The perception of graduate students on employability skills for the future career in Ho Chi Minh city | Môn Business research method - Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
THE PERCEPTION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS ON
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE CAREER IN HO CHI MINH CITY A research proposal Submitted to
The School of Business Administration
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the of
Business Research Methods
Student’s name: NGUYEN HOANG MINH KHUE (BABAWE18635) Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 2021 lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336 ABSTRACT
Employability skill, even though has become an important issue in higher education worldwide,
in Vietnam it has been emerging only in the last few years. This research purpose is to
investigate on graduate students’ perspective of employability from university in Ho Chi Minh
City and how they shape the perspective of having a successful career to suitable for their future
job. This research mainly focuses on students who have already graduates from university in Ho
Chi Minh City and are currently looking for their suitable future occupation.
To achieve the purpose of the research, the study calculated post graduate students' perceptions
of which skills they are strong at, which skills are necessary for future workplace success, and
the extent to which skills should be integrated into the curriculum to attain this goal. The study
shows four most important dimension in measuring the perception of successful career are
related directly to academic issues: Basic skills, Personal skills, Personal Qualities and Thinking
skills. The total population of the research is consisted of seven main university included in the
system of National University in Ho Chi Minh City. The research applied both quantitative and
qualitative methods to analyze the data collection to achieve the best result. After the study, the
results of the findings can provide good suggestions universities in Vietnam to better orient in
producing competent students, to help them become more employable and have a better future career. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336 TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Research Background 1.2. Problem Statement 1.3. Research Objectives 1.4. Research Questions 1.5. Scopes and Limitations
1.6. Structure of the research
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definition of key concepts
2.1.1. Employability Skills 2.1.2. Skills
2.1.2.1. Basic Skills 2.1.2.2. Personal Skills 2.1.2.3. Personal Qualities 2.1.2.4. Thinking Skills 2.1.3. Successful Career
2.1.3.1. Pay and Promotion 2.1.3.2. Job Satisfaction 2.1.3.3. Organizational Commitment 2.2. Related Research
2.3. Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research Design
3.2. Sampling and Data Collection 3.2.1. Sampling Method
3.2.2. Data Collection Method 3.2.2.1. Secondary Data 3.2.2.2. Primary Data 3.2.2.3. Questionnaire Design 3.2.2.4. Pilot Test 3.3. Measurement Scale REFERENCE lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to provide some foremost information of this research. The first part
gives rationales of the paper. Next, problem statement and the need to do this research are
presented, which leads to the research objectives expressing the main purpose of the research.
Research questions and significance are shown after that and followed by scope and limitation.
The last part of this chapter is the structure of the whole paper.
1.1 Research Background
Our education system has improved in tandem with Vietnam's growing economy. Many more
universities, colleges, and intermediate courses are now accessible, allowing even individuals
who reside in the suburbs to pursue higher education. However, when qualifications are no
longer as "useful" as they once were, another issue arises. People may have a degree, a technical
certification, and some job experience on their resumes, but soft skills are something that the
majority of them overlook. Soft skills, sometimes known as "employability skills" in the
business, are becoming increasingly crucial to graduate recruiters combing through a rising pool
of similar-looking applicants' CVs. Employability skills are known as job readiness skills and it
also refers to skill requirements to acquire and maintain a job. According to (Saterfiel and
Mclarty, 1995), the term can also be defined as the preparation or foundation skills upon which a
person must build job-specific skills such as sale-report. Furthermore, (ESECT, 2004) adds that
employability skills include a set of achievement, understanding and personal attributes to gain
employment and be successful in their jobs.
According to (Collins, 2001), the employment market become increasingly competitive and one
of the top priorities that organizations should concern is attracting and retaining talents.
