Producing graduates who meet employer expectations: open and distance learning is a viable option

In this new age of globalization, higher education plays an increasingly important role in preparing a workforce which meets rapidly changing industry needs. There is now a critical need to re-examine the function of tertiary education such that it not only caters to fresh school-leavers but of equal importance, provides opportunities for the further up-skilling and upgrading of people who are already employed. With a substantial proportion of people who have yet to obtain a basic degree, conventional universities by themselves are highly unlikely to be able to meet the demands of providing tertiary education to all who need or want further education, in the near or even distant future. Open and distance learning programs, which are able to contribute significantly to lifelong learning efforts, however, have constantly been regarded as 'the lower quality alternative' with their flexible entry policy and flexible learning modes.

This paper seeks to examine the extent to which Open University Malaysia's graduates met employer expectations with regard to employability competencies. Paper and pencil questionnaires were sent via postal mail to employers of the November 2010 open market Bachelor degree program graduates. Responses from 290 out of a total of 1088 employers were analysed using quadrant analysis and gap analysis for three dimensions of employability competencies namely, knowledge and understanding, general attributes, and generic skills. Overall findings suggest that while importance scores were higher than satisfaction scores, the employers were generally satisfied with the graduates' competencies for all three dimensions.

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