry needs [1].
Table 1 indicates the frameworks of different
countries on engineering employability skills that
became a guideline to employers and engineers, as
well as, other employees.
Table 1. International Engineering Skills/Attributes
Required For Engineering Graduates.
Country Framework/ Manual
1. United State of
America (USA)
Workplace Know-How and
ABET Engineering Criteria
2000
2. United Kingdom
(UK)
Key Skills and
OSC Eng Occupational
Standards
3. Australian Engineers Attributes
4. Japan Employable personal
qualities
5. European Union Generic Employability
Skills
In the US, the Report of The Secretary's
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
(SCANS) identified the skills required for
employment, proposed levels of proficiency in
them, suggested effective ways to assess them, and
disseminated its findings in 1991. The report
defined “workplace know-how”, which comprised
of the workplace competencies and the foundation
elements. The workplace competencies comprised
five abilities to use resources, interpersonal skills,
information, systems and technology. The
foundation comprised basis skills, thinking skills
and personal qualities. The “work know-how”
competencies and elements need to be attained by
engineering students in the context of the learning
outcomes. The assessment for engineering
programme described in units of ability. They
appear in attributes acquired for engineering
students in the academic programme’s accreditation
process. The Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology (ABET) of USA required graduates
from an accredited programme to be able to
demonstrate ten (10) attributes as described by
ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 in Criterion 3,
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 37
Basic Level Accreditation Criteria as illustrated in
Table 2 [16].
Table 2. ABET Engineering Criteria 2000.
Criteria
1. Ability to apply knowledge of mathematics,
science and engineering
2. Ability to communicate effectively
3. Ability to design a system, component, or
process to meet desired needs
4. Ability to design and conduct experiments, as
well as to analyse and interpret data
5. Ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
6. Ability to identify, formulate, and solve
engineering problems
7. Ability to use the techniques, skills, and
modern engineering tools necessary for
engineering practice
8. Knowledge of contemporary issues
9. Recognition of the need for and an ability to
engage in lifelong learning
10. The broad education necessary to understand
the impact of engineering solutions in a
global/societal context
11. Understanding or professional and ethical
responsibility
In United Kingdom (UK) employability is
a serious agenda on the national higher education
including employability skills of their engineering
graduates. According to [17], in the 1980s and
1990s, several efforts had been done to develop the
employability skills. A few models on employability
skills been introduced since 1980s which England,
Wales, Northern and Ireland uses the term key skills
and basic skills, but Scotland uses the term core
skills. The Core Skills Framework was revised in
August 2008. The elements of the core skills are
communication, personal skills, problem solving,
numeracy, information technology and modern
foreign language. Scotland excluded the competence
in a “modern foreign language” from the core skills
list. Later, the term basic skills replaced core skills.
The basic skills targeted for entry-level skills for
getting a job. The employers of UK’s industries
seek for the personal quality, communication skills
and teamwork skills. However, [18] showed an
evident on a gap between engineering graduate’s
capability and the job market requirement.
Engineering graduates from UKs' higher education
have to demonstrate the key skills after graduating.
Key skills form an essential part of generic skills set
required for graduates. In 1996, the National
Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ)
presented the key skills comprising six skills (Table
3), which are similar to seven common skills
introduced in Business and Technician education
Council (BTEC) in 1986. The key skills excluded
the “applying design and creativity” though it has
been identified as a weakness in engineers. Other
than those generic skills, the UK's engineering
graduates have to achieve six competencies listed in
Table 3, as stated in OSC Eng Occupational
Standards [15],[18],[19].
Table 3. Engineering graduates from UK higher
education are desired to accomplish the following
competencies
Key Skills Core Skills
(NCVQ)
OSC Eng
Occupational
Standards
Communication Communication Develop
engineering
products
Application of
number
Numeracy Develop own
engineering
competence
Information
technology
Information
technology
Improve the
quality and
safety of
engineering
products and
processes
Working with
others
Personal skills Install
engineering
products
Problem solving Problem solving Maintain
engineering
products
Improving own
learning and
performance
Modern foreign
Language
(excluded in
Scotland)
Plan and
manage
engineering
projects
Produce
engineering
products
Similarly, Australian engineers have to comply
with the requirement of Engineers Australia (EA),
an Australian professional and an accrediting body.
