Pitfalls of Digitalization: Teacher Recruitment in Malaysia International Schools

Abstract

Human resource practices, particularly teacher recruitment, are evolving due to digitalisation. There is a critical need for international schools to attract and select quality teaching staff to ensure the quality of learning for students and maintain their competitiveness within a dynamic market. This paper reported the findings of a study that investigated the challenges that school administrators faced during the digitalisation of teacher recruitment practices at international schools in Malaysia. A series of semi-structured interviews involving fourteen management personnel from eleven international schools revealed seven challenges highlighted by the participants: 1) a rise in competition, 2) attracting irrelevant or underqualified applicants, 3) time-consuming preparation of detailed job ads and recruitment booklets, 4) escalating recruitment costs, 5) student privacy issues, 6) managing a large number of applications, and 7) loss of important information during virtual interview. To address these challenges, the participants took four actions: 1) advanced planning before the new school term, 2) building rapport with potential candidates, 3) selecting a suitable online recruitment platform, and 4) integrating online and offline recruitment. The findings of the study contribute to the growing literature on talent acquisition at international schools by providing empirical evidence of the existing challenges faced at a sample of international schools in Malaysia.