STUDENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED BY COMPANIES ACCORDING TO COOPERATIVE EDUCATION: THE CASE OF MUANG DISTRICT AT SURATTHANI PROVINCE, THAILAND

This study examined students’ characteristics needed by companies according to cooperative education: the
case of Muang District at Suratthani Province, Thailand. The sample was 370 respondents in companies. Data
collection was obtained through a questionnaire. The statistics used in this study were frequency, percentage,
mean, standard deviation and testing hypotheses by using t-test, F-test and a chi-square. The results were
found that most companies required fourth year students from state universities, majoring in business
administration. Students’ characteristics which most companies needed from students the most were morality
and ethics. Characteristics of entrepreneurs and companies were important and had an effect to students’
characteristics in terms of the Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF) and characteristics of
entrepreneurs and companies were related to students’ basic information significantly at p<0.05. In addition,
this study suggested that universities should focus on appropriate students’ development, particularly by
developing proper curricula in order to enhance competence and readiness before working according to
cooperative education with companies.