Abstract
The strategic role of the policy-maker in higher education and its co-relation towards graduate outcomes is gaining focus in Malaysia. While there have been initiatives and policy changes over the past decade, the focus outcome of improving graduate work readiness remains a concern. This concept paper aims to investigate the important role of the first stakeholder group; the policy-maker, which is the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in collaborating closely with three (3) other stakeholder groups to address this concern. The three (3) stakeholder groups are firstly, the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), secondly, the employers and thirdly, the students themselves in preparing graduates for the workplace. A qualitative methodology will be adopted to determine the undergraduates’, academics’, employers’ and the policy maker’s expected outcomes of higher education policies and strategies as outlined in the 10-year Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint (MEB 2015-2025) in preparing graduates for the workplace. The methods to be employed in this research are interviews, open-ended survey questionnaire and focus group discussions. While there are articles highlighting graduate employability concerns in Malaysia, the research contributes to scholarly research on the role of the policy-maker in collaboration with the various stakeholders in addressing these concerns. The document analysis conducted in this research revealed an interdependent relationship between the policy-maker (MOHE), the employers and HEIs which provides a conceptual framework to assist in understanding the different roles of stakeholders towards graduate work-readiness.
Author Information
Chitra Devi Ragunathan, Sunway University, Malaysia
Benedict Valentine Arulanandam, Sunway University, Malaysia
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