ARTICLE REVIEW PAPER ON SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA THROUGH SHARED-VALUE PARTNERSHIPS

ARTICLE REVIEW PAPER ON SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA THROUGH SHARED-VALUE PARTNERSHIPS Chelvi Murugiah, DipM MCIM MBA Marketing Management, Doctoral in Education Candidate 2015 Open University Malaysia Since 2006, Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia have been held accountable for the perceived unsatisfactory development of soft skills leading to an increase in graduate unemployment in Malaysia concurrently, not meeting the globalised 21 st Graduate Skills requirement It is therefore the purpose of this critical review to explore articles that discuss reasons for such outcomes and moving forward to discuss the option of shared value initiatives involving student-community engagement to achieving the global standards workforce The articles are organized such to show that creating enterprising graduates of international standards through soft skills development will require partnering with communities; both local and international organizations to mobilize knowledge and exchange resources to curb critical societal issues including unemployment in Malaysia In my opinion to achieve the outcome where more local graduates are successfully employed and recognized as highly skilled global workforce, requires a paradigm shift We cannot reform the current curriculum and expect the changes we want, which is similar to trying to improve a broken model New thoughts are needed to transform the learning experience We continue with the ‘old ways’ of doing things and choose not to recognize the demands of the markets that are dynamic and fast growing in the digital age, that requires an international stance Malaysia has a unique challenge; the education system is controlled and regulated by politicians The old idea where academia is deprofessionalized and operated as an industrialized process by administrators continues not just in Malaysia but the world over The current standardized assessments achieve learning outcomes but also encourage the development of conforming to authority and inevitably discourage questioning, curiosity or creativity in the learner Lecturers on the other hand are overworked and required to follow and comply with the set of requirements laid out by the administrator who in most cases has lost touch with the ground roots In my opinion, many Malaysians; they are not confident of the overall education system due to the strong involvement in education to achieve the government agenda Today in 2015, fifty eight (58) years since independence following continued education reforms by the government, Malaysians are faced with a gloomy economy outlook and a weakening currency which continues to impact the future of graduates and the education industry, adversely My thought to this current situation is that a new diverse strategic view is required, to be a developed nation in 2020 that is serious about developing enterprising youth through soft skills On this premise, my review selection articles cover both academic and business perspectives Based on the article reviews, I hope to defend the two research objectives mention above by exploring the development of local graduates’ soft skills competencies in creating the ideal enterprising 21 st Century global workforce in Malaysia The article review begins with the initial findings by Lee Lai Fong, Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, Chan Yuen Fook (2013), in which the authors examine postgraduate students’ readiness for careers with 21st century skills The authors find that students articulated successfully in using ICT skills, collaborating and lifelong learning in being leaders but lacked critical and creative thinking and communication skills The authors’ also highlighted academic staffs in tertiary institutions were a few steps behind the students in terms of social media applications and felt that IHLs were not successful in developing students’ entrepreneurial skills The authors paper aimed to obtain a perspective of 21 st century attributes of postgraduate students by employing a descriptive research design with a mixed-methods approach using a questionnaire that reflected 21 st Century Skills Inventory (21CSI) on 59 postgraduate students The authors suggest future research on how successful IHLs are in preparing graduates for the 21 st century through ecological thinking that identifies structures and processes that are geared towards dealing with change within the IHL to include ecological balance, self awareness, feedback loops and self correction The study of undergraduate students by Nikitina & Furuoka (2012), claim that the Malaysia policy of inculcating soft skills at the tertiary level was introduced as a response to a social issue of growing youth unemployment, especially among degree holders, and to local universities’ failure to produce employable graduates The authors’ qualitative study explored Malaysian students’ expectations of university education with a special focus on the acquisition of soft skills and to examine the students’ perceptions of the instructors and courses effectiveness in fulfilling their education agendas 90 students at University Malaysia Sabah participated in the study and the findings revealed that their educational expectations were varied and diverse and could be separated into three categories, such as Life Skills, Subject Matter (Hard Skills) and Soft Skills The study showed that the students considered soft skills formation as an important part of university education The findings also indicate the need for a broader discussion involving academics, policymakers and all relevant stakeholders to rethink and reevaluate the purpose of university education in the changing