Developing A Student Development Index: A Conceptual Paper
Zulhamri Abdullah, Mohd Fauzi Ramlan, Mohamad Shatar Sabran
Centre of Entrepreneurial Development & Graduate Marketability,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Abstract
The ever increasing of figures in the unemployment rate of graduates was mainly due
to the fact that most of the graduates were released to the labor market well trained in
their areas of specialization but without being fully equipped with skills that are
required in the new economy world. The study seeks to examine the role of students
development in the higher institutions. With the rise of business complexity and
uncertainty around the world, currently employers have looked for talent and
competencies of new workers who are capable of make a difference in their
organization. Today’s business in public and private sectors is hampered by a
shortage of skilled workers who should possess highly academic qualifications and
excellent soft skills. There are seven key dimensions of the soft skills: (1)
communication skills, (2) leadership skills, (3) teamwork skills, (4) entrepreneurship
skills, (5) professional ethics and moral, (6) lifelong learning and information
management, and (7) critical thinking. We intend to develop a conceptual framework
on student development based on Bandura’s self-efficacy and Chickering’s seven
vectors. A quantitative survey approach will be employed in this study in Malaysia,
Cambodia and Vietnam. The sampling frame will be from university’s database
provided by the Academic Department 2013. The study will be systematic random
sampling to achieve theoretical generalization. The survey will be self-administered
in the classroom to increase the response rate from students. The findings from this
research perhaps would be able to address the problems and challenges of the
Universities Student Development Programs in those countries towards the new
globalization era, and enable to help the authorities to reconstruct or restructure the
best mechanism and practices. This study will contribute to both of theoretical and
practical implications on the university’s student development.
Keywords: student development, graduate employability, soft skills
1
INTRODUCTION
Student Development in Higher Education Institution: A Review and the Way Forward
The employment pattern of the average Malaysian graduate is moving and gearing more and more
towards the elements of soft skills (Zora Chan, 2011; Latisha & Surina 2010; Ahmad Muhaimin,
Jamalludin & Baharuddin, 2008; Gurvinder & Sharan, 2008). The ever increasing of figures in the
unemployment rate of graduates was mainly due to the fact that most of the graduates were released to
the labour market well trained in their areas of specialization but without being fully equipped with skills
that are required in the new economy world (Nurita, Shaharuddin & Ainon, 2006). Industries or
employers had indicated that they values employees that are not only with excellent paper qualification
but also those with abilities and competency in performing their jobs and tasks, namely “soft skills”
which could not be obtained directly from “pretty” paper qualifications but rather some natural or
embedded talents or skills (Chan, 2011; Gurvinder & Sharan, 2008; Bernama, 2007; Nurita,
Shaharuddin & Ainon, 2007; Nurita, Shaharuddin & Ainon, 2006).
Holistic Student Development through Soft Skills
Soft skills refer to personal attributes, behavioural competencies, social graces, communication,
language, awareness and optimism of a person (Wikipedia, 2012). Definition by the Cambridge
Business English Dictionary (2010), soft skills is people's abilities to communicate with each other and
work well together. Bennet et al. (1999) in Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel (2010) defines soft skills
as skills which supports any discipline and could be transferred to a range of contexts be it in the
workplace or higher education context. Weber et al. (2009) mentioned that soft skills as the
“interpersonal, human, people or behavioural skills needed to apply technical skills and knowledge at
workplace”. Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (2006) in Roselina (2009) defines soft skills as skills
that complement academic achievement such as positive values, leadership qualities, team working,
communication skills and life-long learning.
There are several synonyms - core, key, generic, personal transferable skills, common, work or
employment related skills – this is another of the reasons why it is difficult to conceptualise what is
meant by employability or soft skills. Added to that, ‘skills’ are often referred to as capabilities,
competencies or attributes, levels or learning outcomes, thus compounding the sense of confusion. The
table below gives some indication of the international scope of these skills.
Table 1: Different terms used for generic skills or competencies
Country
Australia
Canada
Denmark
Finland
Framework
Key competencies
Strategy for prosperity
Process independent qualifications
Framework for evaluating educational outcomes
2
France
Germany
Italy
Malaysia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Singapore
South Africa
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Transferable competencies
Key qualifications
Transversal competencies
Soft skills
Core competencies
Essential skills
Core curriculum
Critical enabling skills training (CREST)
Critical cross field outcomes
Trans-disciplinary goals
Core/common skills & employability skills
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary skills (SCANS)
& workplace know-how
Coopers and Lybrand (1998) define ‘employability skills’ in terms of four key areas which are traditional
intellectual skills that encompasses elements such as critical evaluation, logical argument; key skills
where skills like communication and information technology are included; personal attributes of an
employee was also considered as important. Lastly, the knowledge on the organisations they are
working for and how they work.
Conference Board of Canada in Employability Skills Profile (1992), listed that 25 major employers in
Canada wanted employees that could communicate, with critical and creative thinking and could apply
lifelong learning. Other than that, they also require people that have positive attitudes and behaviours as
well as responsibility and adaptability. Last but not least, people that can work with others well.
The Dearing Report (1997) has come out with a more comprehensive list of skills and argues that higher
education should realise its aspiration to be world class in both teaching and research through a
compact with staff, students, government, employers and society in general. The report supports the
further development of a range of what it calls ‘key’ skills during higher education: communication, both
oral and written, numeracy, the use of communications and information technology and learning how to
learn. The report argues that these are necessary outcomes of all higher education programmes,
namely:
a. Communication: speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
b. Application of Number: interpreting information involving numbers, carrying out calculations,
interpreting results and presenting findings
c. Information Communication Technology: finding, exploring, developing and presenting
information including text, images and numbers
d. Working with others: includes process and interpersonal skills to support working
cooperatively with others to achieve shared objectives, work cooperatively and have regard for
others.
e. Improving own learning and performance: developing independent learners who are
clearly focused on what they want to achieve and able to work towards targets that will
3
improve the quality of their learning and performance.
U.S. Department of Labor - Employment & Training Administration (1991) defines soft skills as: In short,
soft skills refer to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, facility with language, personal habits,
friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills,
which are the technical requirements of a job. They can be divided into personal qualities and
interpersonal skills. The former includes responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management and
integrity/honesty while the latter includes participates as a member of the Team, teaches others, serves
client / customers, exercises leadership, negotiates and works with cultural diversity.
Soft skill in Malaysian Higher Education Context
Under the Ninth Malaysian Plan which runs under the period of five years (2006-2010), human capital
development has been named as one of the priority agenda in the country’s development process. The
Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006) had firmly stated that developing human capital and upgrading the mentality
as well as the intellectual capacity of Malaysian should be placed first among all in order to succeed in
becoming a developed nation. (The Economic Planning Unit 2006 & Roselina, 2009). As a result, the
Ministry of Higher Education had declared that all public universities in Malaysia is compulsory to
introduce as well as incorporate soft skills elements in undergraduate syllabus (Roselina, 2009).
In accordance to that the Malaysian Institute of Higher Learning which is a department in the Ministry of
Higher Education had came out with their very own of soft skills’ definition, soft skills means (MOHE,
2006 & Roselina, 2009):
Skills that complement academic achievement such as positive values, leadership qualities, team
working, communication skills and life-long learning. The ministry had line out seven traits that are
supposed to be included in the syllabus at Institutes of Higher Learning. The seven traits of soft skills
are mainly communicative skills; thinking skills and problem solving skills; team work force; life-long
learning and information management; entrepreneurial skill; ethics, moral and professionalism; and
leadership skills (MOHE, 2006 & Roselina, 2009). (Table 2 briefly describes the seven traits):
4
Table 2: The ‘Must Have’ and ‘Good To Have’ Elements of Soft Skills
Soft Skills
Must Have Elements (Sub-Skills)

