Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the different opinions on employ-ability skills between corporate employers and technological university graduates students. In order to meet the research purpose, this study uses online questionnaires. The questionnaires are two kinds that are a corporate employer and technological university graduates students. This study revising the scale of employ-ability skills developed by Brennan(2001) to measure technological university graduates students employ-ability skills. After one month of data collection, a total of 127 valid corporate employer questionnaires and 150 graduate questionnaires were collected. The results show that in the ability related to specific skills and knowledge level, the corporate employers and graduates have different opinions on simple foreign language conversation skills, company field-specific theoretical knowledge; planning, coordination, and organizing; relevant industry skills related to the company. In general ability level, the corporate employers and graduates have different views on problem-solving ability; analytical competencies; reflective thinking, assessing one’s own work; working under pressure; accuracy, attention to detail; working independently; ability to work in a team. In behavioral/attitude traits level, the corporate employers and graduates have different opinions on initiative; the power of concentration; getting personally involved; loyalty, integrity; critical thinking; tolerance, appreciation of different points of view; taking responsibilities, decisions. Corporate employers generally believe that graduates are adequate on the ability related to specific skills and knowledge level but inadequate in general ability level and behavior behavioral/attitude traits level. Therefore, this study suggests that schools should develop curricula that are more suitable for industrial practice.