socio-economic landscape in Malaysia The authors deduced that the students’ expectations of university reflected students’ need for holistic development as learners and human beings The study also claims the functions of a university in the 21 st century need to be broader than before in order to help graduates become knowledgeable professionals, well rounded individuals, responsible members of society, and globally aware citizens The study also revealed that lecturers are expected to be heavily involved in the implementation aspect, while students need to be told how and in what aspect they will be assessed The authors claim that the lack of information dissemination and training of lecturers who play a key role in the implementation and assessment aspect when designing their teaching modules needs to be addressed Teaching and learning styles with the lecturer taking on a facilitator role requires the lecturers to be trained accordingly The authors deduced that there was lack of communication and training from the institution to the faculty Another key finding from a comprehensive attempt to review the integration of soft skills in the formal curriculum (both coursework and training) of university programs is by E.S Devadason, T.Subramaniam, E.G.S Daniel (2010) The authors review the adequacy of the infusion and acquisition of the entire range of skills embedded in taught courses and practical/industrial training from the students’ perspectives The key findings include 1) the perceived infusion-acquisition of skills types differs unequivocally between coursework and training, suggesting the complementary nature of both components of the formal curriculum for the integration of soft skills 2) The infusion-acquisition of soft skills remains highly concentrated on specific items/skills for both coursework and training For the coursework component, communication skills explain most of the total variance, whilst moral and professional ethics ranks first in explaining the total variance for the training component The researchers concluded, “In total, the perceived low and selective appreciation of skills by students signals the need to readdress the existing strategies within the teaching-learning process to ensure a better integration of soft skills.” Devadason et.al (2010) study shows students’ perception on soft skills to be low in contrast to the two more recent articles of Lee Lai Fong et al.(2013) and Nikitina & Furuoka (2012) which may imply that students perception of the importance of developing soft skills is improving in IHLs and/or that students perceptions vary between IHLs An interesting article by Kabicher (2009) claims that faculty saw soft skills as less important than did employers "In comparison to employers, instructors rated basic general knowledge or research skills with higher importance Vice-versa, employers valued the capacity for organisation and planning, oral and written communication, the ability to deal with new technology, flexibility, creativity, problem solving and interpersonal skills as more important." As this article is an American study, at this stage the disparity between employer and faculty is yet to be determined in Malaysia However, there appears to be an indication that local employers and faculty may also have similar perceptions on the importance of soft skills based on their priorities which suggests further study in the area Another article that reveals different soft skills requirements by employment and educators is by Holt, Sawicki, Sloan (2010) The authors claim that there are three broad areas of concern from which an engagement with soft skills emerges, either in terms of general economic development or self development These reflect broader and deeper themes about the competencies which current job applicants, school leavers and university graduates and current employees have in comparison with organisational requirements These areas are; 1) Social inclusion concerns centred on “life skills’, as these are associated with opportunities for young people, especially those not in education or training The aim is to establish employability 2) Employability of those with higher level/ university-level qualifications Soft skill complements the knowledge gained in education with the requirements of employment in skilled and professional roles 3) Leadership and management skill in organisations, which include soft skill alongside the hard skills required of operational, line, unit/function and organisational management By using the multiple perspectives of institution, employer, faculty and students, the study addresses the question “What soft skills are employers looking for in new graduates? Fey, M., Anseel, F., Wille, B (2011) found a positive relationship between favourable feedback reactions and involvement in skill development activities based on receiving feedback This corroborates the central assumption that initial reactions to feedback are predictive of future development activities, even over longer periods of time The authors further claim that there are challenges in the assessment and development of soft skills in that soft skills needs are less precise, which contribute to be inhibitors or resistance to learning among learners The practices of soft skills may be perceived too simplistic and it can be diminished by organizational and managerial resistance to the transfer of learning soft skills According to (Shakir 2009); beyond the Ministry’s directives, there are at least two critical reasons underpinning the need in strengthening undergraduates’ soft skills in IHLs First, criticism from employers that graduates are generally academically proficient, but lack in soft skills such as communication and analytical skills Second, the increasing globalization of the work force and