THE INFLUENCE OF THE INDEPENDENT INTERNSHIP MBKM PROGRAM ON THE JOB READINESS OF STUDENTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, MAKASSAR STATE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The high unemployment rate of university graduates in Indonesia reflects the mismatch between the results of higher education and the demands of the world of work, thus encouraging the government to launch the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) policy as an effort to bridge the competency gap of graduates. This research aims to find out the description of the MBKM Internship Program, the work readiness of students in the Department of Education Administration of Makassar State University, as well as test the influence of the program on the work readiness of students. Using a quantitative approach with ex-post facto design and correlational strategies, this study involved 87 college students as saturated samples, with data collected through a Likert scale-based questionnaire and analyzed descriptively and inferentially using simple linear regression. The research results show that the MBKM Internship Program has a significant effect on student work readiness, with a substantive contribution in improving technical skills, communication skills, problem-solving, analytical, professional ethics, and teamwork skills. This finding confirms the relevance of experiential learning as an effective approach in improving students' employability skills, as well as enriching the literature regarding the implementation of MBKM in the field of Education Administration which has been rarely researched. This research provides an important contribution to the development of higher education policies, the design of internship programs that are more integrated with the curriculum, and as a reference for the industry in preparing a more competent and adaptive workforce to face the dynamics of the job market.

Keywords: MBKM Program, Independent Internship, Student Work Readiness