Citation

Karim, AMA, Abdullah, N, Rahman, AMA, Noah, SM, Jaafar, WMW, Othman, J, Borhan, L, Badushah, J  & Said, H  2012, 'A nationwide comparative study between private and public university students’ soft skills', Asia Pacific Education Review, vol. 13, pp. 541-548.

The status of the author

The authors are from different universities in Malaysia. There is no information on the qualifications or the current standing in the universities mentioned. However, since the authors are from different universities, it could be that they are academicians working in these universities.

Note-making

 

Abstract analysis

a) Main argument – growing level of un-employability of students coming out from public and private universities in Malaysia

b) Purpose for writing – There is increasing concern in Malaysia, that the graduates coming out of universities are lacking the soft skills such as communication, leadership and English language skills, and this paper tries to study the differences in the level of soft skills of graduates from different universities, genders, demographic backgrounds and also from different ethnic groups.

c) Research project – The authors are comparing the level of soft skills in students coming out from private and public universities in Malaysia, by using statistical methods. Further, differences in soft skills acquired by graduates from different demographic, gender and ethnic backgrounds are also studied.

d) Theories applied – Research has been based on the study conducted by Mohammad et al. (2007), Kaur and Kaur (2008), Irham et al. (2006), Nurita et al. (2010), Kruss (2004), Knight and Yorke (2003), Yorke and Harvey (2005), Rahim et al. (2007), and Chapman (2006), etc.

e) Main results

·         It was found the Malays constituted a majority in public universities, and the Chinese ethnic group constituted a majority in private universities

·         Students in public universities had better scores when soft skills were measured, which the authors attribute to the compulsory activities in public universities wherein the students are engaged in interactions with society.

·         Students undergoing technical education had the best scores with respect to most skills. The authors attribute to the project based curriculum which would involve them to interact extensively with others. However technical students did not have the best scores for moral and ethical issues.

·         In public universities, students of science had low scores in most soft skills, and the situation was completely opposite in private universities

·         Men scored higher than women in soft skills, except for moral and ethical issues, which the authors attribute to women being more conservative in Malay society

·         In public universities, it was seen that the Malays showed better soft skills, where in private universities it was seen other ethnic groups performed better.

 

f) Technical terms –

·         Communication skills

·         Critical thinking and the ability to solve problems

·         Life-long learning and management of information

·         Working in teams

·         Entrepreneurial skills

·         Moral and professional ethics

·         Leadership qualities

 

Annotation (100 words minimum)

. What is the article about? (Topic and purpose)

. Who is it for and why was it written? (3 groups)

. What supporting evidence and/or research are used? (who, where, when, how)

. What results, and/or recommendations are included?

This article studies the differences in the level of soft skills exhibited by students in different Malaysian universities (p542-543). The study also studies the differences in the level of soft skills amongst different ethnic groups, types of universities, gender groups, and educational streams. This study will be useful for policy makers, educationalists, academicians, the industry and the Malaysian government. The research has been conducted by surveying 10140 students across 60 universities, and the data collected is subjected to statistical methodologies such as sampling, t-tests, ANOVA, etc., and the results are analysed (p543-547). The results showed up the differences in the level of soft skills across different universities, ethnicities and gender (p544-547).  The study recommends that the employability of the graduates can be increased by including soft skills training and extra-curricular activities in the university curriculum, and by encouraging the students to get involved in their local communities and interact with society (p547-548).

Critical Review

Topic sentence/opinion statement

A nationwide comparative study between private and public university students’ soft skills.

The topic suggests that the article does a comparative study of the differences in the level of soft skills in students studying in public and private universities. However, studying the full article, we can see that the research covers much wider differences in soft skills based on university type, but also based on differences in demographic, stream of study, gender and ethnicities.

Reasons

The authors mention the reasons for conducting the research, which is mainly the alarming decrease in the employability of fresh university graduates, which has got the Malaysian government, educationists and academicians worried (p541-542). Official figures had indicated that the employment rates having undergone a slight increase, and that, fresh graduates found it difficult to find employment in the first six months after graduation. Further there were enough job openings, but not enough skilled personnel to fill up these positions (p542). Prior research had indicated lack of ‘soft skills’, along with poor knowledge of the English knowledge to be the main reasons for unemployment. This research tries to understand the different levels of soft skills in students studying in universities (p542-543).

Evidence from the article (remember to include page numbers)

The study has come up with interesting results.  Firstly, it is seen that in public universities the ethnic Malays constituted a majority, and in private universities the ethnic Chinese were in majority. This seems to indicate a variation of the preference of type of university for different ethnic groups (p544). It was seen that students of public universities exhibited higher level of soft skills, which the authors attribute to the inclusion of compulsory community-involvement activities in the curriculum in public universities (p544). Next, it was seen that students of technical courses had a higher level of soft skills, which the authors attribute to the project based work in their curriculum, which leads up to improvement in the soft skills (p545). It was then seen that in public schools, the science students scored the least in soft skills, whereas in private schools it was the opposite (p545-546). Finally, it was seen that girls exhibited higher lower soft skills then boys, which the authors attribute to Malay women being more conservative and showing inhibition to interact with society (p546).

Justification of evidence/analysis/comments

The authors have presented their results using sound statistical analysis, however the reasons attributed are not backed by any scientific or research evidence. The reasons are just stated as probabilities or possibilities.  Except in the ‘Background’ section, other works of research is not extensively used. It would have been of greater value, if the reasons attributed for the difference in soft skills, could be backed by prior research. No reasons have been attributed for the difference in soft skills based on ethnicity. It looks the authors are trying to avoid any controversies. However this might not be the right approach and it is the essential duty of any government to be looking at addressing inequalities in society.

Throughout the article, there seems to be a dearth of citations from prior research. It is disappointing that even the conclusion has not been linked with prior research, with only one citation being used.  

However, the citations quoted are mostly recent work, and hence the authors have strived to improve on recent research, and adding more knowledge to this subject.

Overall, in my opinion I do not think this is an article of high academic value, mainly due to the reasons explained above. However, it gives valuable insights on the present state of affairs in Malaysian universities, and would be of interest to students researching on Asian / ASEAN Studies. The language used in the article is simple and easy to understand, without any noticeable grammar or spelling mistakes. 

 

Concluding sentence

In conclusion, the authors suggest that soft skills can be improved by including soft skills training as part of university curriculum. The education systems should be changed to improve communication, problem solving and analytical skills in students. Women should be encouraged to interact with outside society in order to improve their skills. Arts and science curriculum should be modified to include hands on activities. Private universities should get involved in community based projects, which will improve the social and soft skills of its students.