Industrial Practice and Communication Skills: Work Readiness of Electronic Engineering Education Students

Vionisa Gassa Langan 1 Indonesia , Hasanah Nur 1 Indonesia , Muh. Ma'ruf Idris 1 Indonesia
1 Department of Electronic Engineering Education, Universitas Negeri Makassar
Link Copied!
Published 2026-07-11
Vol. 5 No. 4 (2026) PAGES 2362-2370
DOI 10.51574/ijrer.v5i4.5008
Views / Downloads 68 11

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.

Langan, V. G., Nur, H., & Idris, M. M. (2026). Industrial Practice and Communication Skills: Work Readiness of Electronic Engineering Education Students . ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review , 5(4), 2362–2370. https://doi.org/10.51574/ijrer.v5i4.5008
More Citation Formats
Download Citation

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Similar Articles

<< < 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Dimension Badge

Downloads

Downloads
Crossmark Badge
Crossmark Badge
Section
Articles
Keywords
Communication Skills Engineering Education Students Industrial Practice Work Readiness