Papers by Yuzainee Md Yusoff
The purpose of this study is to develop key performance indicators to measure performance of acad... more The purpose of this study is to develop key performance indicators to measure performance of academic staff in private higher learning institutions in Malaysia. Universiti Tenaga Nasional is chosen as the case study. This paper discusses the development of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based on Balanced Scorecard. Focus groups were used to come up with the operational performance indicators through a series of workshops, meetings and discussions. 14 key performance indicators were developed under 5 main headlines, teaching and supervision, research and innovation, publication, consultancy and services. A questionnaire was then designed to rate the favourability of the chosen KPIs. Analysis were done using Fuzzy Conjoint Model.
Procedia Engineering, 2011
... & Shen [1]; Mengjie, et al[3]; Niu [7]; Mak et al [8]; Lau & ... more ... & Shen [1]; Mengjie, et al[3]; Niu [7]; Mak et al [8]; Lau & Li [4], United Kingdom (Williams & Pannell [11]; and United States (Quigley & Raphael [19] From the previous literature review, it is clear that there is a need to study housing affordability in Malaysia presently, coinciding ...
The objective of this paper is to observe the improvement of engineering graduates by comparing t... more The objective of this paper is to observe the improvement of engineering graduates by comparing the employers' perception in the past and present, towards attributes owned by engineering graduates in their workplace. The data collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews with employers from Kelang Valley area of Malaysia in 2010 and from employers across sectors in various regions of Malaysia in 2006. The interviews were carried out only with high ranking officers, in this case; Head of Division or higher position to ensure accurate results. The employers responded to the level of satisfaction on each of the attributes performed by Malaysian graduates using Likert scale. The findings discovered that employers tend to rate engineering graduates better in 2010 than those in 2006. The result in 2010 indicates that there are 10 out of 13 attributes have a higher percentage of employers satisfied on the graduates' performance than to result in 2006. In 2010, the highest percentage (67.4%) of employers satisfied the performance of graduates on the ability to communicate effectively, not only with engineers but also with the community at large. However, in 2006, only 49.5% of employers satisfied the performance of graduates on this attribute. The attributes that obtained lower agreement on employers satisfaction in 2010 compared to those in 2006 are (1) ability to utilise a systems approach to design and evaluate operational performance, (2) 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 and (3) having the knowledge of contemporary issues.
Employers nowadays consider a graduate's academic achievement alone is not sufficient for hiring ... more Employers nowadays consider a graduate's academic achievement alone is not sufficient for hiring the engineering graduates. They sometimes find achievement other than academic such as employability skills to be important in the recruitment process. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the employers' perceptions on the performance of graduates and interns as an effort from Faculty of Engineering and Building Environment of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to meet the job market demands. Two different sets of questionnaires were used to collect data. First, data collected on the employers' perceptions on skills possessed by new engineers in their workforce from a sample of 302 employers of engineering graduates in Klang Valley. Second, data collected on assessment of the performance of engineering industrial training students from 305 employers of interns. The study reveals that attributes exposed in industrial training programme fulfil the attributes required by employers. It shows that the industrial training programme is an essential component of engineering curricula. The programme develops undergraduates' employability skills through activities that gave the interns an exposure to industry practices. The industrial training also strengthens employability skills of engineering students through relevant work experience. The similar trend on percentage of agreement by employers also indicates that the attributes attained by UKM's students in industrial training meet the criteria required by employers.
Abstract:-The purpose of this paper is to present a framework of engineering employability skills... more 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 ...
2014 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Jan 7, 2014
Outcome-Based Education (OBE) has been gaining popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s. This ... more Outcome-Based Education (OBE) has been gaining popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s. This approach is one of student-centred learning methods that focus on measuring student performance. Higher education in several countries has adopted OBE. Therefore, this study aims to investigate and present a meta-analysis that combines the findings of existing research and empirical evidences on the program outcomes achievement of the OBE approach. A total of 20 published studies with 16160 numbers of samples generated an average effect size of 0.968365 with a standard deviation of 2.1084. There was little variation due to different research design, but the study neither separated studies according to their methodology nor fiddled with any statistical outcomes for the corresponding effect sizes. The findings revealed that the students’ achievement of the program outcomes showed large effect sizes based on students’ achievement of program outcomes through OBE approaches. Generally, the result offered benefits to the academician and students by highlighting the achievement of program outcomes and learning outcomes which shows the effectiveness of OBE system. However, the implementation of the OBE system needs to be done properly and with care to have high achievement of program outcomes and learning outcomes.
