ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
The statistics from Human Resources Ministry have revealed that 227,300 of 711,000 people were from the age group of 20-24 employed workers in Malaysia, followed by 160,800 from the age group of 25-29. Unemployment issue is associated with job compatibility and incompatible levels of qualification attained. Other issues addressed by the industry are graduates’ lack of communication and interpersonal skills. Therefore, this study aims to identify students’ soft skills in managing projects as part of their core courses in respective programs and semesters. The skills that can be developed by students in managing projects are communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving skills, teamwork skills, information management and lifelong learning skills, entrepreneurial skills, spiritual and ethical values, and leadership skills. Using a purposive sampling approach, 286 questionnaires were distributed to UiTM students of the Faculty of Business and Management. However, only 267 questionnaires, constituting a response rate of 93% were useful for data analysis using SPSS v. 23. The regression result reveals that communication, teamwork, information management and lifelong learning, entrepreneurial and leadership skills are supported in managing projects. Meanwhile, critical thinking and problem solving skills are not supported and this could be due to the similar nature of the ongoing project activities such as organizing academic trips, seminars, and workshops. Notwithstanding this, the proposal templates and previous project proposals are possible to be main references for both past and present students without incorporating the actual needs and enhancement of the projects being assigned. Having said that, by managing projects; students can develop soft skills as these skills are necessary to acquire and fulfill the requirements from the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and respective employers.
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In-Text Citation: (Johan & Khalid, 2023)
To Cite this Article: Johan, Z. J., & Khalid, N. A. (2023). Identifying Students’ Soft Skills in Managing Projects. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(5), 1888 – 1904.
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