Qualifications are fine, but most employers are now looking for a more human touch –
employability skills. Employers nowadays are more interested with finding an applicant who
combines not just academic skills such as reading, writing, listening, mathematics, and science,
but also higher-order thinking abilities such as learning, decision-making, problem-solving, and
negotiating. They are also seeking for personnel with interpersonal abilities such as
selfconfidence, honesty, adaptability, flexibility, team spirit, self-motivation, self-management,
and a positive approach toward work. In school, from the training schedule students can learn
practical skills, the ability to detect and resolve issues in specific managing situations in order to
meet the increasing requirements of employers in the workplace. However, there are many
reports on problem of students’ lacking of successful career after graduating. In school, students
can gain practical skills, such as the ability to detect and address difficulties in certain
management scenarios, as part of their training program, in order to meet the rising demands of
employers in the workplace. However, there have been several reports on the issue of students'
inability to get a successful profession following graduation. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
In Vietnam, according to (Nguyen Hong Diep, 2011), Vietnamese recruiters discovered
significant limitations in graduate students' communication skills, English, and, in particular,
practical expertise in the workplace. However, very few our graduates are aware of this
phenomenon. They do not always see the connection between the knowledge and lessons they
learn in class and the competitive employment environment into which they are pushed. They
are unaware of the skills that their employers require. As a result, we may witness an uneven
picture of professional capabilities in the workforce and academic institutions. It is critical for
lecturers to guarantee that these students are well-prepared with employability skills in order for
them to be “employable” and subsequently successful in their professional area. 1.2. Problem Statement
The field of successful career and the extent to which secondary and vocational school graduates
and attendance possess these abilities has received a lot of attention in the form of study and
training over the last three decades. In Vietnam, only a limited number of individuals were able
to enroll in and graduate from colleges. One of the primary reasons was that colleges were only
accessible in major cities like Vietnam Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hue at the time.
As a result, entry to such universities was restricted, and admission to university was reserved
for only the best students. Therefore, the education system in our countries also changes to keep
pace with the global competition. Recognizing the importance of soft skills or employability
skills, many institutions encourage their students to acquire interpersonal skills as well as soft
skills in addition to fundamental academic knowledge. Modern companies demand entry-level
employees to have a successful career background in addition to job-specific abilities, such as
engineering or accounting (Carnevale et al., 1990; Green and Seymour, 1991). While students
currently receive adequate training in the theoretical knowledge, the successful career are not
receiving sufficient attention. Rapid technological, social, and economic developments have
made organizations more complex, emphasizing the importance of educating graduates entering
the workforce for the first time with abilities other than technical talents. Educational institutes
in general have made very little progress in providing students with opportunities to apply their newly gained knowledge.
From the problems listed above, we must determine the extent to which these factors impact
students' ability to obtain work and how to equip these talents. The research focuses on which
talents are most important and the integration of successful careers in postgraduate curricula, the
relationship of successful careers they possess, and how they are successful in their careers.
1.3. Research Objectives
From the problems above, we desire to conduct this research for some purposes:
• Identifying the abilities required for student achievement. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
• Among those skills, recognizing which talent has the most influence on a student's career success.
• Providing some recommendations to help students enhance their employability skills
1.4. Research Questions
• What are the skill requirements needed for students when apply for a job?
• Which skills have the most impacts on their future career?
• What should graduate students and employers do to develop and maintain these employability skills?
1.5. Scopes and Limitations
The data for the research is mainly from post graduate students from seven universities in Ho
Chi Minh City with the purpose to investigate and help these students in their future when apply
jobs. Due to the limited in time and budget, the sample size cannot entirely correct, there will be
some minor mistakes in the data collection and analyzing process in the research.
1.6. Structure of the research
Chapter 1: Introduction
Introducing the topic and explain the reasons why it is necessary to conduct this research. This
chapter includes the research background, problem statement, research questions and research
objectives. Finally, the scopes and limitations will be mentioned at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Demonstrating some previous significant definitions, concepts and basic theories discussed on the framework. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336 Chapter 3: Methodology
Describe the methodology using in this research which includes research process, research
design, sample and process to collect data. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce some concepts and theories related to the research,
giving theoretical background of concepts, definitions about employability, the perception of
graduates about employability skills and career success.
2.1. Definition of key concepts
2.1.1. Employability Skills
Over the previous two decades, the definitions of employability have evolved in a variety of ways.