Ability to deliver idea clearly, effectively and
with confidence either orally or in writing.

Ability to practice active listening skill and
respond.
Communicative Skills

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Skills



Ability to present clearly and confidently to the
audience.
Ability to identify and analyze problems in
difficult situation and make justifiable
evaluation.
Ability to expand and improve thinking skills
such as explanation, analysis and evaluate
discussion.
Ability to find ideas and look for alternative
Good To Have Elements (Sub-Skills)

Ability to use technology during presentation.

Ability to discuss and arrive at a consensus.

Ability to communicate with individual from a
different cultural background.

Ability to expand one’s own communicative
skill.

Ability to use non-oral skills.

Ability to think beyond.

Ability to make conclusion based on valid
proof.

Ability to withstand and give full responsibility.

Ability to understand and accommodate
oneself to the varied working environment.
5
solutions.

Ability to build a good rapport, interact and
work effectively with others.

Ability to give contribution to the planning and
coordinate group work.

Ability to understand and play the role of a
leader and follower alternatively.

Responsible towards group decision.

Ability to recognize and respect other’s
attitude, behaviour and beliefs.

Ability to find and manage relevant information
from various sources.

Ability to develop an inquiry mind and seek
knowledge.

Ability to receive new ideas performs
autonomy learning.

Ability to identify job opportunities.

Ability to propose business opportunity.

Ability to build, explore and seek business
opportunities and job.

Ability to be self-employed.
Team Work
Life-Long Learning & Information
Management Skill
Entrepreneurship skill
6
Ethics, Moral & Professional
Leadership skill

Ability to understand the economy crisis,
environment and social cultural aspects
professionally.

Ability to analyze make problem solving
decisions related to ethics.

Knowledge of the basic theories of leadership.

Ability to lead a project.

Ability to practice ethical attitudes besides
having the responsibility towards society.

Ability to understand and take turns as a
leader and follower alternatively.