job market imposes more competitive skills requirements on our graduates In the article, the author raise questions about whether current standards-based public education prepares students for mastery of the occupations set to grow in Malaysia Using the Malaysian Department of Statistics data the study implies that the job growths will be in occupations requiring higher order thinking skills together with good communication skills Schools, the author claims, need to teach in such a way that these skills become second-nature to high school graduates, and graduates can then apply these skills in IHLs, which will lead to success in up-andcoming occupational fields Reflecting on these articles, there appears to be a focus on a limited area of study pertaining to soft skills development in IHLs, Malaysia This provides the opportunity for opening up new areas for discussions on how the soft skills elements can be creatively incorporated into learning programs by involving the institution, faculty, students and community These academic studies reveal a pertinent issue in improving the development of soft skills in IHLs in that there appears to be a gap in the perception of soft skills requirement by employers and educators, leading to a mis-match in the expectations of soft skills requirements by the stakeholders at large Any evidence of resistance to change can be attributed to a tacit curriculum underlying the presumption that soft skills have also been interpreted as a disguised way of discussing compliance and exercising control; employers are interested in securing workforce compliance, and this is becoming socially constructed as the task of developing ‘soft skill’ The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia’s directive in 2006 was that all public IHLs were to include soft skills in their curricula across disciplines due to growing concern over the number of unemployed graduates lacking communication, problem solving and thinking skills which concurs with S.C Barrie (2006) claims that problemsolving skills and critical analysis skills have been noted in research to be fundamental skills that undergraduate students should develop before graduating To better understand the Malaysian government’s directives in the context of soft skills development in Malaysia, it is important to have a realistic understanding of the strong regulatory function of the government with the emphasis on occupation that is closely tied to nation building Shortcomings of the undergraduate programs were attributed to the lack of soft skills formation component in university curricula (MOHE 2006) Since independence in 1957, Malaysia's tertiary education has been systematically regulated in order to achieve the nation's economic and social goals With pressures of globalization and the need to create the 21 st century workforce, the intended purpose of the Government is to realise the vision of the New Economic Model, through the Government Transformation Programme, Malaysia Education Blue Print (2015-2025) Higher Education and the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 - 2020) Anchoring Growth on People which are being implemented as remedial action plans to improve education standards in Malaysia with the aim of creating the quality human capital workforce who are able to compete globally, leading to a developed nation in year 2020 The current Malaysian employment landscape is illustrated in Fig which statistically presents Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate 2014/2015 (Percentage of Labor Force) which shows an increase in unemployment Figure Malaysia Unemployment Rate (2015) (Percentage of Labor Force) Department of Statistics Malaysia www.tradingeconomics.com According to the latest numbers from the Department of Statistics as recent as in July this year (2015), there were 459,900 Malaysians unemployed compared to 394.100 in July last year (2014), a 16.7% increase According to the Malaysian Employers Federation, the situation is worrying as it means that many graduates would not be able to secure employment due to the shrinking number of vacancies The ability to create middle-level management jobs have become challenging due to the current economic uncertainties (Starbizweek, Saturday 26 September 2015, cover feature p 17) Reflecting on these pressing issues on unemployment, it becomes clear the need to identify the factors that are contributing to graduate unemployment Plainly, what this reveals is that the responsibility to develop skilled graduates to meet 21 st century global workforce requirement remain the uphill task of IHLs, even during uncertain times of an economic downturn Evidently there are other factors both controllable and uncontrollable that affect graduate employment from an education industry standpoint The level of attractiveness of the local economy and IHLs need to be further considered The Sun (October 23, 2015 p.1) Emigration dream reveals that a survey of more than 1,000 undergraduates here found that 72.2% would prefer to study overseas and apply for PR status upon completion of their studies abroad The survey was conducted by Anderson Market Analytics from six local private varsities, four of which are locally-owned and two owned by foreign universities These students perceive that a foreign degree enhances their ability to obtain the right career The Sun (October 26, 2015 p 10) Warning on declining standards of varsities, revealed that Malaysia would suffer a brain drain if the government does not arrest the declining standards of local universities Woon King Chai from the Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) said that the local universities’ performance at the global level have not been at its best and that it was not surprising that local universities not appeal very