They've shifted their focus away from demand-driven skill sets and toward a more holistic view
of "graduate characteristics," which includes "softer" transferrable talents and personcentered traits
that are acquired alongside subject knowledge, abilities, and competencies. Employability or
graduate employability is defined as the compilation of a series of skills and abilities that a graduate
can obtain to achieve a desirable job and succeed in his/her career, according to (Chen, 2017;
Tomlinson, 2012). Graduate job seekers with these skills and capacities can satisfy the needs of
employers and adapt to changes in the labor market. Employability is far more than just finding a
job. It is more than just gaining skills or experience to help a student find a job or improve in their
existing profession. Instead, it is about learning, and the focus is on "ability" rather than "employ."
(Harvey, 2003) added that it emphasizes on developing critical, reflective abilities with the goal of
empowering and enriching the learner are the areas that must be prioritized.
Moreover, Yorke (2006) defined “employability” as a set of accomplishments - abilities,
understandings, characteristics, and qualities required for certain work tasks. These abilities also
increase the likelihood of graduates being employable and successful in their professional choices,
which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community, and the economy. 2.1.2. Skills lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
In Vietnam, the concept of "skills" has received little attention in both the educational system and
in everyday life. Most people believe that “people know people will do,” and our education is
founded on that premise. As a result, they continued to strive to educate and teach their pupils, and
it cannot be denied that many students had a knowledge gap after graduation. However, the gap
between knowing and practicing is not small, and the gap between practicing and working
professionally is even wider. As a result, our students graduate with a lot of information but little or no job experience.
In recent years, the media has generated a lot of discussion about the phrase "skills" or "soft skills"
as distinct variables in the treatment of encouraging efficient work. The simple definition of skill
is basically the ability to do something that comes from training, experience, or practice. In a
psychological way, skill is the ability of humans performing a certain activity or any action on the
basis of experience. Moreover, another definition from is the ability of a human to manipulate the
operations of an activity in accordance with established processes. As mentioned above, I will
discuss deeply about four most important dimension in measuring the perception of successful
career are related directly to academic issues: Basic skills, Personal skills, Personal Qualities and Thinking skills. 2.1.2.1. Basic Skills
According to (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004), basic skills include five total skills: reading,
writing, solving arithmetic and mathematical operations, listening and speaking. Firstly, reading
contains identify relevant data, seek information in books or manuals, determine the meanings of
unfamiliar terms, assess the quality of reports and utilize computers to locate information. Writing
skill means using computers to transmit information and write comprehensive and accurate letters
and reports with correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Third skill is solving mathematics
skill by using numbers, fractions, percentages, tables, graphs, charts and calculator to enter,
retrieve, change, and communicate numerical information. Speak clearly, use suitable vocabulary,
tone of voice and gestures for the audience is what you need for speaking skill. Lastly, listening
skill requires pay attention to what someone says, observing their tone of voice and body language,
reply in a way that demonstrates you comprehend what they're saying.
2.1.2.2. Personal Skills
Personal skills are skills required for working, communicating, and interacting with people (U.S.
Department of Labor, 2004). With personal skills, applicants should repair some skills required to
not only impress but also attract employers while interviewing for a job. Negotiation skills is one lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
of the first necessary skills they need. To identify shared goals among many parties, clearly convey
one's viewpoint, comprehend the perspective of the other side, explore alternative choices and
create fair compromises are factors needed in negotiation skills. Secondly, people with leadership
skills can communicate ideas and feelings to explain a viewpoint, urge or persuade, make good
use of rules or values, exhibit capacity to have people believe in and trust you due to competence
and honesty. Moreover, to be better at a leader, having strong teamwork skills is also important in
the workplace. Teamwork skills mean each member has a right to contribute ideas and effort to the
group, perform one's fair share of work, support team members, settle disagreements for the benefit
of the team and appropriately challenge established processes, regulations, or authority. Finally,
after graduating from university, students have to work with variable of people from different
cultural. Therefore, it is important to be able to work effectively with individuals from diverse
ethnic, social, or educational backgrounds, comprehend the cultural distinctions of different groups
and assist members of these groups in making cultural changes as needed.
