Awareness and Readiness of Malaysian Generation Z Students towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0)

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) is marked by the integration of digital literacies and technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT), resulting in substantial transformative changes across global industries, economies, and societies. Hence, it is crucial to assess current awareness levels of the Malaysian Generation Z students, who are set to enter the workforce as employees, leaders and entrepreneurs in a time period subjugated by the IR4.0and to evaluate the readiness of these students in navigating possible challenges and opportunities offered by the IR4.0. The instrument for this quantitative study was adapted from the conceptual framework proposed by Sarfaraz J (2017) & Mer, A., & Virdi, A. S. (2021), which was obtained through the research report of Lee Weng Zhan (2022) whereby an investigation was conducted to determine whether the independent variables, namely Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Perceived Risks, Trust, are related to the dependent variable, which is Behavioural Intention to use IR4.0 Technologies, among Generation Z students. The sample size consisted of 920 Generation Z students born between 1997 and 2012, currently aged between 16 and 26 years old actively studying in public schools in Putrajaya, Public Higher Education Institutions and Private Higher Education Institutions across Malaysia. The decisive findings from the study reveals that the level of awareness and readiness of Generation Z students in Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and the Internet of Things in Malaysia is still low and hence is a definite cause for concern. The findings also underscore the pressing need for immediate action to be taken by educational institutions and industries together, to promote awareness about IR4.0 among Generation Z students, increase the acceptance and use of this technology in their everyday lives and integrate adequate educational infrastructure and resources to support IR4.0 teaching and learning in schools and in higher learning educational institutions