Unveiling the Expectations of Digital Economy Practitioners towards Graduate Employability from an Islamic Higher Education Institute in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

The future of work is projecting a skills shift for the future workforce. Various global actors and stakeholders within the digital economy are preparing for this shift to accommodate new advances in technologies such as generative AI, IoT, robotics and autonomous systems. Higher education actors are no exception. Research shows that practitioners now have higher expectations towards graduate employability in terms of future-ready skills. This research aims to uncover the expectations of practitioners from the digital economy sector in Brunei Darussalam towards the employability skills of graduates specialized in Islamic knowledge. A purposive sample was selected based on the practitioners that received interns from At-Tamayuz, an internship programme offered under an Islamic Higher Education institute in Brunei Darussalam. The findings have shown new insights from practitioners on their perspectives and expectations towards graduates in Islamic field of knowledge. A total of 11 skills were recommended by practitioners for these graduates that will facilitate their employability for future of work with an added spiritual component under Spiritual Capital. These new findings represent a new set of customized skills for graduates within the discipline of Islamic higher education.