Ability to supervise members of a group.
(Source: MOHE, 2006, Maria Salih, 2008 & Roselina Shakir, 2009)
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Soft Skills Conceptual Model
Student development aims at enhancing the competencies of a student upon graduation in order to be
a competent employee once released to the job market. A student is developed in any higher education
institution according to eight domains of learning outcomes that were emphasized by the Malaysian
Qualifications Framework that was considered significant for Malaysian context which are: (1)
knowledge; (2) practical skills; (3) social skills and responsibilities; (4) values, attitudes and
professionalism; (5) communication, leadership and team skills; (6) problem solving and scientific skills;
(7) information management and lifelong learning skills; and (8) managerial and entrepreneurial skills
(Malaysian Quality Framework, 2011). Through the students’ soft skills development conceptual model,
there are seven elements of soft skills that would be embedded namely, Communicative Skills; Critical
Thinking and Problem Solving Skills; Team Work; Life-Long Learning & Information Management Skill;
Entrepreneurship skill; Ethics, Moral & Professional; and Leadership skill (Jamaludin Haji Badusah et
al, 2009).
In order to fulfil this particular model, soft skills based programmes are implemented, where one of it is
the Finishing School programme. According to this model, the environment as well as the lifestyle of the
students in campus was modelled to become the core to the student activities (Jamaludin et al, 2009).
Figure 1 shows the seven elements soft skills that were embedded through student development
programmes.
Volunteerism
Community Service
Knowledgeable
Leadership
Entrepreneurship
Critical
thinking
Entrepreneurship
Leadership
Student Core
Competency
IPT
Student
Student
Professional
Competency
Student
Functional
Competency
Sports
Communication
Competency
Moral & Etiquette
Teamwork
Public
Speaking
Holistic
Lifelong learning
Art & Cultural
Initiative & Innovation
Figure 1: Adapted from Soft skill conceptual model (Jamaluddin, 2009).
(Source: Jamaludin et al., 2009)
8
Components in the model
Skills
Communication Skills
Effective communication skills is a must for every student in any Higher Education Institutions in order
to enable the students to interact and also communicates effectively in Malay and English language
according to the context or the situations they are in. There are eight elements/sub skills under this skill
according to the Soft skills Development module for Higher Education Institution Malaysia (Jamaludin et
al., 2009). (Refer table 2)
Critical Thinking
This skill comprises of the ability to think critically, creatively, innovatively, analytically and the ability to
apply knowledge to solve new as well as existing problems. There are seven elements/sub skills under
this skill according to the Soft skills Development module for Higher Education Institution Malaysia
(Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2)
Teamwork
Teamwork skill is of the ability to work with others of different socio-cultural backgrounds in order to
achieve the same mission. It also means works done by different individuals with different
criteria/style/aspect in a group in order to complete a task where guidelines are provided to them by the
organisation. There are five elements/sub skills under this skill according to the Soft skills Development
module for Higher Education Institution Malaysia (Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2)
Lifelong Learning
The concept of lifelong learning refers to the process of education democracy that encompasses
knowledge, skills and competency enhancement formally or informally through experiences and training
at workplace. Lifelong learning is an effort of independent learning in acquiring new skills and
knowledge. There are three elements/sub skills under this skill according to the Soft skills Development
module for Higher Education Institution Malaysia (Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2).
Entrepreneurial Skill
This skill is inclusive of the ability to venture into opportunities and creating risk, developing creativity
and innovation in activities that are linked with business and work. There are four elements/sub skills
under this skill according to the Soft skills Development module for Higher Education Institution
Malaysia (Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2).
Moral and Etiquette
This skill is inclusive of the ability to practice high professionalism and morality. Professionalism is the
code of conduct based on moral values. Whereas, moral is a code of conduct that were drafted and
agreed upon by a group in order to control the performance in conducting a task. There are three
elements/sub skills under this skill according to the Soft Skills Development module for Higher
Education Institution Malaysia (Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2).
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Leadership Skill
Leadership skill is the ability to practice leadership features in various activities. This skill is inclusive of
the aspect ability and wisdom of a student in controlling and to adapt in any condition. There are four
elements/sub skills under this skill according to the Soft skills Development module for Higher
Education Institution Malaysia (Jamaludin et al., 2009). (Refer table 2).
Co-curriculum cores
Art and Cultural
This core gives the student the opportunities to master a few professional skills in the field of art and
culture which could develop identity development, character and personality other than inculcating
appreciation towards our heritage and culture (Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Sports
This particular core is one of the most popular among all the eight cores. This core gives students the
opportunities to cultivate teamwork and also sportsmanship. A student with high sportsmanship could
develop a matured and high tolerance mindset (Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Volunteerism
This particular core emphasises on student involvement in volunteerism activities. Under this core
students are trained to contribute without expecting remunerations as well as contributing sincerely to
the society or others that are in need (Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Initiative and Innovation
This is one of the important cores of the eight as this core aims to enhance the creativity of a student as