much to students He stated that the government needs to uphold academic freedom and away with any form of political interference in campuses The suggestion was to grant more autonomy to universities to help restore the faith of more Malaysians to study in local IHLs This article suggests disengagement between government’s education policy issues and that of local students who are obviously naturally IT savvy in the digital age and are globally aware while actively linked to social networks MOHE’s, definition of soft skills which include “generic skills’ cognitive elements related to non-academic abilities, such as positive values, leadership, teamwork, communication and lifelong learning” (MOHE 2006, p.5) A total of 34 “soft skills’ were identified, of which 18 were “must have” and 16 “good to have skills” The MOHE Soft Skills include (CS) Communication Skills, (CTPS) Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills, (LL) Lifelong learning and Information Management, (TS) Team Work, (KK) Entrepreneurship, (EM) Professional Ethics and Moral, (LS) Leadership Skills In this critical review, it will be useful to compare the 21 st century soft skills requirements of Malaysia to those in other progressive nations like Singapore, United Kingdom to better gauge our competitive edge in creating the 21st century skilled workforce capable of competing in a globalised environment An initial review of comparing soft skills development needs in major nations such as Singapore, UK, Europe and USA is shown here which remains to be investigated to improve the appeal to study in local IHLs which will provide realistic solutions to improve soft skills development of local graduates Figure Ministry of Education, Singapore (2014) With reference to: http://www.slideshare.net/benedicttchua/teaching-and-learning-of-21st-centurycompetencies-in-schools-31319652 Figure Model for implementation of soft skills in Institute of Higher Learning Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (2006) Figure High-school graduates commonly lack soft skills required for the modern working environment, Europe The Association of Graduate Recruiters, "Skills for Graduates in the 21st Century Figure Beyond ‘employability’ – developing graduate attributes 2014, Pearson Publishing These article reviews raise pertinent questions and provide insights to reasons why Malaysia continues to underperform in relation to soft skills development Some studies show a perceived low and selective appreciation of skills by students which signals the need to readdress the existing strategies within the teaching-learning process to ensure a better integration of soft skills There is indicative evidence of resistance to change in the implementation of soft skills in the faculty Since lecturers are expected to be heavily involved in the implementation aspect of developing students’ soft skills, the question of adequate training, course alignment to student learning outcomes and assessments may need to be addressed too The general perception of dissatisfaction regarding the development of soft skills the last ten (10) years, reveal several gaps Is there adequate student-community engagements that encourage shared value initiatives? Are the soft skills requirements of the industry and provided in faculty as expected of a 21 st Century Skills Worker in a globalising world? Are students aware of soft skills as important skills to have as graduates? Have the lecturers aligned the courses curriculum and assignments to the students’ learning outcome? Are the lecturers adequately trained in developing soft skills through student-community engagements? Are curriculums designed to match institution and industry expectations through shared value partnerships? What are the learning styles employed? Are perceptions of the industry and faculty on soft skills need distorted and for what reason? Scott A Hurrell (2015) in his paper on rethinking the soft skills deficit blame game: employers, skills withdrawal and the reporting of soft skills gaps claims soft skills (e.g interpersonal and social) are receiving more attention with employers frequently reporting that employees lack these skills The ‘blame game’ for these skills deficits is frequently directed at the individual, family and government Scant attention has been paid to the possibility that people may possess soft skills but decide to withdraw them because of dissatisfaction with their employer Taking a critical perspective and drawing on three case study establishments, this article finds that some managers blamed soft skills gaps on skills withdrawal The employee data did not however, reveal greater employee disaffection to the establishment worst affected by soft skills gaps Investigation of withdrawal instead revealed more about employees who had left the organizations and the propensity of employers to blame employees for soft skills gaps The study affirmed that organizations may be to blame for their soft skills gaps if they not contextually integrate selection, induction and training practices with their skills needs In my opinion, IHLs in Malaysia lack community engaged learning in their faculties as most articles are confined to improving soft skills internally based on core knowledge of the discipline There is need to expand the outreach to improve on soft skills development in Malaysia despite the limitations to this area of study being confined to providing academic improvements, without making sense of the global economic slowdown that impact the future of local graduates In this context, student-community engagement and the development of graduate attributes, Kristine Mason O’Connor et al (2011) explores the role of student-community engagement in ensuring relevance of higher education to civil, social, economic and moral