EA developed a suite of professional attributes
containing six engineering competencies (refers to
Table 4) based on the development of engineering
employability skills for undergraduate students.
[1],[15].
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Table 4. Attributes identified in the Engineers
Australia
Engineers Australia Attributes
1. Ability to communicate effectively, with the
engineering team and with the community at large
2. Ability to function effectively as an individual
and in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams,
as a team leader or manager as well as an
effective team member
3. Ability to manage information and documentation
4. Capacity for creativity and innovation
5. Capacity for life-long learning and professional
development
6. Professional attitudes
7. Understanding of professional and ethical
responsibilities, and commitment to them
Source: DEST (2007). [4]
Meanwhile, in Japan, the practical industrialized
curriculum in engineering had implemented the
Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering
Education (JABEE) Guideline since 2000. The
JABEE is a nongovernmental organization in Japan
that examines and accredits engineering
programmes. The practice integrates the employable
personal qualities and requirements into the
academic subjects in order to produce skilled
engineers [20]. Table 5 presents the employable
personal qualities that comprised three main
components: personal skills, attitudes and attributes.
Table 5. Employable Personal Qualities (Japan)
Personal skills Attitudes Traits
1. Communication
skills Responsibility Initiative
2. Personal
presentation
skills
Optimism Sensitivity
3. IT and computer
skills Curiosity Flexibility
4. Problem-solving
skills Ambition Individuality
5. Leadership skills
Desire for
challenge Sincerity
6. Visioning skills Cooperation Creativity
7. Goal-setting
skills Vitality
A balanced
personality
8. Self-assessment
skills
An
entrepreneuri-
al mind
Sources: Nguyen (2005). [20]
In Europe, the Union of Industrial and
Employers' Confederations of Europe and the
European Round Table of Industrialists agreed on
the concept of generic employability skills. They
also highlighted on adaptability and initiatives of
individuals and groups, rather than just looking for
security and stability in employment and income
[1]. The European Round Table of Industrialists
(ERT) proposed Generic Employability Skills as
listed out in Table 6.
Table 6. Generic employability skills proposed by
The European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT)
Generic Employability Skills
1. Mastery of one’s native language :- Including
the basics of spelling and sentence structure
2. Understanding of the basics of maths and
science:- Particularly to cope with new
technology
3. Critical thinking:- Ability to think through a
problem or situation, distinguishing between facts
and prejudices
4. Learning techniques:- Ability to pick up new
skills and adapting to new situations
5. Team spirit:- Ability to work in a group
6. Personal discipline:- Sense of responsibility
7. Decision making:- sense of commitment and
willingness to take risks
8. Initiative:- Sense of Curiosity and creativity
9. Professionalism:- Sense of achieving excellence
and gaining competitive edge
10. Civic mindedness:- Sense of service to the
community
Source: DEST (2002). [1]
Table 2 - Table 6 demonstrates the attributes
identified in the framework for the engineer and
engineering graduate in the USA, UK, AUS, Japan
and EU. The frameworks developed in these
countries for identifying employability skills have
many attributes in common. It is obvious that the
attributes and skills identified in the frameworks
emphasized on nontechnical skills rather than
technical skills. The five most similar skills required
across continental are communication skills,
teamwork, lifelong learning, problem solving and
professionalism. Among those, only the ABET
Engineering Criteria 2000 and the OSC Eng
Occupational Standards accentuated on technical
skills. In addition to the nontechnical skills, the
engineering graduates of the USA and UK need to
demonstrate the technical skills such as the ability to
use techniques, skills and modern engineering tools.
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 39
The frameworks developed in the main English-
speaking countries identified elements of planning
and organising activities as one of the skills needed.
Meanwhile, only Japan includes an entrepreneurial
mind as one of the skills should be attained by their
engineers.