well as teamwork along it. Critical thinking as well as problem solving are often emphasised in this core
(Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Entrepreneurship
This core aims to prepare students that are interested in this field to venture into entrepreneur and
business sector upon graduation. It also enhances the added values of a student as well as their
competitiveness instinct (Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Leadership
This core is a must to all students in order to enable them to be a good leader so that they could
succeed in their career. It aims to the planning, management, implementation and evaluation skills of a
student in running a particular programme or project that was planned by the students themselves. It
also enhances the communication, problem solving, teamwork, responsibility and ethical skills of a
student in completing a particular given task (Jamaludin et al., 2009).
Community Service
In this core, students are exposed to communication and teamwork skills in communicating with
outsiders. Community ethics and values are embedded and emphasized in the community service core.
This core also encourages student’s involvement in Non Government Organizations (Jamaludin et al.,
2009).
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Public Speaking
This core emphasizes on effective communication. Effective communication could generate high self
confidence in students to enable them to be confidence no matter what situations they are facing. It
also a way inculcate students with critical, creative and analytical thinking where they are able to
generate new ideas based on the facts when they are discussing on a certain topic (Jamaludin et al.,
2009).
Part of the cores and skills that are available in the model are the elements that are used in developing
students in UPM with addition of four other skills that are considered important by Universiti Putra
Malaysia in helping the graduate to gain employability upon graduation namely, writing resume and
cover letter, English Language usage, attending interview and job seeking skills (Suhaida Abdul Kadir,
Mohammad Shatar Sabran & Roshafiza Hassan, 2007; & Mohammad Shatar Sabran, 2006).These are
all the skills that were required to be embedded and developed in a student before graduating and
entering the job market (MOHE, 2006 p.8; Roselina, 2009; & Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel,
2010).
Model for Student Development in Higher Education
There are several models available in terms of student development. However, all Higher Education
Institutions in Malaysia has been recommended to use the model as below in planning and
implementing soft skills development related programmes (Ministry of Higher Education, 2006). The
approach is based on several methods mainly programmes and activities such as formal teaching and
learning activities (include all curricular and co-curricular elements); support programmes (academic
and non-academic focused) and the students’ campus life (students’ residences and the campus
surroundings) (Maria, 2008). Figure 2 shows the framework for implementing soft skills among students
of higher institutions in Malaysia. In general, the development of soft skills among the students via the
formal teaching and learning activities takes two models: (i) stand alone and (ii) embedded. Other than
that there are two other approach that are included in the model which are development of soft skills
based on support programmes and development of soft skills based on campus life.
One of the models available in this model is the stand alone subject model. This particular model uses
the approach of training and providing opportunity to the students to develop soft skills in themselves
through curriculum or through attending subjects that are developed specifically to address this issue.
Through this subjects or courses students would learn the elements of soft skills. The courses are such
as Business English, Public Speaking, Critical thinking, Entrepreneurship etc. Usually these subjects
are the universities’ course and some of it are elective courses where students are required to attend in
order to fulfil their programme of study’s requirement (MOHE, 2006 p.15; Roselina, 2009; &
Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel, 2010).
The stand alone subject model could also be used to encourage students in taking a few more
additional courses that could be used to fulfil the minors of their studies which are of the different field of
their study. For example, an engineering student could take communication courses as their minor as
an added value for them.
11
DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS IN
HIGHER INSTITUTIONS
2
3
ACADEMIC FOCUSED
PROGRAM
UNIVERSITY
RESIDENCES
1
NON-ACADEMIC
(CO-CURRICULUM)
EMBEDDED MODEL
CAMPUS
SURROUNDINGS
Development of Soft Skills
Based On Support
Programs
STAND ALONE
SUBJECT MODEL
Development of Soft Skills
Based On Campus Life
Development of Soft Skills
Based On Formal
Teaching & Learning
Activities
Figure 2: Model of Soft Skills Development among Students of Higher Education.
(Source: MOHE, 2006; Maria, 2008; & Roselina, 2009)
For the embedded model the approach of embedding soft skills in the curriculum were used. There are
no special courses required for this model. The soft skills components would be included or embedded
in the formal teaching and learning activities without needing to alter the courses to fit in the soft skills
elements. Instead, the learning outcome would be related to soft skills elements (MOHE, 2006 p.16;
Roselina, 2009; & Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel, 2010). However, for this particular model or
method the lecturers play a key role in implementing and assessing this model. Lecturers should be
creative enough to match the soft skills elements with their daily teaching module in order to achieve
the desired outcome (Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel, 2010). The teaching style when applying this
model should be student centred learning, where students are expected to participate actively in the
learning process, while the lecturers would undertake the role of facilitators in order for the soft skills
elements to be successfully transferred to the students (Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel, 2010).
In the embedded model, there are a few steps that need to be done in order for the model to be
