Correlation Study Between CGPA and PO Attainments: A Case Study for Taylor’s University School of Engineering

Abstract

Despite the decades-long implementation of outcome-based education (OBE) in engineering education, the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is still being used by many employers as the sole metric of the graduate’s performance. CGPA indicates the general abilities of a graduate but not specific enough to identify whether the abilities he possessed is fit for the job. Generally, employers want to see what the graduate can do. In the growing competitiveness in the job market, employers are now looking for engineering graduates with the right hard and soft skills that could handle the complexity of the job. This is a major reason why universities offering engineering programmes are employing OBE framework in its quest to prepare graduates to be job-ready upon graduation. In spite of this, recent literature revealed that many employers find it difficult to get the right graduate for a specific engineering job. This reflects the inability of CGPA to show what the graduate knows and is able to do upon graduation. The questions now are “Do graduates with high CGPA possess adequate skills to be job ready?” and “Do graduates with low CGPA possess inadequate skills to be job ready? This paper presents a correlation study between CGPA and programme outcomes (PO) attainments to determine whether they are convergent or divergent. The result of this study can serve as a basis whether CGPA can still be considered as a valid metric of job performance or should it be supplemented by a PO certificate to complement the CGPA.