There is ample evidence all around us of the
many employability skills have much impact on
capabilities of new entry-level job applicants to get
the job. Engineering graduates these days have stiff
competition for the engineering post, as the number
of graduates continuously increased. Engineering
graduates worldwide required possessing certain
employability skills. The employability skills are
up-to-date to what industry expects from the
engineering graduates. Higher education providers
need to employ appropriate learning tools to educate
the latest skills, knowledge and technologies to
prepare graduates for workforce. Conducting a
programme to develop these employability skills
into students’ profiles requires proper planning
and preparation. Government side by side with the
higher education that serious on their student
employability skills can help to strengthen the
graduates’ ‘work-readiness’. Both need to
implement regulation or policy to assist their
students to have the ability to apply knowledge in
practical and theory effectively in the future
workplace. They need to make an effort more than
ever to generate the most employable and stay
competitive engineers. The frameworks help to
inform future policy development in employment
issues [21] in their country. Therefore, the attributes
of engineering employability skills identified in
these five countries become a reference to this study
in developing a framework of engineering
employability skills for Malaysian engineers.
3 Engineering Employability Skills
For Malaysian Graduates Malaysia’s engineering graduates have strong basic
engineering knowledge [22] and have sufficient
technical competency [9]. However, engineering
graduates are required to possess generic or
employability skills to assist them to apply their
knowledge and use their technical skills effectively.
Basri et al.(2006) reported that employers and
leading engineers in Malaysia remarked on lacking
oral and written communication skills among
engineering graduates [3]. These remarks supported
by media reports and employers’ complaints on the
graduate-level job applicants who are still lacking
other skills beside the academic or technical skills
such as in generic skills [3],[6],[9],[10],[23]. The
employers require institutions of higher education to
highlight more on developing these skills to
undergraduate students than before. Malaysia and
develop countries have their owned developments,
innovations and technologies in the engineering
discipline that change drastically. They need to have
a framework for a guideline to ensure that their
graduates are prepared to meet their professional
responsibilities. By that they will start their careers
with the skills that workplaces need.
The higher education institutions and employers
with government funding should come up with a
common understanding on skills required for
engineering graduates. Hopefully, the new
framework of engineering employability skills
proposed in this study will assist engineering
graduates and their future employers to have better
understood on essential skills. It will also be
tremendously valuable information for
academicians, parents, career advisors and any
other individual or organisation interested in
employability skills and related issues.
Malaysian engineering education mainly guided
by the Malaysian Quality Assurance (MQA),
Department of the Ministry of Higher Education
Malaysia (MOHE) and accrediting body,
Engineering Accreditation Councils (EAC) of
Malaysia. EAC is the body appointed by Board of
Engineers Malaysia (BEM) for accreditation of
engineering programme in Malaysia. Accreditation
policy required an engineering graduate to have the
necessary attributes and competencies emphasized
in the graduate outcomes specified in EAC Manual
2007 and Malaysian Qualifications Framework
(MQF). Table 7 shows the attributes required by
EAC and Table 8 lists the domains of the learning
outcomes in MQF. A study on employers perception
done by Abdullah et al. (2007) and Basri et al.
(2006) shows that more than 70% of attributes
required by EAC requirement are crucial [3],[12].
New technologies and development keep on
changing around the world which requires the
frameworks to be revised and restructured as needed
by industries. These employability skills have
played a prominent role for a graduate in getting
employed and doing well in the workplace [13]. The
institutions of higher learning play leading roles in
developing and enhancing the employability skills
of their students via enforcement of industrial
training or practical training programme [24] or by
conducting courses, seminars, workshops and etc to
expose work life to their students [12],[25].