2.1.2.3. Personal Qualities
Personal qualities are the characteristics that define who you are. Personal characteristics describe
how you will go about applying yourself to a position or task, in addition to the information and
abilities you can offer to work. Whether or not you are consciously aware of how your personality
affects your job, your personality may be the difference between bad and outstanding performance
for yourself and your team (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004). In personal qualities, it demonstrates
responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management. Responsibility exerts a great amount of
effort and persistence in the order to achieve a goal, sets high standards, pays attention to details,
works effectively, and displays a high degree of focus even when assigned an unpleasant
assignment in order to become an expert at completing things. Attendance, punctuality,
enthusiasm, energy, and optimism in approaching and finishing tasks are all high expectations.
Self-esteem means believe in one's own self-worth, maintain a good self-image, displays
awareness of one's own talents and abilities and aware of one's influence on others and one's own
emotional capacity and needs, as well as how to handle them. Furthermore, with self-management,
it sets well-defined and realistic personal objectives, monitors progress toward goal attainment,
encourages self through goal success, demonstrates self-control and responds to feedback
unemotionally and nondefensively. Lastly, sociability skill, in new and ongoing group settings,
demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness, also asserts
oneself in both known and unexpected social situations, maintains good relationships with others
and responds properly as the circumstance demands. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
2.1.2.4. Thinking Skills
(U.S. Department of Labor, 2004) explains that thinking skills are divided into four types:
creativity thinking, decision-making skill, problem-solving skill and visualization. Creative
thinking means to use your creativity freely, integrating ideas or facts in novel ways and create
connections between seemingly unconnected concepts. Decision-making skill is considered to be
one of the most important skills that everyone should have, it helps you to determine your
objectives, create alternatives and acquire information about them, assess the benefits and
drawbacks and select the best alternative, then determine how to carry out the decision. Similarly,
problem-solving helps recognizing the problem, developing and implementing a solution,
observing how well the solution works and revising as required. Finally, visualization is defined
as by looking at a blueprint or sketch, you may imagine a structure, an object, or a system.
2.1.3. Successful Career
Successful career can be described as an individual's actual or perceived successes as a
consequence of their job experiences (Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995). In successful
career, there are two main components: extrinsic and intrinsic (Judge, 2007). Extrinsic and
intrinsic career success may be judged as largely separate outcomes, according to research, as they
are only moderately connected (Judge & Bretz, 1994). Individuals' subjective assessment of their
success is characterized as intrinsic success, which is most frequently stated in terms of work,
career, or life satisfaction (Gattiker & Larwood, 1988; Judge et al., 1995). On contrary, extrinsic
success is objective and observable, usually consisting of very concrete consequences like as
compensation and advancement (Jaskolka, Beyer, & Trice, 1985). Furthermore, pay, ascendancy
or number of promotions and occupational standing are the three most often cited metrics for
extrinsic professional success. Perhaps the most fascinating element is the final one. Occupational
status may be seen of as a reflection of social perceptions of the job's power and authority (Blaikie,
1977; Schooler & Schoenbach, 1994).
2.1.3.1. Pay and Promotion
According to (Zinta, Brian and Dan, 2008), the authors define pay as the amount of salary/ income
people receive. In some studies, salary was mentioned most frequently as a factor causing
employee turnover. People expect greater payment, according to (Yang et al., 2012), especially lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
when their businesses do well, but (Blomme et al., 2010a) interpreted income as a way to
strengthen loyalty to the firm and reduce turnover intentions.
According to Qiu et al. (2014), promotion is a means of inducing higher levels of intrinsic
motivation in employees. As a result, when the opportunity to promote to a higher position was
unavailable, employees were more likely to quit their jobs (Qiu et al., 2014). Moreover, (Blomme
et al., 2010a) stated that organizational commitment was an intermediary factor between
promotional opportunities and turnover intentions.
Therefore, it is important for businesses to give rewards to fulfill the requirements of employees
in order to attract and retain good employees and inspire them to work hard and dedicate
themselves to efficiently achieving company goals.