efficient. Other than having highly skilled and creative lecturers there are a few taxonomy in each
learning outcomes that need to be achieved (MOHE, 2006 p.16). According to the specification that
were design and assigned to each soft skill, lecturers are required to transform and integrate it into their
daily teachings with the ‘help’ of some teaching and learning activities like questioning; discussion;
brain storming; group work; presentation; simulation and role play; assignments/project; fieldwork; and
site visit (MOHE, 2006 p.17). Other than that, there are also some teaching techniques that could help
in conducting this model which are questioning based learning; cooperative learning; problem-based
learning; and e-learning (MOHE, 2006 p.17). Lecturers could also emulate some of the example of how
universities abroad incorporate soft skills in their teaching. For example Curtin Business School,
Western Australia used a programme called ‘CBS Professional skills mini project’ for third year
12
management course to cultivate the presentation and writing skills of students where students are
assign to work in group, through this programme we could see that the presentation, writing and
teamwork skills which are components of soft skills are developed (Soontiens & de la Harpe, 2002 in
Roselina Shakir, 2009). According to Devadason, Subramaniam & Daniel, 2010; Kember et al., 2006,
Tsui, 1999; Bennet et al., 1999 that soft skills are best transferred and developed through skills
integrated in interdisciplinary courses than in stand-alone subjects for university students.
Student development could also be enhanced through support programmes such as co-curricular
activities, conferences and seminars. Soft skills development that falls under the category of support
programmes are programmes and activities that are specially designed, developed and implemented
to assist the efforts of soft skills development among students directly or indirectly (MOHE, 2006 &
Roselina, 2009). This particular programme could be classified into two categories which are academic
focused programme and non-academic focused programme (MOHE, 2006 p.20 & Roselina, 2009).
Academic focused programme, had the main objective to help student develop and enhance their soft
skills that are related directly with academics, for example English Language Support Programme
which is a comprehensive approach in enhancing communicating with English language skill for
professional and academic use among university students (MOHE, 2006 p.20 & 54). Some of the
international higher learning institutions that are also applying this programme for their international
students are Imperial College London, City University London, and University of Surrey with the
programme English Language Support Programme; Monash University with the Academic Support for
International Students and University of Reading with the programme Study Support and Development
(MOHE, 2006 p.55).
Whereas, for the non-academic focused programme that are used in soft skills development are
programmes that are with the objective to help students to enhance their soft skills that are not directly
related to academics but helps in shaping a student’s professionalism (MOHE, 2006 p.20). Most of the
programmes that are developed or implemented under this approach are co-curriculum and extra cocurriculum programmes (MOHE, 2006 p.20). Faculties, institutes or centres that are available in the
university plays the role in enhancing the soft skills of students by organizing formal activities such as
seminars, workshops, conferences and programme (Roselina, 2009).The Finishing School Programme
of UPM falls under this approach where the Centre of Entrepreneurship Innovation and Student
Development was entrusted by the university to develop and implement this soft skills enhancing
programme (Roselina, 2009).
Lastly, it is through campus life of students as most of the students spend most of their life as students
in residential colleges that are provided by the university. Through this method of development,
programmes that are suitable with the campus surroundings which are conducive are developed to help
students to develop their soft skills (MOHE, 2006 p.21). Programmes are developed according to
activities that are associated with the students every day’s life. The heads of college could plan
activities that would involve the participations of all students living in the residential colleges such as
debates, drama competitions, sports carnivals and charity events. Through this programmes that were
developed under this approach there are quite a number of soft skills could be developed or inculcate
such as social interactions, leadership, teamwork and entrepreneurship (Roselina, 2009). These
13
programmes require careful planning and carried out continuously for it to be effective (Roselina, 2009).
Certainly student development has been abundant nationwide. Lots of money had been invested in
these so called ‘pre-employment programmes’ (Huzili, Azman, & Muhammad Shukri, 2008; & Ministry
of Finance, 2009). However, to what extent has all these initiatives contributed to the holistic university
student development in ASEAN graduates.
For this programme to make an impact, an evaluation such as this is essential because an empirical
study on this aspect is important if not imperative as the content and method of training adopted by the
programme may significantly improve the soft skill level of the students regardless of any factor.
Certainly, the outcome of this assessment will lead to an improvement of the programme within the
ASEAN region.
Student Development Theory
The history of student development theory starts in Europe – with the tradition called as ‘in loco
parentis.’ This Latin term brings the meaning of ‘in the place of a parent,’ where in this context refers to
the legal responsibility given to an individual or organizations to take some of the responsibilities of a
parent. It is believed that this term is derived from two separate areas of the English common laws; first
and foremost is to institutions or organizations like schools and colleges and the second one is to those
non-biological parents who were given legal rights and responsibilities to educate as such plays the role
of a parents on their students. Therefore, the term in loco parentis can be said as a traditional term
referring to those who play parents’ roles in educating children and student for the students’ sake. Thus