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 40
Table 7. Engineering Attributes Required By EAC
(Malaysia)
Attributes
1. Ability to acquire and apply knowledge of science
and engineering fundamentals;
2. Ability to communicate effectively, not only with
engineers but also with the community at large;
3. In-depth technical competence in a specific
engineering discipline;
4. Ability to undertake problem identification,
formulation and solution;
5. Ability to utilise a systems approach to design and
evaluate operational performance;
6. Understanding of the principles of sustainable
design and development;
7. Understanding of professional and ethical
responsibilities and commitment to them;
8. Ability to function effectively as an individual
and in a group with the capacity to be a leader or
manager as well as an effective team member;
9. Understanding of the social, cultural, global and
environmental responsibilities of a professional
engineer, and the need for sustainable
development;
10. Expectation of the need to undertake lifelong
learning, and possessing/acquiring the capacity to
do so;
Source: EAC Manual 2006
Table 8. Eight Domains of Learning Outcomes in
MQF
Learning Outcomes
1. Knowledge;
2. Practical skills;
3. Social skills and responsibilities;
4. Values, attitudes and professionalism;
5. Communication, leadership and team skills;
6. Problem solving and scientific skills;
7. Information management and lifelong learning
skills; and
8. Managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Source: Malaysian Qualifications Framework, 2011
[25]
An engineering firm need an engineer with a
strong theoretical background, and required
engineers equipped with employability skills.
Engineering requires creative inspiration for
better living as defined by Bianca & Peter [26]. The
definition was: “Engineering is a profession directed
towards the skilled application of a distinctive body
of knowledge based on mathematics, sciences and
technology, integrated with business and
management, which is acquired through education
and professional formation in a particular
engineering discipline. Engineering is directed to
developing, providing and maintaining
infrastructure, goods and services for industry and
the community.” [26]. [1] referred a skill as an
ability to perform a specific task. Various
definition described "employability" in previous
reports. Table 9 shows the definitions of
employability defined previously. The definitions
have three similar elements that are gaining job,
keeping a job and doing well in the job.
Table 9. Definitions of Employability Skills
Definition Defined
by
1. Employability is about having the
capability to gain initial
employment, maintain employment
and obtain new employment if
required
[21]
2. Employability skills are those basic
skills necessary for getting,
keeping, and doing well on a job.
[14]
3. Employability as the "ability to be
employed based on the values in
the labour market or practical
applicable ability that the labour
market evaluates as a present or
able to be developed".
[26]
4. Employability skills required not
only to gain employment, but also
to progress within an enterprise so
as to achieve one’s potential and
contribute successfully to
enterprise strategic directions
[1]
5. Employability skills are the
individual’s ability to find and to
keep a stable job in a given economic
and institutional context.
[17]
Based on the above definition of engineering,
employability and skills, therefore, the definition of
engineering employability skills is: “Ability to
perform engineering related knowledge, skills and
personal attributes to gain employment, maintain
employment and succeed in the engineering field”.
This definition is an initial direction in developing a
framework for engineering employability skills. The
engineering employability skills framework can be
used as a guideline in the training package and
qualification. Every qualification process
recommends having a report on employability skills
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 41
in order to show on how each of the employability
skills addressed in the training, and embedded in the
outcomes of the trainee’s competency. These skills
are particularly relevant for engineers and new
engineers to succeed in their profession. Therefore,
the importance of having recognition on a set of
employability skills globally becomes critical as the
engineering labour market is becoming more
knowledge-based and global [1],[3],[10],[15]. This
study presents a framework for Malaysian industry
named Malaysian Engineering Employability Skills
(MEES).
4 Malaysian Engineering
Employability Skills (MEES) Formally, there is no national framework exists for
engineering employability skills in Malaysia.
Malaysia’s higher education, government, students,
employers, stakeholder and interested parties in
Malaysia rely on skills and attributes acquired for
engineering graduates listed in MQF and EAC
manual. With the objective to establish long-term
economic growth, this study proposes a framework,
Malaysian Engineering Employability Skills
(MEES). The MEES development is to recognise
the skills required by stakeholder and the changing
nature of work in the engineering industry. The
framework intends to provide a benchmark for
engineering related programmes or training that
generate skilled engineers for industry practice
locally and internationally. The development of
MEES based on the international and national
research on engineering employability skills issues.
The development of MEES includes the requirement
from engineering programme accreditation council
and engineering professional body’s expectation, as
part of an effort to obtain quality framework.
Subsequently, the framework satisfies the criteria
and requirements of the EAC, MQF, BEM, ABET
and Washington Accord 1989. Figure 1 illustrates
the Framework of MEES and the components
constitute the framework. The identified
components of MEES and the components
identified in the overseas frameworks have many
features in common.