International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2014, 4(2): 112-120, Feb 1, 2014
The purpose of this study is to assess the level of knowledge and abilities of student based on t... more The purpose of this study is to assess the level of knowledge and abilities of student based on ten course outcomes in Statistics for Engineers (MATB133). The course is a first year course in Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional. The assessment was conducted on ninety six students of semester 1, 2012/2013 through assignments, quizzes, test and final examination. The finding shows that the students’ achievement is quite good in CO6, CO9 and CO10. However, the performance in another seven course outcome were not as expected. Hopefully, the result of analysis will help lecturers to improve the performance of future students. The paper also provides suggestions on course outcomes that need to be focused on and more attention.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether university background significantly influences em... more The purpose of this paper is to examine whether university background significantly influences employers’ views in selecting a new engineer in Malaysia industries. This paper briefly presents the employers’ preference for university of engineering graduates. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 301 employers of Malaysian industries and the respondents were restricted to personnel at the higher rank position in engineering industries at Kelang Valley, Malaysia. However, the sample size was small and derived from engineering industries around the Kelang Valley and nearby only. The result indicates that the university background and record were found to significantly affect employers’ views on preferences for graduates
in job selection. Although accredited universities may not be a primary factor that drew the employers to prioritise their selection, they did not in any way disregard the importance of ‘well-known university’ and Tier category in SETARA obtains by the university. The university should therefore not underestimate the significance of their popularity and the Tier category exercised by Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia. The study shows the university needs to look into their images as well as their graduates’ achievement after graduating and
minimised any false impression about the image of their graduates. More research should be carried out on employers from other Malaysian industries before any generalisation can be made with any degree of confidence. Future study can also investigate the reasons behind the perception uncovered among the employers for a better understanding of their views.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 102 ( 2013 ) 64 – 73, Nov 2013
This study offers an argument on the use of ordinal values in Likert scale that represents the li... more This study offers an argument on the use of ordinal values in Likert scale that represents the linguistic terms of the level of
satisfaction perceived by employers on the graduates’ performance. Generally, ordinal data are regarded as nonparametric and
cannot be added. This paper recommends the use of fuzzy sets to represent linguistic terms in Likert scale. The evaluation of
employers’ satisfaction level for the graduates’ performance applied the technique using fuzzy conjoint method. The
investigation findings show that the analysis using fuzzy conjoint method yields consistent outcome compared to the analysis
using the statistics mean and percentage. In addition, the fuzzy membership values obtained from fuzzy conjoint method
ranks the attributes that used to measure employers’ satisfaction level. Therefore, this finding provides useful information for
decision-making in finding the attributes that need to be enhanced in engineering graduates.
Canadian Center of Science and Education, Dec 1, 2012
This paper presents a method to evaluate the performance score based on employability skills for ... more This paper presents a method to evaluate the performance score based on employability skills for new engineers using NSW - Normalised Skill Weight. NSW is calculated from data collected from 337 employers of engineering industries in Kelang Valley, Malaysia. A questionnaire constructed to collect employers’ perspectives regarding the level of requirement for each employability skills based on their needs. Twelve types of businesses related to engineering field engaged in the survey. In an earlier publication, in EDUCON2011, the authors have presented the employability skills for an entry-level engineer as seen by Malaysian employers. The finding shows the rank of skills according to the level of requirement and there are weight differences among the skills required by the industries. The result of analysis offers a suggestion for employers and undergraduates to calculate employability skills score based on the Normalised Skill Weight performed by engineering graduates. Furthermore, employers, who need to evaluate the quality of engineering graduates during interviews, might find this approach as key performance score for the assessment process to select new engineers.
Keywords: employability skills, evaluation, score, engineering graduates, employers
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 60 ( 2012 ) 522 – 528
The paper proposed a formula to calculate the soft skills performed by engineering graduates. The... more The paper proposed a formula to calculate the soft skills performed by engineering graduates. The equation derived from afinding of survey on employers’ preference for employability skills. The input collected from a sample of 301 engineeringindustries employers from twelve natures of business located in Kelang Valley. The survey addressed a number of questionsrelated to the level of requirement of engineering employability skills according to their industry’s needs. The findings in termsof skills development derived differences weight among the skills required by the industries. This study focuses on soft skills valued by employers that slightly higher than technical skills for engineering professionals. The paper has a suggestion for employers and undergraduates on measuring the soft skills performed by young graduates. Furthermore, employers facing evaluation quality assessment might find this approach provides useful evidence for the assessment process to the job interviewed candidate.
This paper present a formula to measure technical skills of engineering graduates in the hiring p... more This paper present a formula to measure technical skills of engineering graduates in the hiring process for the post of engineer in Malaysia. The coefficient obtained for the equation was gathered from the survey on employers’ preference for engineering employability skills. Responses were obtained from a random sample of 301 employers of the Malaysian engineering industries located in Kelang Valley. These industries comprise of 12 nature of business. Although, the initial purpose of the survey was to assess the perception and the expectation of the employers on employability skills, the research also addressed a number of main questions regarding the level of requirement of engineering employability skills according to the needs of their industries. This study focus on technical skills as the skills is significant skills in engineering professionals. The findings show that the weight obtained from the level of requirement of skills initiate a coefficient for the equation of employability score. The paper suggests a pertinent tool for employers and undergraduates to measure technical skills performed by engineering graduates. Furthermore, employers who are facing a problem to have a quality evaluation for the interview process might find this method provides useful evidence for the good evaluation.
