The Marketability of UiTM Products: A Study of Employability Skills Among UiTM Perlis Sports Graduates

Abstract

University students are expected to acquire the employability skills in order to meet the various demands and requirements of the market. The unemployment rate among graduates has become an issue, not only in Malaysia but has also become a global issue. This is because linear career path is something difficult to achieve as the modern career trajectory involves multi-direction path. The main objectives of this study were to identify the main graduate employability skills and the perceptual difference of employability skills among UiTM Perlis sports graduates based on gender. This study was carried out on 335 sports graduates of UiTM Perlis Campus. The data were obtained through a questionnaire containing 55 items which was administered to measure the domains of graduate employability which covered areas such as problem solving and adaptability skills, human skills, English language proficiency and literacy skills, ICT skills, personal organization and time management skills, leadership skills and communication skills. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient value of the instrument was 0.89. The data were analyzed using inferential analysis (independent sample t-test). The findings showed that the communication skill was the main domain for the graduate employability skills and there was no significant difference in mean score for the employability skills based on gender for each domain (p = 0.00 >0.05). Thus, understanding about employability skills among UiTM Perlis sports graduates may help to increase awareness among sports graduates in equipping themselves with the relevant skills that are needed in the working sector.