issues The author reviews literature around three interrelated themes: calls for higher education institutions to engage with their communities; the kinds of attributes university graduates should possess for employability and citizenship; and the pedagogies of experiential learning and reflection informing students and community engagement The authors draw a number of conclusions related to pedagogy, citizenship and the need to develop quality indicators for engagement and impact The overarching conclusion is that student-community engagement founded on principles of mutual reciprocity enhances student attributes and is an important aspect of the modern university Higher education needs to both retrieve the traditional civic role of the university, and also look forward to creating new approaches, so that universities are of the community and developing graduates as citizens The paper includes policy implications for curriculum development in relation to fostering graduate attributes and citizenship Janke, Emily M (2008) on shared partnership (shared value initiatives) identity between faculty and community partners explored the role of organizational identities, social identities and communication in how faculty and community partners perceived and enacted partnerships for student learning This research was grounded in theories of organizational identity, social identity, and communication/negotiation The major questions explored in this study were whether faculty and community partnerships have identities similar to organizational identities, and if so, what are their key characteristics? The study also explored what factors are associated with partnership identity development The research questions were 1) how faculty and community partners perceived the organizational identities of their employing institutions 2) how faculty and community partners perceived their social identities within the context of partnership; 3) the relationship between faculty and community partners social identity and how they negotiated/communicated with one another The partnership differed in terms of how partners viewed and experienced their partnerships Differences in whether partners has a unified mission, established nurture norms, developed organizational structures (informal or formal), held expectations to continue the partnership, and articulated the partnership as a distinct and identifiable entity were associated with those partners who felt a sense of “we” within the context of their partnership This study suggests looking beyond to find innovative ways to integrate local businesses to bring about positive change to learning which is possible In Malaysia this maybe part of the solution to overcoming the employment and the global education crisis issue In another context for better integration of student-community engagement to enhance in the delivery of learning styles for building student learning experiences in IHLs is to reflect on shared valued initiatives that are currently being practiced in developed nations to address the current global economic crisis At the World Economic Forum 2014 in Davos, Switzerland, seventeen corporate and global education leaders discussed how they are rethinking the role of business in global education to address the global economic downturn The new approach leverages the concept of shared value to help companies find new ways to grow revenue and increase productivity by raising levels of student and workforce achievement “Creating Shared Value,” Harvard Business Review, January (2011) by co-founders Michael Porter and Mark Kramer suggest that in education, companies create shared value in two fundamentally different ways First, companies that are in the business of selling products to the education sector (such as Pearson, Lego and Intel) can create shared value by developing cost-effective products that improve learning outcomes and enable them to gain competitive advantage based on student success Second, companies across all industries that are constrained by skills shortages can create value by sourcing and training the employees, suppliers, and customers they need to grow their business In both instances, taking a shared value approach enables business to transform from a passive consumer of talent to an essential partner to schools (IHLs), nonprofits, and governments in overcoming the local and global education crisis Malaysia more than before require adopting new innovative approaches which leverage the concept of shared value by encouraging businesses to play a new role in education, one that improves perceptions, learning outcomes while driving shareholder returns Rather than viewing education solely as a matter of philanthropy or responsibility, companies can share addressing education issues through their core business strategy and operations In conclusion to the articles’ review, several assumptions are examined to reason out the general dissatisfaction of local graduates’ quality The shortfall is attributed to a lack in soft skills formation component in university curricula (MOHE 2006), which is perceived as the contributory factor to graduate unemployment The articles chosen however provide a broader social practice approach to bring about a realistic comprehension to the situation The gaps identified suggest the need to reach out for innovative solutions that will bring Malaysia closer to its goal of a developed nation in year 2020 Shared value initiatives that focus on student-community engagement building the required soft skills are being recommended which requires further study The comparison shown on soft skills requirement of various other nations suggests that graduates will have a better possibility of being employed at a chosen job locally or globally from having common 21st century