In an earlier publication, the authors have proposed a model on practical framework of engineerin... more In an earlier publication, the authors have proposed a model on practical framework of engineering employability skills, i.e. the Malaysian Engineering Employability Skills (MEES). The framework discusses on the possible employability skills as required for an entry level engineer in Malaysia based on many other earlier studies. A set of questionnaires was later developed to gauge this model from the perspective of Malaysian employers from engineering sectors. Based on the results obtained, this paper will discuss, among others, the preferred entry-level employability skills as valued by employers when hiring fresh engineering graduates. The data was collected from September to December 2009 through face-toface and telephone interviews with employers from Kelang Valley area, the main industrial area in Malaysia. Five hundreds employers were approached, and of this, three hundreds were successfully interviewed. The interviews were only carried out with high ranking officers, in this case; Head of Division or higher to assure accurate results. The questionnaires comprise ten (10) main employability skills as described in MEES. A "multi-attribute value technique" and statistical methods were used for data analysis. The findings suggested that the employers perceived employability skills as "required" with an average rating score of 4.06 out of 5.00. The most required skill is "communication skills" while the least required is "engineering system approach". However, there are differences in the priorities of employability skills by the four different categories of industries considered in this study. The framework and the findings presented perhaps can be used as guidance for the employers in their recruitment exercise. The findings could also be helpful in guiding the education providers, trainers, career advisors and the likes in increasing the employability skills of engineering fresh graduates.
WSEAS Transactions on Advances in Engineering …
Employers nowadays place main concern on and give emphasis to employability skills in potential e... more Employers nowadays place main concern on and give emphasis to employability skills in potential engineers which caused a significant increase in unemployment among engineering graduates in Malaysia. There are several discussions and studies on "What types of skills and abilities are needed in the workplace?" How the government and higher education overcomes this rising phenomenon? This study attempts to look into engineering employability skills that have been required for their new engineers by other countries in Asia such as Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. This paper will put forward a list comprised of the essential skills needed by these four countries, and compare the existing similarities and differences of these enlisted skills. Information was gathered from articles, journals, papers and reports. The findings indicate that these countries have published reports on the necessary frameworks of employability skills to prepare engineering graduates for the employment today and in the future. Overall, the studies suggest that the engineering graduates should acquire a set of generic skills such as communication skills, problem solving and interpersonal skills.
Engineering …, Jan 1, 2009
The purpose of this paper is to observe employers' selection skills needed in recruiting fresh en... more The purpose of this paper is to observe employers' selection skills needed in recruiting fresh engineering graduates for their workforce. This study consists of a survey on engineering employability skills which should be owned by graduates or new engineers hired by employers in Selangor, Malaysia. The questionnaire method has been chosen in order to
wseas.us
The purpose of this paper is to propose an engineering employability skill framework that will al... more The purpose of this paper is to propose an engineering employability skill framework that will allow the concept to be explained easily and that can be used as a framework for working with engineering graduates to develop their employability before entering workforce. The framework was developed from existing researches on engineering employability skill issues and the requirement of the accreditation of engineering programme. The various criteria of employability skills related to engineering included in the framework are discussed and their criteria justified bases on literature review of existing studies. The framework sets out exactly what is meant by engineering employability, in clear and simple terms, and the framework suggests directions for interaction between the various criteria that being identified. The framework can be used to explain the concept of employability to those new to the subject, and particularly to engineering students and their future employer. It will be a useful tool for lecturers, careers advisors, employers and any other practitioners involved in employability skills. It will also be used to develop a model and a measurement tool for engineering employability skill. This paper contributes insights into the linking of graduate attributes, using national accreditation criteria and the framework of engineering employability skills from locally and globally expectation.
WSEAS Transaction on …, Jan 1, 2009
The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical and simple framework of engineering employabi... more The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical and simple framework of engineering employability skills that will allow the concept to be explained easily and that can be used as a framework for working with engineering graduates to develop their employability before entering workforce. The framework was developed from existing researches on engineering employability skills issues and the requirement of the accreditation of engineering programme. The various skills of employability skills related to engineering included in the framework are discussed and their criteria justified bases on literature review of existing studies. The framework sets out exactly what is meant by engineering employability, in clear and simple terms, and the framework suggests directions for interaction between the various skills. The relationships between the skills within the framework remain theoretical. Further research to test the framework is planned and will be reported in future paper. The framework can be used to explain the concept of employability to those new to the subject, and particularly to engineering students and their future employer. It will be a useful tool for lecturers, careers advisors, trainers, employers and any other practitioners involved in employability skills. It will also be used to develop a model and a measurement tool for engineering employability skills. This paper contributes insights into the linking of graduate attributes, using national accreditation criteria and the framework of engineering employability skills from locally and globally expectation. It will be of value to anybody with an interest in employability issues.
