Effect Unemployment
International Journal of Business and Social Science
Vol. 2 No. 16; September 2011
GRADUATES’ CHARACTERISTICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: A STUDY AMONG MALAYSIAN GRADUATES Associate Professor Dr. Noor Azina Ismail Department of Applied Statistics Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E-mail: nazina@um.edu.my, Phone: +603 79673638 Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of graduates’ characteristics on the chance of being employed. A total of 3,025 Malaysian graduates involved in the study and data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results show that the employment prospects of graduates with a good command of English and who possess leadership and technical skills are better when compared to those without these skills. These findings suggest that steps should be taken to improve soft skills among graduates. The results also show that Indian and female graduates in this study were found to have less chance of being employed compared to the Malay and Chinese graduates. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution as some of the respondents were not randomly selected, thus suggesting further research towards identifying the relevant factors is required.
Keywords: Unemployment, graduates, logistic regression, mismatch, leadership and technical skills, education
1. INTRODUCTION
Malaysia‟s economy had been growing at an annual rate of 6.6% for the past three decades; yet unemployment rates have increased from 2.6% in 1996 to 3.6% in 2003 (Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 1996–2003). Young graduates, in particular, experience difficulties in securing their first job and a high proportion of graduates hold a job that does not correspond to their education and expectations. In the last 20 years, the expansion of higher education has created a high number of graduates in a variety of disciplines. The expansion includes a number of public as well as
Vol. 2 No. 16; September 2011
GRADUATES’ CHARACTERISTICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: A STUDY AMONG MALAYSIAN GRADUATES Associate Professor Dr. Noor Azina Ismail Department of Applied Statistics Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E-mail: nazina@um.edu.my, Phone: +603 79673638 Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of graduates’ characteristics on the chance of being employed. A total of 3,025 Malaysian graduates involved in the study and data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results show that the employment prospects of graduates with a good command of English and who possess leadership and technical skills are better when compared to those without these skills. These findings suggest that steps should be taken to improve soft skills among graduates. The results also show that Indian and female graduates in this study were found to have less chance of being employed compared to the Malay and Chinese graduates. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution as some of the respondents were not randomly selected, thus suggesting further research towards identifying the relevant factors is required.
Keywords: Unemployment, graduates, logistic regression, mismatch, leadership and technical skills, education
1. INTRODUCTION
Malaysia‟s economy had been growing at an annual rate of 6.6% for the past three decades; yet unemployment rates have increased from 2.6% in 1996 to 3.6% in 2003 (Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 1996–2003). Young graduates, in particular, experience difficulties in securing their first job and a high proportion of graduates hold a job that does not correspond to their education and expectations. In the last 20 years, the expansion of higher education has created a high number of graduates in a variety of disciplines. The expansion includes a number of public as well as
References: Spenser, L. M., Spenser, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.