2.1.3.2. Job Satisfaction
(Silva, 2006) defines that job satisfaction has been characterized as a person's good emotional
reaction to their employment. Over several decades, it is seen as the most widely studied field of
organizational research (Kong et al., 2018). The author also adds that job satisfaction is the result
of being satisfied with one’s job, payment, promotion, motivation and colleagues. (Yang, 2010)
explains that job satisfaction affects organizational commitment.
2.1.3.3. Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment aims for the members of the organization to identify organizations,
values, and beliefs; the organization is willing to invest for the work put into the organization, and
there are organizations that remain on the concept. According to Ahmad et al. (2010),
organizational commitment is actively involved in the organization, individual organizations are
willing to devote their effort, and it is not only in the ideas and beliefs of the organization's
members, but it is also represented in the behavior. Additionally, organizational commitment was
frequently discussed in relation to job satisfaction, but in some other research, it was also regarded
to be a major predictor of turnover resulting from job quality and work environment (Blomme et
al., 2010a) and it is an emotional relationship to the organization, as well as the duty to remain
inside it (Memili et. al., 2013). Organizational commitment has been at the core of human resource
management, and the importance of organizational commitment is emphasized by the fact that human
resource management has transformed it into a major traditional core of human resources, in particular
members of the attitudes or tendencies within the organization. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336 2.2. Related Research
Successful career skills are transferable to a range of professions and life situations. Critical skills,
core skills, life skills, important skills, key competencies, required skills, and transferrable talents
are some of the terms used to describe them. (Australian Commonwealth, 2012).
(Knight, 2001) and (Yorke, 2001) consider employability to be a synergic combination of personal
traits, various types of talents, and subject matter. It's a much more complicated idea than the very
limited essential skills agenda. Yorke (2001) also emphasizes that attention has been placed on a
student's personal characteristics, but that they may have a typically significant impact on a specific
student's success. Knight and Yorke created the USEM employability model, which suggested four
interconnected employability components.
In 2003, Knight and Yorke created the USEM employability model, which suggested four
interconnected employability components. The model provides a framework of embedding
employability into curriculum and acknowledges the need to consider stakeholder views
• Understanding: A key outcome of higher education and needs no further justification
here, f disciplinary subject-matter and how organizations work
• Skillful practices in context (academic, employment, and life in general), “skilled
practices” or skillful practice”
• Efficacy beliefs, students self-theories and personal qualities‟
• Meta-cognition encompassing self-awareness regarding the learning of students, and the
capacity to reflect on, in and for action
Figure 1: The USEM account of Employability lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
Darce Pool and Sewell created another model called CareerEDGE in 2007. The model's design
reflects the argument that each component is absolutely necessary, and that one missing
component will significantly reduce a graduate's employability. The model presented illustrates
the major components of employability as well as the direction of interaction between them. It is
recommended that providing students with opportunities to access and develop everything on the
lower tier, as well as opportunities to reflect on and evaluate these experiences, will result in the
development of higher levels of self-efficacy, self-confidence, and self-esteem – all of which are
important links to employability.
Figure 2: CareerEDGE Model (Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007)
Individuals with the confidence and confidence to adapt to and generate good change in modern
companies are needed, according to Timothy & John (2011). One approach to think about this necessary
positive self-construal is to use the notion of fundamental self-evaluations. They begin by discussing core
self-evaluations and what has been discovered regarding the link between core self-evaluations and
attitudes, motivation, performance, and career advancement. Following this, the implications of the
fundamental self-evaluation construct for modern organizational issues are discussed. The value of
fundamental self-evaluations for creative performance, transformational leadership, coping with
organizational change, and managing “boundaryless” careers is explored in detail. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
Figure 3: Model of core self-evaluations — career success
2.3. Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis Basic Skills H1 H2 Personal Skills Successful career Pay Promotion or ascendancy H3 Organizational Personal commitment Qualities Job satisfaction H4 Thinking Skills
H1: Basic Skills have a positive relationship with Successful Career.
