Nurturing Engineers of Industry 4.0 Workforce with Entrepreneurial Quality Skills in Leadership, Innovation, Communication, and Teamwork

Abstract

The Industrial revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) has triggered the need for engineering education transformation in preparing the future professional workforce not just with strong technical skills but also with entrepreneurial and relevant soft skills. These additional skills are crucial to ensure the all-rounded development of the workforce as well as to increase employability. A study by Talent Corp reported in 2014 postulates that young professional talents must improve their skills in communication, critical thinking, leadership, as well as creativity for better marketability and job opportunities. Following years of efforts by Malaysia’s tertiary education providers to equip graduates with necessary soft skills particularly through embedment on academic program’s learning outcomes, it would be appropriate to gather empirical evidence on the progress of graduate skills of leadership, innovation, communication, and teamwork (LICT) amongst the engineers. This paper examines the skills amongst working engineers and assesses whether they have major impact on job performance. Two consecutive studies have been carried out where the first study was conducted in East Malaysia in 2019 followed by the second study carried out in West Malaysia in 2021. The findings for both studies confirmed the crucial role of LICT skills amidst the higher expectations towards job performance in new normal context with competitiveness and relevancy of IR 4.0. This finding supports the necessity of continuous LICT embedment in the engineering syllabus via more efficient integration, engagement, and appreciation towards human-centred education and entrepreneurial qualities enhancement.