‘Grads need more than degrees to land jobs’
KUCHING: The perception that pursuing a higher education and earning a degree are the only way to gain employment has changed drastically.
In observing this, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus deputy vice- chancellor and chief executive officer Prof John Wilson acknowledges that ideally, tertiary education must be able to prepare students to become global citizens who are comfortable in any professional or social setting, and are able to adapt to careers of the future, which would be geared towards digital economy.
“As technology is constantly evolving, so will the demands of future jobs that require our graduates to be equipped with critical skills such as solving complex problems, creative thinking and entrepreneurship.
“Through Swinburne’s 2025 Strategic Plan, one of our three strategies are developing futureready learners who wi l l be equipped with these skills and are able to tackle real-life problems in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” he said in a statement released by university yesterday.
Swinburne Sarawak registrar and director of student engagement Hussain Taiban said the student population at the campus here comprises individuals from over 50 countries, whi le its academic staff members are made up of people from various backgrounds.
“This contributes to a rich learning experience that helps create a broader and more international outlook among students and staff alike.”
On the graduates’ employability, Hussain said the university has been actively connecting students with the industry to assist them in gaining employment – adding that its partnership with JobStreet. com, for example, helps students understand the job market better, based on data collected and published by the online job search portal.
“The Student Engagement Unit also runs the annual ‘Career and Internship Fair’ as a platform for students to gain insights into career opportunities available to them. We also conduct the ‘ Graduate Tracer Studies’ to gather data on our graduates’ employability rate, within six months of graduation. I’m pleased to note that we constantly score in the high nineties, which is a testament to the quality of our graduates,” said Hussain.
Me a nwhi l e , Swi nbu r ne S a r aw a k director of administration Caroline Hon said students have access to various facilities provided at the campus here such as the research centres, a multi- purpose hall, 24- hour students lounge and study spaces, residential services, cafeteria, online digital resources as well as campus-wide WiFi connectivity.
“We want students to have positive experiences while studying with us. One of the tools used is student survey feedback, on top of focus groups in assessing student’s satisfaction levels. Their feedback and suggestions help us plan ahead. For example, we recently renovated our teaching spaces to include flexible and collaborative learning, added study areas, installed more shaded walkways, and increased our Internet bandwidth,” remarked Hon.
Swinburne Univer s i ty’s home campus is in Melbourne, Aust ral ia. For the four th consecutive year, it is ranked among the world’s Top 40 0 universities by the Times Higher Education World University Ranking. It is ranked top international university in Borneo, according to the inaugural Times Higher Education Asia Pacific Ranking 2017.
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