•  
  •  
 

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the level of understanding of final-year Mechanical

Engineering Education students regarding career planning and industry insight as

cognitive components in preparing for the workforce. The study employed a quantitative

approach with a descriptive method involving 58 eighth-semester students who had

completed industrial internships. Data were collected using a Likert-scale questionnaire

consisting of 20 items on career planning and 18 items on industry insight, and were

analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean scores and percentages. The results

indicate that students’ understanding of career planning falls into the high category, with

a mean score of 3.78, while their understanding of industry insight is also categorized as

high, with a mean score of 3.52. The predominance of responses in the “agree” category

suggests that students have developed an initial awareness of the importance of

understanding self-potential, job opportunities, and the characteristics of the industrial

world. However, a relatively high proportion of neutral responses indicates that this

understanding is not yet fully developed and remains somewhat partial. These findings

highlight that practice-based learning experiences, such as internships and project-based

learning, play a crucial role in shaping students’ career planning and industry awareness.

Therefore, strengthening the integration between academic learning and industry is

essential through the development of industry-based curricula, improvement in the

quality of internship programs, and the implementation of reflective learning. These

efforts are expected to enhance students’ work readiness.

First Page

207

Last Page

218

Download

Share

COinS