Improving undergraduates’ personal development and character building to enhance graduate employability

Graduate unemployment is a major issue in many countries including Malaysia.One of the top reasons for graduate unemployment in Malaysia, according to a recent survey of Malaysian employers, is poor character or attitude among university graduates.Malaysian universities are undertaking various initiatives to enhance character education.This paper reports on a study which reviews the effectiveness of a campus wide program that was implemented by a Malaysian public university between 2011-2013 that aimed to facilitate personal development and character building among its undergraduates.In line with the feedback obtained from students and lecturers on the aforesaid program, this paper puts forward some recommendations for improvement of future programs which aimed to enhance character education among university undergraduates.It is hoped that this study could make a small contribution towards national efforts to develop virtuous and highly marketable graduates