ISSN: 2222-6990
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The growing mobility of international students has revealed the challenges they face in adapting to different educational environments and in preparing for employment in host countries. This paper explores the impact of education and cultural adaptation on the development and signaling of employability skills among Bangladeshi students in Malaysian higher educational institutions. The method used was quantitative and data were collected through an online questionnaire from 152 Bangladeshi students studying in Malaysian universities. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data with IBM SPSS Statistics. affect the development of employability skills. The strongest factor was cultural adaptation which means that students who can adapt well to multicultural learning environments have better communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills. The results also point to the fact that educational differences imply higher signaling problems when students attempt to signal their competencies to potential employers. Interestingly, stronger employability skills and higher cultural adaptation did not reduce signaling challenges as expected. Alternatively, students with higher levels of adaptation and skills development reported greater awareness of challenges associated with communicating and demonstrating their competencies in employment-related contexts. The findings suggest that both educational differences and cultural adjustment positively The study finds that employability skills acquisition may not be sufficient for international graduates to fill the labor market information gaps. The findings provide practical insights for universities, employers and policy makers interested in ways to improve supports mechanisms for international students and improve graduate employability outcomes.
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