Engineering Employability Skills for Malaysian … Employability Skills for Malaysian Industry:...

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: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

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,


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].


ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 38

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.


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].


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


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


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


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


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.


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.


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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ISBN: 978-1-61804-104-3 47

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