H2: People Skills have a positive relationship with Successful Career.
H3: Personal Qualities have a positive relationship with Successful Career.
H4: Thinking Skills have a positive relationship with Successful Career. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the process of conducting the research and describes the methods that are
used in collecting data, choosing and working with respondents and analyzing the collected
data. This research uses both qualitative and quantitative method. 3.1. Research Design
Research conducted with the purpose of looking at graduate students' perspectives on
employability from a university in Ho Chi Minh City and illustrating how they build their vision
of a successful career that is appropriate for their future employment. With such objectives,
research methods appropriate description of this problem. In order to pursue the purpose of this
study, both quantitative and qualitative method are applied to collect data in this research.
3.2. Sampling and Data Collection 3.2.1. Sampling Method
The researcher conducted survey in Ho Chi Minh city and the result will be recommended for
IU’s curriculum. The sample used for this study were drawn from seven institutions in Ho Chi
Minh city, Vietnam. Target students from seven schools do have big differences in geography,
level of education, majors, job status. The respondents are post graduate students of seven
different universities and details of each participant such as age, current job, gender, institute
were collected to use in interpreting data. The data gathered in this study will also be utilized to
validate the research model and its assumptions.
In order to collect primary data for this study, in-depth interviews were performed both directly
and indirectly, in addition to the distribution of questionnaires online and in hard copy.
According to Family Health International's book "Qualitative Research Approaches: A Data
Collector's Field Guide," the three most frequent qualitative methods for collecting primary data
are participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups.
• Participant observation: Useful for gathering data based on naturally occurring actions in their natural surroundings
• In-depth interviews: Gathering information on people's personal backgrounds,
perspectives, and experiences.
Focus groups: Useful for collecting data on a group's cultural norms and producing
comprehensive overviews of problems of importance to cultural groupings or subgroups. lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336
3.2.2. Data Collection Method
3.2.2.1. Secondary Data
Secondary data such as theories and ideas relating to perceptions of employability skills were
utilized for the literature study, overview of definitions and concepts of employability skills,
methodology, and understanding technical analysis (SPSS technic analysis). Secondary data was
gathered via several social media platforms, including: Internet, journal publications, newspapers and other related researches. 3.2.2.2. Primary Data
The survey instrument consists of a set of demographic questions that have been tailored to the
main topic of this study. The surveys were created in two languages: English and Vietnamese. In
the form of paper surveys, it may be sent directly to current students at all five institutions in
their class. Furthermore, in order to reach more students, the online questionnaire will be sent
through web-link via email and other networks such as Facebook. After completing the survey,
respondents will be invited to share the web-link with their family and friends via the social
networks they use. As a result, we will have a bigger sample size.
3.2.2.3. Questionnaire Design
Since English was not used extensively in teaching and discussion at certain universities,
questionnaires were written in both English and Vietnamese to ensure clear understanding and
precise replies. In the first part, following the selection of items, certain demographics
information surveys were included. It consists of some ended-questions related to gender, age,
university of study, year of study, major of study, education program and the experience of
working. The second part about how respondents perceive about employability skills and how
they think about the crucial of these skills in the future. 3.2.2.4. Pilot Test
The purpose of a pilot study is to assess the feasibility, duration, cost, and effect size (statistical
variability) of the first draft survey in order to forecast suitable sample size and refine the
questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire will be explained to these responders, and they
will be invited to complete it. 3.3 Measurement Scale
The evaluations are based on a study of the literature and prior research conducted by the
Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) in 2004 for a successful career,
which includes Basic kills, Personal Skills, Personal Qualities and Thinking Skills. The
measurement scale used in this study is Five-point Scales in the Likert Scale. Respondents were
instructed by asking the following question at the top of the measure and they can choose one
out of five-point scales in the Likert Scale: 1 = Not Important 2 = Slightly Important lOMoAR cPSD| 59078336 3 = Moderately Important 4 = Important 5 = Very Important.
Moreover, this questionnaire may involve some rank order question with the aim to examine which
skills are the most important among those listed in the study. The respondent will be asked to
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