the main focus of this traditional theory is on students’ character development, and not their intellect.
Students were instilled with traditional Christian values and through strict rules and enforced by rigid
discipline. Through years, students were treated as sons and daughters and were given education as
such, but for quite some time - during 1960s, the traditional in loco parentis theory were looked upon
and been criticized by student movements saying that students should have their freedom of speech as
well. In 1961, the in loco parentis theory officially ends in the US’ higher education system.
In Malaysia, however, it can be said that this theory is still applied, not only in primary and secondary
schools but also in certain educational institutions. Undergraduates were subject to many restrictions
on their private lives. Students were generally subject to curfews, some universities even expelled
students who were somehow "morally" undesirable. More importantly, universities saw fit to restrict
freedom of speech on campus, often forbidding organizations dealing with "off-campus" issues from
organizing, demonstrating, or otherwise acting on campus. Perhaps the reason why this happens is
because of the university policy of which restricts students to involve in any external political issues.
Students’ development theory can be divided into two categories which is characteristic development
and the intellectual development. Characteristic development is also known as identity development
(refer to Chickering's Theory of Identity Development).
Characteristic or Identity Development was created specifically to examine the identity development
process of students in higher education, as well in other areas. It focuses on students’ identity
development, primarily on seven vectors of development, which are to develop competence, emotions,
interdependence, and maturity in interpersonal relationship, self-identity, purpose, and integrity. These
vectors can be thought of as a series of stages or tasks that deal with feeling, thinking, believing, and
relating to others. Individuals may progress through the vectors at different rates, and each vector have
14
a tendency to interact with each other, and this can cause reevaluation of issues associated with
vectors that had already been worked through. Although the vectors do build on one another, they do
not follow a strict sequential order. Developing in multiple vectors allows individuals to function with
greater stability and intellectual complexity. Intellectual development on the other hand refers to three
major stages which are dualism (either/or thinking), multiplicity (subjective knowledge), and relativism
(constructed knowledge). The traditional in loco parentis theory only focuses on the identity
development of students but as student movements aroused, as per influenced by B.F. Skinner and
Carl Rogers who introduced the new paradigm on students services paradigm, this traditional parenting
education were then replaced by the student development paradigm (SDP). SDP was merely
influenced by the immense growing body of psychological and sociological theories, with three basic
assumptions that guides the students’ development movement. The three basic assumptions are; (1)
every student is different and unique, (2) students’ entire environment should be taken into account and
used for education, and (3) students have personal responsibility to get educated.
“All we need to know in order to describe and explain behavior is this: actions followed by good
outcomes are likely to recur , and actions followed by bad outcomes are less likely to recur.” (Skinner,
1953)
The University - Industry Linkage
The linkages between university and industries are very crucial because they could help universities to
prepare for better quality graduates. This is due to the fact that, industries are the major venues for
most graduates searching for their career after graduation. For that reasons, universities need to
ensure that all of their graduates are having the skills and qualities required by those industries. Failing
to comply with the requirements listed by those industries will result an increase in the rate of unemployability among our graduates.
Universities have to organize forums, discussions, MOU, career seminars, career days and talks with
industries, so that all the information and skills needed by industries are updated. By doing this,
universities are able to produce graduates with qualities and skills required by industries. Thus, the
issue concerned by many industries, “we do not have time to train your graduates to suit our
needs” is no longer relevant.
Below are some of the comments given by industries both from the local and international industries.
“We want graduates who are very competitive and excellent”
“We want those who know how to communicate well”
“We want people who are very creative, innovative and
Proactive”
“We want people who are very flexible and competitive”
“We want those who can speak few languages especially
English”
“Those who want to work for the public sectors, they need to
have at least these four elements which as the communication skills, writing skills, ability to
analyze the situation, and has the ability to be the event manager”
15
To help universities to have the updated information and skills needed by industries from our
graduates, universities need to have linkages and networking with industries consistently at all time.
This trend needs to be maintained because information and skills needed by industries from our
graduates changes along the time.
For this matter, Students Affairs Division (HEPA) Universiti Putra Malaysia has taken a proactive action
to gather as much as information and skills that need to be acquired by its graduates from industries.
Several researches on the employers’ expectation from the graduates are conducted every year.
Besides researches, HEPA, UPM is also organizing and hosting in campus career seminars, talks, and
forums with both national and multi-national companies throughout the years. After several years
conducting such programs and activities, HEPA Universiti Putra Malaysia has managed to gather a lot
of information and skills needed and expected by companies from our graduates.
The summary of the skills needed by industries from our graduates gathered from the above initiatives
is shown in Table 3 below. The skills, which are also known as soft skills, have also been identified as
