This study examines the effect of industrial practice and communication skills on the work readiness of students in the Electronic Engineering Education Department at Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia. Work readiness is a crucial outcome of higher education, particularly for students preparing to enter the professional workforce, yet prior studies have rarely modeled industrial practice and communication skills jointly within a single regression framework in the vocational-engineering context. A quantitative ex-post facto design was employed, drawing on the entire population of 47 fourth-year students who had completed their industrial internship, using a validated four-point Likert-scale questionnaire (15 items per variable). Data was analyzed through multiple linear regression in IBM SPSS Statistics 29, following tests of validity, reliability, and classical assumptions. The results show that (1) industrial practice has a positive and significant partial effect on work readiness (t = 2.165, sig. = 0.034 < 0.05); (2) communication skills have a positive and significant partial effect on work readiness (t = 3.580, sig. = 0.001 < 0.05); and (3) industrial practice and communication skills simultaneously and significantly affect work readiness (F = 86.529, sig. = 0.001 < 0.05), jointly explaining 78.8% of the variance in work readiness (Adjusted R² = 0.788), with communication skills exerting the more dominant influence (b = 0.709) relative to industrial practice (b = 0.240). These findings suggest that vocational teacher-education curricula should integrate structured industrial-practice programs with deliberate communication-skills training to strengthen graduate employability.
Downloads
- Anati, M., Gusnita, W., Kasmita, K., & Siregar, J. (2025). The Effect of Industry Field Practice on the Work Readiness of Culinary Arts Students at Padang State University. Jurnal Pendidikan Tata Boga dan Teknologi, 6(3), 431-441. https://doi.org/10.24036/jptbt.v6i3.26991 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24036/jptbt.v6i3.26991
- Brunhaver, S. R., Jesiek, B. K., Korte, R. F., & Strong, A. C. (2021). The early career years of engineering: Crossing the threshold between education and practice. Engineering Studies, 13(2), 79-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2021.1961570 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2021.1961570
- De Prada, E., Mareque, M., & Pino-Juste, M. (2022). Teamwork skills in higher education: is university training contributing to their mastery?. Psicologia: Reflexao e critica, 35(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-022-00207-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-022-00207-1
- Dias-Oliveira, E., Pasion, R., da Cunha, R. V., & Coelho, S. L. (2024). The development of critical thinking, team working, and communication skills in a business school–A project-based learning approach. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 54, 101680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101680 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101680
- Dlamini, N. G., & Dlamini, N. D. (2026). Transitioning from academia to the professional arena: Evaluating higher education curriculum strategies–A review. Industry and Higher Education, 40(1), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222251315274 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222251315274
- Enstroem, R., & Schmaltz, R. (2024). Striking gold: navigating the education massification maze for work readiness. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 16(2), 184-199. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-10-2023-0100 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-10-2023-0100
- Ikejiaku, B., & Tembo, T. (2023). Broad-based learning method (BBLM): A framework for adopting holistic approach to teaching and practice-based learning in the higher education. International Journal of Education, 15(1), 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/ije.v15i1.20463
- Jackson, D., Riebe, L., Meek, S., Ogilvie, M., Kuilboer, A., Murphy, L., ... & Brock, M. (2023). Using an industry-aligned capabilities framework to effectively assess student performance in non-accredited work-integrated learning contexts. Teaching in higher education, 28(4), 802-821. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1863348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1863348
- Maharani, C., & Firmansyah, A. (2026). The Effect of internship Experience and skills on student work readiness at STIE AMKOP Makassar. Point of View Research Management, 7(1), 27-33. http://journal.accountingpointofview.id/index.php/POVREMA/article/view/397
- Mainga, W., Murphy-Braynen, M. B., Moxey, R., & Quddus, S. A. (2022). Graduate employability of business students. Administrative Sciences, 12(3), 72. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci12030072 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci12030072
- Moore, T., & Morton, J. (2017). The myth of job readiness? Written communication, employability, and the ‘skills gap’in higher education. Studies in higher education, 42(3), 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1067602 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1067602
- Munir, F. (2022). More than technical experts: Engineering professionals’ perspectives on the role of soft skills in their practice. Industry and Higher Education, 36(3), 294-305. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222211034725 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222211034725
- Mwita, K. M., Kinunda, S., Obwolo, S., & Mwilongo, N. H. (2023). Soft skills development in higher education institutions: students' perceived role of universities and students' self-initiatives in bridging the soft skills gap. International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i3.2435 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i3.2435
- Naseer, F., Tariq, R., Alshahrani, H. M., Alruwais, N., & Al-Wesabi, F. N. (2025). Project based learning framework integrating industry collaboration to enhance student future readiness in higher education. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 24985. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10385-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10385-4
