Norhafezah Yusof

Estimating the effect of entrepreneur education on graduates’ intention to be entrepreneurs

Purpose – Previous studies on the effect of entrepreneur education are not comprehensive. Thus, estimating the effect of entrepreneur education is imperative. According to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MoE), only 1.7 percent (as of 2013) of university graduates are self-employed, that is managing one’s own business or known as graduate entrepreneurs. Consequently, a huge gap exists between what is targeted by the government (5.5 percent by 2015) and the reality (a small number of graduate entrepreneurs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing a graduate’s choice to be entrepreneur, particularly the effects of different entrepreneur education, either formal or informal. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 2,300 graduates from Universiti Utara Malaysia participated in this study. Findings – The findings showed that the majority of the respondents are consistent in terms of their intent to become entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications – Due to time and resource ...

Proximal and distal outcomes of organizational socialization among new teachers: a mediation analysis

This study was designed to examine the relationship between socialization experience and the task performance of new teachers. It proposed to do this by testing a structural model. In explicating the relationship between the two constructs, teacher engagement in workplace learning activities and wellbeing were included in the structural model as plausible mediators. The study used a survey research method to gather data from a sample of 182 beginning teachers in northern peninsular Malaysia. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and AMOS 16.0. The findings indicate that the structural model adequately fits the data. There is a significant indirect influence of socialization factors on the task performance of new teachers, with 81% of the variance explained.

Engineering a Global City The Case of Cyberjaya

This research concerns the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor project. Part of the project is a construction of a future intelligent city named Cyberjaya. This is a utopian city. The dream encompasses constructing working and living spaces for information communication technology professionals and experts from all over the world. Based on an ethnographic approach, this article seeks to explore what happens when utopian ideas are implemented. That is, rather than testing whether or not the dream has become true, the authors investigate the “materiality” of dreamwork in the development of a “planned city.” They show that the utopian globalized information communication technology city is built on the principles of zoning, sterility, and security. These principles are at the core of engineering a global community of knowledge workers. The authors argue that the ordering of this particular version of utopia—discursively anchored in a specific hybridization of (hyper)modernity, Malaysian culture, and Islam—has resulted in a proliferation of “non-places” that inhibit binding associations and thus prevent the development of a sense of “belonging.”

Ekstremisme Agama dalam Gerakan Islamic State of Iraq dan Syria (ISIS): Satu Analisis terhadap Akhbar The Star = (Religious Extremism in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Movement: An Analysis of The Star Newspaper)

The study aims to investigate the issues of extremism of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) movement in the English-language newspaper, The Star, over a two-year period from January 2015 to December 2016. Religious extremism is an important issue in dealing with the unity and security of a nation. Globalization has raised religious extremism to a larger scale. In the context of this study, an extremist organization such as ISIS is seen as a threat to a country as there are various tragic cases in the world that are associated with this group. There are studies exploring religious extremism in Malaysia but not specifically in the field of communication. Thus, this study explores the issue of religious extremism in the print media in Malaysia. Specifically, there are two objectives of the study: i) identifying news themes of extremism and, ii) identifying the direction of the news. Using content analysis method, 40 news stories have been analyzed. The findings revealed 13 issues that were derived from 3 main themes. The majority of news reporting on ISIS was negative. This study contributes to social implications on the importance of understanding the theme and direction of news about religious extremism in Malaysia that has a global impact. This is an exploratory study on the issue of extremism in the English newspaper that has the highest circulation in Malaysia.

Student intercultural competence in a Malaysian campus: a phenomenological approach

ABSTRACT This study offers a Malaysian perspective on intercultural competence. Specifically, we examine how the students of various nationalities portray their intercultural competence acts in everyday situations. Drawing upon a phenomenological approach, we explore their experiences interacting with the locals and their discourse on intercultural competence. We collect data from in-depth interviews with selected individuals. The findings are presented in two themes that describe the essence of intercultural competence: cultural understanding and language ability. The analysis not only adds to current understanding of intercultural competence, it also contributes to the emergent literature on intercultural competence that takes into account lived intercultural experiences in Malaysia.

Post graduate students insights into understanding intercultural communication in global workplaces

Abstract Effective Intercultural communication competencies (ICC) are central to professional success. However, despite this emphasis several graduates remain poorly prepared to demonstrate these attributes and skills. Pedagogical innovations that are grounded in theoretical framework of teaching and learning and communication principles have the potential to yield meaningful learning experiences for students. This article draws on a term long qualitative study conducted under the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) inquiry that exposed post graduate students to real life interactions at global workplaces to construe their own meaning of ICC. The findings discuss pedagogical implications for the practitioners of communication education in higher education.

Lead Initiatives on Teaching and Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

Malaysia’s education hub strategy has given the impetus for local academics to reposition their stance and recalibrate their tools. This paper reports an initiative by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in pursuance of learning and teaching in higher education (HE) agenda using evidence-based practices. Two concurrent studies were undertaken to examine the following two concerns: (1) academic awareness about learner diversity and (2) student engagement in learning. We surveyed 113 lectures for the former and 838 students for the latter. Focus groups were used in both studies to complement the quantitative data. The findings showed that the academics in our sample lacked diversity awareness (global-mindedness), more specifically global sensitivity, and that our students used the surface learning approach more so than the deep learning approach. Offshoots of both studies led to the conceptualization and implementation of a master trainers’ programme in learner engagement, motivation and diversity.

Shaping the journalism education studies in Malaysia: the effects from the study on ethnicity

Journalism education is a unique field of study under a liberty of social science because it works in context. The surrounding society gives a lot of impact on how journalism has been practiced and educated. However, there are not many studies on journalism education that focuses on the elements of its society (i.e. gender, ethnic, religion, class, etc.), what more studies from the students’ perspectives. Therefore, this study attempts to fill the gap by having students of journalism as its samples. This article presents an extract from a huge study on journalism education in Malaysia. It studies the journalism students’ perceptions and expectations of journalism education in Malaysia and identifies whether different ethnics in Malaysia make any differences in their perceptions and expectations. Using quantitative methodology, 187 sets of survey questionnaires were collected from Malaysian journalism students who are studying at public universities in Malaysia. The result shows significant differences in terms of good journalism practice, news gathering skills and news production skills between three main ethnics of Malaysian journalism students.

FAKTOR RINTANGAN KE ATAS KEMPEN TAK NAK MEROKOK (RESISTANCE IN THE ‘SAY NO TO SMOKING’ CAMPAIGN)

The study aims to identify the relationship between the characteristics of innovation and resistance towards the ‘Say No to Smoking’ campaign. By using cluster sampling, a total of 396 respondents were selected from eight secondary schools in the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia.Data were collected through a survey method data and were analyzed using the Pearson correlation statistical analysis. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between innovation characteristics i.e., relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and trialbility with the existence of resistance towards the ‘Say No to Smoking’ campaign.This study also showed that factors such as the characteristics of innovation which could lead to one more innovation may fail to get disseminated. In fact, this study can help decision makers to identify the causes of rejection of new innovations in health campaigns that are being introduced to the community in an effort to improve public’s receptiveness of future health campaigns.