significant for marketability and employability among our graduates by Higher Education Minister of
Malaysia (MOHE).
Table 3: Skills Needed by Industries for Competent Graduates
Skills
Description
Communication
Ability to express ideas clearly, effective, full
confident both in writing and speaking, verbal and
non-verbal.
Ability to understand the basic theories of leadership
and the ability to lead others.
Ability to establish good relationship and interaction
with other people to achieve the goals.
Ability to understand other people needs and
expectations among members in group.
Ability to find and manage the relevant information
from various resources.
Ability to accept new ideas and keen for new
knowledge.
Ability to perform duties and responsibilities
professionally and the ability to analyze the impact,
economically, socially, and morally from any
decisions made.
Ability to identify, analyze, justify and evaluate the
problems in various situation and discussion.
Ability to initiate and to expand the thinking process
and creativity in problem solving.
Ability to identify opportunities in business and the
ability to plan, explore, and evaluate opportunities.
Leadership
Teamwork
Lifelong learning
Moral and ethics
Critical thinking and problem solving
Entrepreneurship
Source: MOHE, 2006
16
Student Performance Analysis
It is fruitful to show some key tables illustrating the student development and performance analysis
based on a formal measurement model developed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. The
measurement model is known as MY3S measuring Communication skills (CS); Communication skills in
English (CSBI); Communication Skills in Malay (CSBM); Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (CTPS);
Teamwork (TS); Ethics & Moral (EM); and Entrepreneurship skills (KK) and SETARA (Rating System
for Institutions of Higher Learning) as shown in Table 4 and Table 5.
Table 4: Student Performance Analysis
No.
KPI
Overall
Achievement
2010
Achievement 2011
Remarks
Q1+Q2
Q3
Q4
(Overall
2011)
1.
SETARA
72.47%
-
-
84.61%
SETARA
Instrument:
Self
Assessment
2.
My3S :
Communication
Skill (CS) – BI
78.26%
-
-
86.15%
Result from
MOHE
3.
My3S :
Communication
Skill (CS) – BM
93.04%
-
-
94.91%
Result from
MOHE
4.
Graduate
Employability
74.1%
-
73.2%
(as of
October
2011)
75.3%
-
5.
Overall
Students’
Satisfaction
Index*
63%
78%
-
56.3%
-
17
Table 4: Student Performance Analysis Based on My3S
Achievement 2011
Overall
No.
KPI
Q4
Achievement
2010
Q1+Q2
Q3
(Overall
2011)
1.
My 3S - Overall Generic
Students’ Attributes
88.70%
2.
Affective Domain
•Leadership Skills (LS)
92.17%
3.
•Team Skills (TS)
4.
•Entrepreneurship (KK)
5.
•Ethics & Moral (EM)
6.
•Life Long Learning (LL)
7.
Psychomotor
•Critical Thinking Problem
Solving (CTPS)
85.22%
56.87%
85.22%
90.43
70.87%
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
86.25%
(92.16%from MOHE)
94.43%
93.25%
72.88%
91.47%
96.81%
82.37%
*NB : Percentage of respondents rate CSI > 4.00
Specifically, Universiti Putra Malaysia is responsible to groom and nurture their students in order to
improve graduate employability and marketability. Thus, this study may rely substantially on students’
personality traits and self-efficacy to be a competent and highly talented graduates or successful
entrepreneurs.
Bandura’s Self-efficacy
Understanding the essence of student development is vital here as there are two key questions of
being successful graduates that are “who I am” and “what I aim for”. The first question refers to being a
successful person, someone need to know the strength of his/her self-efficacy covering the states of
cognitive, affective and psychomotor. This relates to Bandura’s self-efficacy and behavioral changes
18
(Bandura, 1977). Moreover, students should have a set of competencies prior to become one whether
through a formal education/training or by experience.
Chickering’s Seven Vectors (1969)
Chickering’s theory implies fluid motion of development, and no two individuals will work
through the vectors exactly the same as his or her peers.
The vectors are:
1. Developing competence
2. Managing emotions
3. Moving through autonomy toward independence
4. Developing mature interpersonal relationships
5. Establishing identity
6. Developing purpose
7. Developing integrity
Chickering’s Vectors are well known and often referred to and utilized by student affairs professionals
on both micro and macro levels. Consider for example working individually with a student who is
distraught over the death of a close friend from home (vector two), or a student struggling to establish
her identity as a young adult (vector five) or a student grappling with a moral or ethical dilemma (vector
seven).
Keeping the importance of Chickering Vectors in mind, student development practices are substantially
influenced by social and institutional contexts in these Asian countries. With a greater concern of Asian
values, social context refers to school culture, family social support, and neighborhood climate. We
assume that student satisfaction may improve corporate image of the institution. This may refers to
attributes such as service performance, university performance and university ranking.
Objectives of the Research
There are THREE objectives of this study:
 To develop Student Development Index based on evidences from Cambodian, Vietnamese and
Malaysian Universities as depicted in Figure 3;
 To identify the significance of Intervention Strategy based on SDI predictors in Cambodian,
Vietnamese and Malaysian Universities in collaboration with Yayasan Sukarelawan Malaysia;
 To make appropriate recommendations, solutions and strategies improvement with regard to
the Student development Index for universities’ student development practice in Cambodia,
Vietnam and Malaysia
19
Figure 3: Theoretical Framework of Student Development Index
OUTCOMES
PREDICTORS
Past Experience
H1a: High school
H2b: College graduate
Social Context
H4a: School culture
H4b: Family social support
H4c: Neighborhood climate
H5: Managing competence
H6: Managing emotion
H7: Moving through autonomy
towards independence
H8: Developing mature interpersonal relationship
SELF-EFFICACY
-
- Self-esteem
Self-confidence
H9: Establishing identity
Demographic Variables
H2a: Gender
H2b: Age
H2c: Education level
H2d: Family income
H2e: Language used
H10: Developing purpose
Student satisfaction
H3a: Service performance
H3b: University performance
H3c: University ranking
H11: Developing integrity
H12: Communicating effectively
H13: Managing problem solving
20
Methodology