ENGINEERING STUDENTS
QUALITY ENGINEERING GRADUATES
PERSONAL
ATTRIBUTESPER
SONAL
SKILLS
PERSONAL
KNOWLEDGE
EES2
EES7 EES8
EES10
EES6
EES9
EES1
EES3
EES4
EES5
ACCREDITATION
BODIESEMPLOYERS
MALAYSIAN ENGINEERING
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
MALAYSIA HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS
Fig. 1 Malaysian Engineering Employability Skills Framework
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 42
Fundamentally, MEES comprises three main
components that integrated by ten sub-components
of skills. The three main components are the
personal knowledge, attributes and skills. The ten
sub-components are communication skills (EES1),
teamwork (EES2), lifelong learning (EES3),
professionalism (EES4), problem solving and
decision-making skills (EES5), competent in
application and practice (EES6), knowledge of
science and engineering principles (ESS7),
knowledge of contemporary issues (EES8),
engineering system approach (EES9) and competent
in specific engineering discipline (EES10). The
Table 10 provides a consolidation of the personal
knowledge, attributes and skills that make up the
MEES. The components, sub components and
attributes of MEES reflect to recent studies on
employers’ requirement, accreditation requirements
and engineer profile of the professional bodies.
Table 10. Description on main components and sub-component of MEES
Main Component Sub-components integrated in 3 main components
Personal Knowledge:
The understanding of scientific and
technologies principles use to gain
initial employment, maintain
employment and succeed in the
engineering profession.
EES3 - Lifelong learning
EES5 - Problem solving and decision making skills
ESS7 - Knowledge of science and engineering principles
EES8 - Knowledge of contemporary issues
EES9 - Engineering system approach
Personal Skills:
The skills use to gain employment,
maintain employment and succeed
in the engineering field.
EES1 - Communication skills
EES2 - Teamwork
EES5 - Problem solving and decision making skills
EES6 - Competent in application and practice
EES9 - Engineering system approach
EES10 - Competent in specific engineering discipline
Personal Attributes :
The soft skills and personality traits
use to work with others on a
job, society and work effectively.
EES1 - Communication skills
EES2 - Teamwork
EES3 - Lifelong learning
EES4 - Professionalism
EES5 - Problem solving and decision making skills
Table 11 shows the description of skills that
representing ten sub-components of MEES and its’
five attributes on the left side of the table. The first
component is personal knowledge, which clearly
based on knowledge owned by individual, consist of
EES3, EES5, EES7, EES8 and EES9. The second
component is personal attributes, which are merely
to soft skills, comprise of EES1, EES2, EES4 and
EES5.The third component is personal skills, which
are skills of applying nontechnical and technical
knowledge, contain EES1, EES2, EES5, EES6 and
EES10. In obvious that the EES5 is an essential
skill, that is an individual needs to have specific
knowledge, attributes and skills to solve the problem
and make a decision. One of the key conclusions for
the finding is that most of employability skills and
attributes are consistent to frameworks of the five
countries discussed above.
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 43
Table 11. Element of sub-component of MESS Code for Skills and the Attribute Elements
Engineering graduates should have the skills sufficient to:
EES1 – Communication skills.
Ability to present ideas with confident
and effective through aural, oral and
written modes, not only with engineers
but also with the community at large.
1. Speak in clear sentences
2. Give clear direction
3. Listen and ask question
4. Present ideas confidently and effectively
5. Understand and speak English and other languages
EES2 – Teamwork.
Ability to function effectively as an
individual and in a group with the
capacity to be a leader or manager as well
as an effective team member.
1. Function effectively as an individual
2. Understand the role in a group
3. Function effectively as a team member in a group
4. Accept and provide feedback in constructive and considerate
manner. (Forming, storming, performing, adjourning)
5. Work in a group with the capacity to be a leader.
EES3 – Lifelong Learning.
Ability to recognize the need to undertake
lifelong learning, and possessing /
acquiring the capacity to do so
1. Recognize the need to undertake lifelong learning
2. Possess and acquire the capacity to undertake lifelong learning
3. Engage in lifelong learning
4. Set their personal learning targets.
5. Plan in achieving their learning goal(s)
EES4 – Professionalism.