Proceedings of the 6th WSEAS …, Jan 1, 2009
Rapid and drastic changes in economic growth nowadays are creating higher demands for employabili... more Rapid and drastic changes in economic growth nowadays are creating higher demands for employability skills in the workforce. Labour market becoming more competitive and depends on quality of knowledge and skills as the globalization come across in all industry. The employers have high expectations on fresh engineering graduates to perform in their organisation as soon as they are hired. Engineering employability skills are therefore necessary for Malaysia to remain competitive in global market. The study identified the perception and the expectation of employers on skills owned by engineering graduates in their work place. The finding indicates that the majority of those companies employing graduates have been satisfy with the knowledge and skills of the graduates they recruit. They expected for new engineers are very important to be equipped with relevant employability skills and abilities. Employers' expectation and perception play an important role in determining the employability skills needed.
Proceedings of the 6th WSEAS …, Jan 1, 2009
Employers nowadays place main concern on and give emphasis to employability skills in potential e... more Employers nowadays place main concern on and give emphasis to employability skills in potential engineers which caused a significant increase in unemployment among engineering graduates in Malaysia. There are several discussions and studies on "What types of skills and abilities are needed in the workplace?" How the government and higher education overcomes this rising phenomenon? This study attempts to look into engineering employability skills that have been required for their new engineers by other countries in Asia such as Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. This paper will put forward a list comprised of the skills needed by these four countries, and compare the existing similarities and differences of these enlisted skills. Information was gathered from articles, journals, papers and reports. The findings indicate that these countries have published reports on the necessary frameworks of employability skills to prepare engineering graduates for the employment today and in the future. Overall, the studies suggest that the engineering graduates should acquire and demonstrate a set of generic skills such as communication skills, problem solving and interpersonal skills.
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Papers by Yuzainee Md Yusoff
in job selection. Although accredited universities may not be a primary factor that drew the employers to prioritise their selection, they did not in any way disregard the importance of ‘well-known university’ and Tier category in SETARA obtains by the university. The university should therefore not underestimate the significance of their popularity and the Tier category exercised by Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia. The study shows the university needs to look into their images as well as their graduates’ achievement after graduating and
minimised any false impression about the image of their graduates. More research should be carried out on employers from other Malaysian industries before any generalisation can be made with any degree of confidence. Future study can also investigate the reasons behind the perception uncovered among the employers for a better understanding of their views.
satisfaction perceived by employers on the graduates’ performance. Generally, ordinal data are regarded as nonparametric and
cannot be added. This paper recommends the use of fuzzy sets to represent linguistic terms in Likert scale. The evaluation of
employers’ satisfaction level for the graduates’ performance applied the technique using fuzzy conjoint method. The
investigation findings show that the analysis using fuzzy conjoint method yields consistent outcome compared to the analysis
using the statistics mean and percentage. In addition, the fuzzy membership values obtained from fuzzy conjoint method
ranks the attributes that used to measure employers’ satisfaction level. Therefore, this finding provides useful information for
decision-making in finding the attributes that need to be enhanced in engineering graduates.
Keywords: employability skills, evaluation, score, engineering graduates, employers
in job selection. Although accredited universities may not be a primary factor that drew the employers to prioritise their selection, they did not in any way disregard the importance of ‘well-known university’ and Tier category in SETARA obtains by the university. The university should therefore not underestimate the significance of their popularity and the Tier category exercised by Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia. The study shows the university needs to look into their images as well as their graduates’ achievement after graduating and
minimised any false impression about the image of their graduates. More research should be carried out on employers from other Malaysian industries before any generalisation can be made with any degree of confidence. Future study can also investigate the reasons behind the perception uncovered among the employers for a better understanding of their views.
satisfaction perceived by employers on the graduates’ performance. Generally, ordinal data are regarded as nonparametric and
cannot be added. This paper recommends the use of fuzzy sets to represent linguistic terms in Likert scale. The evaluation of
employers’ satisfaction level for the graduates’ performance applied the technique using fuzzy conjoint method. The
investigation findings show that the analysis using fuzzy conjoint method yields consistent outcome compared to the analysis
using the statistics mean and percentage. In addition, the fuzzy membership values obtained from fuzzy conjoint method
ranks the attributes that used to measure employers’ satisfaction level. Therefore, this finding provides useful information for
decision-making in finding the attributes that need to be enhanced in engineering graduates.
Keywords: employability skills, evaluation, score, engineering graduates, employers