Research Design
There are three phases of data collection in the study:
First phase – Observation and Literature analysis
Second phase – survey questionnaire
Third phase – In-depth interviews
1. First Phase:
First phase, direct observation and document and literature analysis will be conducted to develop the
proposed key dimensions and attributes of Student Development Index. First, establishing contacts with
universities in Cambodia and Vietnam requires a mutual relationship with multiple entities such as
Malaysian embassies, Ministries and related government agencies. “Seeing” and “listening” are key to
observation (Powell & Steele, 1996). This approach provides the opportunity to document activities,
behavior, and physical aspects for developing the student development index.
2. Second Phase
Primarily, data will be collected through survey questionnaire. An initial list of survey questionnaire will
be developed based on the literature review on the key facets of student development practices and
from the direct observation and literature analysis. These questionnaire will be tested for reliability by
conducting a pilot study on 30 participants. The items in the scale will be refined until a reliability of at
least 0.8 is achieved. The sample will be selected from public in the respective reputable universities.
Target population and sample
Target population will be students from major universities. Approximately 30,000 undergraduate
students would be a population of this study in Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia which are identified
from the student affairs management personnel levels respectively. The population of study varies
depending on countries. A sample of 1500 respondents will be randomly selected in Malaysia, Vietnam
and Cambodia.
Data analysis
Data from the questionnaire will be analyzed using SPSS statistical analysis:
a. ANOVA will be used to examine the differences between demographic elements such as gender,
race, and religion and student soft skills.
b. Correlational analysis will be used to examine the relationship between the demography of
respondents and student development index.
c. A multiple regression analysis will be used to identify the predictors of affective domains.
d. A Structural Equation Modeling is proposed to develop a structured approach to student
development index for each country. A model fit is desirable to be produced for each country.
3.Third Phase
The third phase will examine key data collected from survey questionnaire to look a broader
perspective of student development index. After completion of survey questionnaire, in-depth interviews
will be conducted with at least 30 participants. Specifically, 10 participants (5 student affairs
21
managers/directors and 5 student leaders) who directly involves in student development practices from
reputable universities in three countries will be interviewed during this phase. Data from the interviews
will be analyzed using a thematic approach. Digital voice recorders and cameras will be used to collect
the data. The data will be used to support the key data presented in survey questionnaire.
Observation
Direct observation study will be carried out at various selected universities, as it would support the data
collection.
Secondary Sources
Secondary information collection will undertake involving archives searches, internal and external
departmental publications achieve search, memos, etc. This methodology will be carried out to
understand events and relationships of past and present situation. It means that after the interviews
were conducted, further documentary searchers were required to compare the interviewee's
interpretation and those recorded in documents relating to those events.
Triangulation Method
To assess the result validity, the researcher wills the ‘triangulation method’. Denzin (1989) referred this
method as a combination of different methods, study groups, local and temporal settings and different
theoretical perspectives in dealing with the phenomenon. McQuail (1992) strongly argued that the multimethod approach can be use deploy evidence of disparate kinds: about public policy, organizational
structure, communication content and audiences. This approach would be a benefit to study about the
programmes-based performance analysis.
In this study, researcher will be using combined method of data under triangulation method and mixedmethod analysis for data gathering, such as a survey questionnaire, in-depth interviews and document
analysis.
Research Milestones:
Time
Research Activities
March-April 2013
Literature review
May-July 2013
Fieldwork of study in Cambodia & Vietnam
August-Sept 2013
Fieldwork of study in Malaysia
Oct-Nov 2013
Data analysis
Dec 2013-Jan 2014
Report writing
Feb-March 2014
Final report & Seminar presentation
22
Expected Results/Benefit
This study will provide useful insight of analyzing the development of Universities Student Development
Index among the World Third Countries and the implementation and practices among these countries,
as it would be able for them to create a standard benchmarking. It will ensure that these Universities
would be able to provide sufficient and relevant Student Development Index in Malaysia, Vietnam and
Cambodia.
In addition, the finding from the study will shed information on the relevance and usefulness the Student
Development Index in terms of promoting and practicing, how the student in those countries
(Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia) turn respond and interact with the implementation of their
Universities Student Development Programs such as Starting School, Finishing School,
Entrepreneurship program to name a few, and how those programs can give an impact on students’
efficacy.
Indeed, this is a first study to develop the Student Development Index in the Asian country. Thus, this
study will be so essential and beneficial to the development and improvement of programs
performances itself, as well as to enhance the efficiency of the Third World Countries of University
Student Development Programs’ mechanism and framework. This study would be able to provide
solutions and enrichment of knowledge in terms of implementation and enforcement strategies of
University Student Development Programs for the government and related authorities.
The findings from this research perhaps would be able to address the problems and challenges of the
Universities Student Development Programmes in those countries towards the new globalization era,
and enable to help the authorities to reconstruct or restructure the best mechanism and practices,
which will be carried out from this study with a strong support from Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS).
Furthermore, an executive report in forms of book will be produced from the research study result
analysis and interpretation.
Conclusion
The marketability and the employability among the Malaysian graduates have become a major concern
in the country. Many theories and assumptions have been made to explain the current scenario.
Despite of many arguments about the issue, people have reached to a concensus that lack of soft skills
is one of the main factors why Malaysian graduates are not able to compete in the world market.
Initiative taken by many universities through the Department of Student Services Profesional by having
linkages with industries have lessen the alarming scenario. Through this linkages, the Student Services
Professional in each university could update all the skills needed by the job market and nurture those
soft skills to their students prior to their graduation. It is hope the the continuous effort by Student
Service Professional from each university will help Malaysian graduates to be more competitive not only
on the local market but also on the international market.
23
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