Generic Graduate Attributes: Foundational Principles for Lifelong Education in Building a Sustainable Future

Inside the framework of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, foundational skills such as mindset and attitudes play an important role for developing sustainable development policies and lifelong learning initiatives into Malaysia’s educational system. This study aims to assess the characteristics of learners pertaining to the learning process, employability, and collaborative skills. Ninety-nine semester four LG120 students at Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka and Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor were administered a 35-item questionnaire to evaluate seven dimensions of generic graduate qualities in lifelong education. Results were examined using SPSS, and mean scores along with standard deviations were obtained for each dimension. The results indicate that learners demonstrated a high level of receptiveness and have made progress in all seven sub-attributes associated with the ESD framework. It is essential for work-ready graduates to have strong technical skills and demonstrate exceptional generic ability to meet the demands of various working environments. Further investigation is needed into pedagogical methodologies and educational frameworks for the appropriate integration of various traits, particularly with specific generic attributes.