Depok-The Universitas Indonesia (UI) has once again produced a new doctorate in the field of Global Studies and Strategy through the doctoral promotion activity of Dr. Istiadi, S.E., M.M., M.Sc., which was held on January 5, 2026 at the UI Graduate School of Sustainable Development. In the session, Dr. Istiadi compiled a dissertation entitled “Model Evaluation of the Quality of Link and Match Internships in Vocational Higher Education Based on Multi-Stakeholder Synergy (ISBIQ Model) (Study on the Vocational Education Program of the Universitas Indonesia)”.
This dissertation addresses the strategic issue of strengthening the quality of internship programs in vocational higher education. In his presentation, Dr. Istiadi emphasized that internship programs are a key component of vocational education because they serve as the primary bridge between academic learning and the real needs of the industrial world. Using a multiphase mixed methods approach with a sequential explanatory design, this study combines quantitative and qualitative analysis in an integrative manner to evaluate internship quality from the perspectives of students and stakeholders.
(Photo: Atmosphere of Dr. Istiadi’s doctoral promotion activity)
The quantitative phase involved 260 alumni to measure satisfaction with the quality of internship services using the Servqual dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The results showed that the empathy dimension was the most dominant factor in determining student satisfaction. Meanwhile, interviews with academics, industry partners, industry associations, and the government also revealed the need to strengthen coordination, supervision, and align student competencies with industry needs. Strengthening the empathy dimension not only improves the quality of students’ learning experiences but also contributes directly to the development of professional character and work readiness of vocational graduates.
In addition to strengthening empathy, the link and match internship program is a successful implementation of the UI Vocational Education Program, significantly contributing to improving students’ technical and non-technical skills. The implementation of link and match relies not only on industry involvement but also on integrated planning, strengthening the role of supervising lecturers, and ongoing communication between the campus and industry partners.
Based on the integration of these findings, Dr. Istiadi formulated the ISBIQ Model as a multi-stakeholder-based internship evaluation model that integrates the Servqual and Stakeholder Theory approaches into a comprehensive evaluation framework. “Internships are not just student placements in industry, but strategic learning processes that must be systematically designed and evaluated through collaboration between campuses, industry, and the government to truly produce work-ready graduates,” said Dr. Istiadi.
The main novelty of this research lies in the development of the ISBIQ Model (Integrated Stakeholder-Based Internship Quality Model), which is an internship quality evaluation model that integrates Servqual theory, Stakeholder Theory, link and match policies, and grounded empirical findings. This model maps the dimensions of service quality into the roles of each stakeholder and is formulated as internship quality = f (stakeholder synergy × Servqual implementation × continuous evaluation), and is equipped with a 10-year implementation roadmap as a blueprint for gradual quality improvement to reduce skills mismatch and encourage employee performance.
(Photo: Group photo of the promoter, co-promoters, and the testing team)
Model ISBIQ dapat dijadikan rujukan dalam penguatan tata kelola program magang pada Program Pendidikan Vokasi Universitas Indonesia. Model ini diharapkan mampu menjadi dasar penyusunan kebijakan yang lebih terstruktur dan berkelanjutan dalam penyelenggaraan magang berbasis link and match, sekaligus memperkuat kualitas lulusan vokasi yang relevan dengan kebutuhan dunia kerja.
The doctoral promotion defense was led by the Chair of the Session of the Graduate School of Sustainable Development UI, with Promoter Prof. Dr. Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, S.E., Ph.D., and Co-Promoters, Prof. Dr. A. Hanief Saha Ghafur, M.Si. and Padang Wicaksono, S.E., Ph.D. The examining team consisted of Prof. Dr. Lydia Freyani Hawadi, M.M., Psychologist; Dr. Solikhah Yuliatiningtyas, S.Sos., M.Si., Ph.D.; Dr. Basir S., S.E., M.M.; and Dr. Mediati Fajri Putri, S.Pd., M.Sc.