- O’Reilly, B., & Guidat, T. (2024). How higher education institutions can collaborate with industry to produce work-ready graduates. In Vietnamese Higher Education at a Crossroads: Transformation During the Digital Age (pp. 203-222). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61838-3_8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61838-3_8
- Poláková, M., Suleimanová, J. H., Madzík, P., Copuš, L., Molnárová, I., & Polednová, J. (2023). Soft skills and their importance in the labour market under the conditions of Industry 5.0. Heliyon, 9(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18670 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18670
- Rifai, D. S., Widodo, W., & Hasbullah, H. (2025). Boosting Student Work Readiness: A Meta-Analysis of Soft Skills and Teaching Factory. Jurnal Pemberdayaan Masyarakat, 4(4), 982-994. https://doi.org/10.46843/jpm.v4i4.592 DOI: https://doi.org/10.46843/jpm.v4i4.592
- Schmidt, J. M., Porter, J. T., Rivera-Amill, V., & Appleyard, C. B. (2023). Promoting crucial team building, collaboration, and communication skills in graduate students through interactive retreats. Advances in Physiology Education. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00125.2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00125.2023
- Setyadi, M. R. A., Triyono, M. B., & Daryono, R. W. (2021). The influence of industrial work practices and workshop infrastructure facilities on work readiness of students. Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1833, No. 1, p. 012029). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1833/1/012029 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1833/1/012029
- Siddique, S., Ahsan, A., Azizi, N., & Haass, O. (2022). Students’ workplace readiness: Assessment and skill-building for graduate employability. Sustainability, 14(3), 1749. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031749 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031749
- Sobri, A. Y., Voak, A., Fairman, B., Wonorahardjo, S., & Suryani, A. W. (2023). Engaging with industry through internships in order to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes for the world of work: The Indonesian student experience. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 23(9), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v23i9.6125
- Suroto, S., Sunyono, S., Sukirlan, M., Winatha, I. K., Yuliyanto, R., & Rahmawati, F. (2024). Factors affecting the work readiness of vocational school students: A systematic literature review. Jurnal Pendidikan Progresif, 14(3), 1831-1846. https://doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v14.i3.2024124 DOI: https://doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v14.i3.2024124
- Teng, W., Ma, C., Pahlevansharif, S., & Turner, J. J. (2019). Graduate readiness for the employment market of the 4th industrial revolution: The development of soft employability skills. Education+ Training, 61(5), 590-604. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2018-0154 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2018-0154
- Turner, M., & Holdsworth, S. (2023). Developing resilience: examining the protective factors of early career construction professionals. Construction Management and Economics, 41(10), 805-819. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2208238 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2208238
- Wadley, D. (2021). Technology, capital substitution and labor dynamics: global workforce disruption in the 21st century?. Futures, 132, 102802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2021.102802 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2021.102802
- Wilopo, C. C., Arianto, A. S., Hartono, P. G., Suade, Y. K. M., & Triany, N. A. (2025). Assessing the work readiness of students: The role of internship experience and soft skill competencies. International Journal of Digital Entrepreneurship and Business, 6(1), 14-30. https://doi.org/10.52238/ideb.v6i1.216 DOI: https://doi.org/10.52238/ideb.v6i1.216
Copyright (c) 2026 Vionisa Gassa Langan, Hasanah Nur, Muh. Ma'ruf Idris

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Similar Articles
- Muhammad Ikram, Marufi Marufi, Suriani Canne, Design of an RME-Based Fractions Textbook in the Luwu Tourism Context to Stimulate Students’ Reasoning Skills , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 3 No. 4 (2024): September
- Naila Ardianti, Mustamin Mustamin, Saharuddin Saharuddin, Predictive Role of Industrial Practicum and Organizational Experience on Career Readiness of TVET Students , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): September - December
- Annisa Septiani Kamal, Syahrul Syahrul, Anas Arfandi, Soft Skills and Learning Facilities on Job Readiness Mediated by Learning Motivation of Vocational High School , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 1 (2025): December
- Dwi Anggaini, Tri Sutrisno, Critical Thinking Skills of College Students in Solving Linear Algebra Problems Using the Problem-Based Learning Model , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 1 (2025): December
- Liana Novita Sari, Khusnul Laely, Febru Puji Astuti, The Implementation of Inclusive Education in Early Childhood Education: Challenges and Solutions , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 4 No. 4 (2025): September
- Syamsuddin Syamsuddin, Essence of Moral Education: Luqman Speaks, the Students Remain Silent? , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 4 No. 4 (2025): September
- Indi Astrina, Muh. Adnan Hudain, Juhanis Juhanis, Team Games Tournament (TGT) Learning Model to Improve Students' Abilities and Motivation Junior High School , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): March
- Akbar Yusuf, Arifuddin Ahmad, Muh. Sabir Maidin, The Values of Physical Education from the Perspective of the Hadith , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 3 (2026): June
- Iffat Umar Madao, Sahabuddin Sahabuddin, M. Adam Mappaompo, Triangle Training and Diamond Exercise on Passing Skills in Futsal Extra-Curricular Students at High School , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): March
- Nuriski Hairuniska, Siti Zulaikhah, Zahra Rahmatika, Emotional Intelligence and Learning Interest in Islamic Religious Education and Character Building among Students at High School , ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review : Vol. 5 No. 4 (2026): September
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.


