Ability to understand the social, cultural,
global and environmental responsibilities
of a professional engineer, and
commitment to professional and ethical
responsibilities.
1. Understand the social responsibilities (Human factors and social
issues)
2. Understand the cultural and global responsibilities. (Awareness on
cultural and nature surrounding)
3. Understand the environmental responsibilities.(Aware of
environmental needs)
4. Commit to professional responsibilities (Be professional as an
Engineer).
5. Commit to ethical responsibilities. (Be accountable for their
actions)
EES5 – Problem solving and decision
making skills.
Ability to undertake problem
identification, apply problem solving,
formulation and solutions.
1. Undertake problem identification. (identify problem in work place)
2. Implement problem solving. (use experiences to solve problem)
3. Apply formulation and solution. (use science, mathematics or
technology to solve problem)
4. Be creative, innovative and see different points of view
5. Identify the root cause of the problems.
EES6 – Competent in application and
practice.
Ability to use the techniques, skills, and
modern engineering tools.
1. Use the necessary techniques for engineering practice.
2. Use the necessary skills for engineering practice.
3. Use the modern engineering tools and software.
4. Work toward quality standards and specifications.
5. Assemble equipment following written directions.
EES7 – Knowledge of science and
engineering principles.
Ability to acquire and apply knowledge
of engineering fundamentals.
1. Continue to acquire knowledge of sciences and engineering
fundamentals.
2. Apply the knowledge of engineering fundamentals
3. Select and use proper tools and equipments for particular job/task.
4. Access, analyse and apply skills and knowledge of science and
engineering.
5. Understand principles of sustainable design and development.
Technology Innovations in Education
ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 44
Code for Skills and the Attribute Elements
Engineering graduates should have the skills sufficient to:
EES8 – Knowledge of contemporary
issues.
Ability to continue learning
independently in the acquisition of new
knowledge, skills and technologies.
Nowadays, the use of information,
communication and computing
technologies are very essential in the
knowledge-based era.
1. Continue learning independently in the acquisition of new
knowledge, skills and technologies.
2. Use information technologies. (Computers, networks and
electronic)
3. Use communication technologies in the knowledge-based era.
4. Use computing technologies.
5. Read news paper
EES9 – Engineering system approach.
Ability to utilize a systems approach to
design and evaluate operational
performance.
1. Utilize a systems approach to design operational performance
2. Utilize a systems approach to evaluate operational performance.
3. Design systematically
4. Analyse engineering design
5. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of engineering system
for management and business practices.
EES10 – Competent in specific
engineering discipline.
Ability to acquire in-depth technical
competence in a specific engineering
discipline, competent in theoretical and
research engineering and perform basic
entrepreneurial skills.
1. Continue to acquire in-depth technical competence in a specific
engineering discipline. (electrical, highway, structure etc)
2. Apply technical skills in a specific engineering discipline
effectively
3. Design and conduct experiments
4. Analyse and interpret data
5. Apply knowledge in multidisciplinary engineering
5 Conclusion It is obvious that Malaysia needs a framework of
engineering employability skills as other countries
do. There is no doubt that young graduates need
to exhibit a greater degree of employability skills for
employment, gaining knowledge and experience.
Furthermore, employers look for potential and or
existing employees with adequate skills. The
framework identified in this study is also aligning
with the work conducted overseas, particularly in
Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of
America and the European United. The skills
identified in the personal knowledge, attributes and
skills to constitute the MEES Framework
compatible to the overseas frameworks. The
framework of MEES can be used as a benchmark
for engineering graduates, academicians, engineers
and employers who seek qualified and skilled
engineer. Adoption of this framework will possibly
create future opportunities for a skilled engineer
and help engineers to develop their career path and
move forward within the organisation. In Malaysian
engineering education, students should develop their
employability skills, as required by accreditation
requirement and as recommended in MEES, in
conjunction with their subject knowledge while they
are still in undergraduate studies. This framework
will guide the new engineers and experienced
engineers to be more employable, and allowing
them to remain as a valuable employee at all time.
Acknowledgements This work supported by the Centre for Engineering
Education Research, Faculty of Engineering and
Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
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