soft skills such as communication skills, teamwork, time management, leadership and critical and creative thinking/ problem solving skills These soft skills cater to the future workforces who are able to effectively communicate, interact, present and lead projects Although, it is rather idealistic to expect universities to be able to produce graduates with all the soft skills perceived important by employers, efforts need to be taken towards providing the appropriate learning experience to graduate students, and this process requires collaboration and students-community engagement The shared value concept provides innovative means of improving soft skills among graduates to match 21st century workforce needs and address the local and global education crisis This will ensure the graduates are equipped with the relevant soft skills that will meet the nation building demands towards globalisation Universities; local or private and employers must work together to find ways to improve soft skills in their graduates Future study on shared value initiatives in education is highly recommended to explore and develop interventions to bridge the industry requirements and university’s preparation of future graduates Universities and policy-makers should be looking at ways to build on their uniqueness to attract and enhance their competitiveness with shared value initiatives between both local and foreign counterparts, moving forward REFERENCES Barrie S.C., “Understanding what we mean by the generic attributes of graduates,” Higher Education, vol 51, pp.215-241, 2006 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2015)Malaysia Unemployment Rate (2015) (Percentage of Labor Force) www.tradingeconomics.com Devadason, E.S., Subramaniam, T., & Daniel, E.G.S., (2010) Final year undergraduates perceptions of the integration of soft skills in the formal curriculum: A survey of Malaysian public universities Asia Pacific Education Review, 11, 321-348 DOI:10.1007/s12564-010-9090-4 Emigration dream: Survey: Most Malaysian undergrads hope to take up PR overseas The Sun, October 23, 2015, p.1 Fey, M., Anseel, F., Wille, B (2011) Improving Feedback Reports: The Role of Procedural Information and Information Specificity, Academic of Management Learning & Education, Vol 10, No 4, 661-681 Beyond ‘employability’ – developing graduate attributes 2014, Pearson Publishing Hager, P., & Holland, S (2006) Introduction In P Hager & S Holland, Graduate attributes, learning and employability (pp.1-15) Dordrecht: Springer Holt, R., Sawicki, S., and Sloan, J 2010; A theoretical review of skill shortages and skill needs: Evidence Report 20 Available from http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/bispartners/ykces/docs/ publications/evidencereport-20-a-theoretical-review-of-skill-shortages-and-skill-needs.pdf Janke, Emily M (2008) The Pennsylvania State University, ProQuest Dissertation Publishing, 2008.3336046 Kabicher, S., Motschnig-Pitrik, R, and Figl, K (2009) What competencies employers, staff and students expect from a computer science graduate? In Proceedings of the 39th IEEE International Conference on Frontiers in Education Conference (San Antonio, Texas, USA October 18-21, 2009) IEEE Press, Piscataway NJ 1260-1265 Kolb, D (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Kristine Mason O’Connor, Kenny Lynch, David Owen (2011) Vol 53 No2/3 pp.100-115, Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0040-0912 DOI10.1108/00400911111115654 Larisa Nikitina & Fumitaka Furuoka, (2012) Sharp focus on soft skills: a case study of Malaysian university students’ educational expectations Education Research for Policy and Practice, ISSN 1570-2081, Volume 11:207-224 DOI 10.1007/s10671-011-9119-4 Michael Porter and Mark Kramer (2011) Creating Shared Value, “Harvard Business Review, Roundtable on Shared Value in Education, FSG and Stanford Social Innovation Review Ministry of Education, Singapore (2014) http://www.slideshare.net/benedicttchua/teaching-and-learning-of-21st-centurycompetencies-in-schools-31319652 MOHE (Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia) (2006) Modul pembangunan kemahiran insaniah (soft skills) untuk Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia (Soft skills development module for Malaysian Institutions of Higher Learning) Serdang: University Putra Malaysia Publishers Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (2006) : Model for implementation of soft skills in Institute of Higher Learning 11th Malaysian Plan 2016 – 2020 Anchoring Growth on People Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025: Salih, M (2008) Realising sustainable development of higher education in Malaysia through ‘soft skills’ Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 1(5), 1-9 Retrieved from http://indjst.org/archive/issue5/oct08maria.pdf Scott A Hurrell (2015) Rethinking the soft skills deficit blame game: Employers, skills withdrawal and the reporting of soft skills gaps SAGE publications Shakir, R (2009) Soft skills at the Malaysian Institutes of Higher Learning Asia Pacific Education Review, 10, 309-315 DOI 10.1007/s12564-009-9038-8 The Association of Graduate Recruiters (2015) "Skills for Graduates in the 21st Century" Europe  ... their soft skills gaps if they not contextually integrate selection, induction and training practices with their skills needs In my opinion, IHLs in Malaysia lack community engaged learning in. .. soft skills 2) The infusion-acquisition of soft skills remains highly concentrated on specific items /skills for both coursework and training For the coursework component, communication skills. .. as most articles are confined to improving soft skills internally based on core knowledge of the discipline There is need to expand the outreach to improve on soft skills development in Malaysia