Producing employable grads

MALAYSIA’S top institution for producing employable graduates is Universiti Malaya (UM).

The oldest university in the country rose two bands and now features in the 141-150 position of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Graduate Employability Rankings 2020.

It was previously in the 161-170 band last year.

QS research director Ben Sowter said all Malaysian universities have either risen or remained in the same position as last year.

“Nine Malaysian universities participated in this edition of the rankings, three more than last year.

“By entirely focusing on employability, this table highlights that there are institutions which perform very well in this important dimension and others that while performing brilliantly in our overall exercise, have room for improvement in this area,” he said.

Taylor’s University remains in the 201-250 band. UCSI University and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) are in the 251-300 band with UCSI moving up from the 301-350 band last year while UTAR was previously not ranked.

There are significant disparities between QS’ overall World University Rankings and this exercise, noted Sowter.

“The rankings clearly demonstrate that there is no perfect parallel between an outstanding reputational and research university, and an outstanding nurturer of student career outcomes,” he added.

This is seen as Taylor’s University outranks UCSI University in this exercise although in the World University Rankings, it is below UCSI University. Taylor’s University is in the 551-520 band while UCSI University is at 442 in the QS World University Rankings 2020.

The other Malaysian institutions in the ranking are Management and Science University (301-500), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (301-500), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (301500), Universiti Sains Malaysia (301-500) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (301-500).

On Management and Science University (MSU), QS communications director Simona Bizzozero said it is doing well as a young university.

“They are in the 541-550 range in the QS World University Rankings and in the top 500 in the graduate employability rankings.

“A specialist institution, they focus on areas sought after by recruiters,” she said.

With 98.7% of its graduates successfully securing employment within six months of their graduation, MSU has been ranked by the Education Ministry as Malaysia’s #1 for graduate employability.

Sowter said the rankings offer data on the relationship between university choice and career outcomes.

“In so doing, they meet growing student demand for information about the potential employment benefits their education might offer,” he said.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops the rankings followed by Stanford University and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Of the 758 in the final evaluation, 682 were ranked and 500 universities were named.