Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications

How and when negative mentoring experiences influence craftsmanship spirit in new apprentices: The roles of occupational identity and regulatory focus

BACKGROUND

Although research suggests that mentors largely shape apprentices' work attitudes and behaviors, questions remain as to how and when negative mentoring experiences can influence the formation of craftsmanship spirit among apprentices.

OBJECTIVE

This study, grounded in social exchange theory and regulatory focus theory, proposed and empirically examined the mediating role of occupational identity and the moderating role of regulatory focus (i.e., promotion focus and prevention focus) in the relationship between negative mentoring experiences and craftsmanship spirit.

METHODS

Using three-wave data among 345 apprentices and their immediate mentor in manufacturing companies in China, we employed SPSS PROCESS macro to examine the mediating role of occupational identity and the moderating role of regulatory focus.

RESULTS

The main results demonstrated that occupational identity partially mediated the link between negative mentoring experiences and craftsmanship spirit. Moreover, regulatory focus moderates the relationship between negative mentoring experiences and occupational identity, such that the relationship is stronger among employees with a higher prevention focus, and weaker among employees with a higher promotion focus.

CONCLUSIONS

Organizational managers need to be aware of the negative impact of masters' negative mentoring on apprentices' occupational identity and craftsmanship, especially for individuals with a high prevention focus, where this negative effect is more pronounced.

Quality culture, university-industry collaboration, and perceived employability among vocational students in China: a Yanpei Huang perspective

Students' perceived employability (SPE) can be seen as one of the indicators of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) quality. However, less is known about the determining factors of SPE in vocational education. As the founder of modern vocational education in China, Yanpei Huang has written a large volume on ensuring students' employability and the quality culture of TVET. Nowadays, as the feature and nature of TVET, university-industry collaboration (UIC) has been promoted worldwide. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the influence of quality culture from Yanpei Huang's perspective (YHQC) on the SPE and the UIC role in the relationship between YHQC and SPE in a TVET university in China. Data were collected by questionnaire from 341 students from one vocational education university in China. The questionnaire included measures of quality culture, perceived employability, and UIC. The Structural Equation Modelling by AMOS 25 was used to test the proposed hypothesis. The results indicate that YHQC acts as a significant factor in enhancing SPE, and UIC is found to act as a partial mediator in this relationship. This study has contributed to the literature and practices by presenting a comprehensive quality culture from Yanpei Huang's perspective, confirming the above relationship, and providing practical suggestions for stakeholders to develop a quality culture in TVET institutes, promote UIC, and enhance SPE.

The relationships among career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being in Chinese nursing undergraduates: A longitudinal study

Exploring the longitudinal relationship between career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being among Chinese undergraduate nursing students. A mediation effect analysis was performed. The Career Adaptability Scale, the Chinese version of Career commitment, the Career identity Scale, and the Career well-being Scale were used as research instruments. Six hundred ninety-two nursing students were followed up in two waves to explore the relationships among career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being. Model comparison was performed to explore the differences in such relationships between low and high-career interests. Career commitment at T1 mediated the relationship between career adaptability at T1 and career identity at T2 and that between career adaptability at T1 and career well-being at T2. Significant differences were observed between the mediation models of nursing students with high and low career interests. Career commitment plays a longitudinal mediator role in the relationship between career adaptability and career identity and the relationship between career adaptability and career well-being.

Employability and career beliefs inventory: a brief version for unemployed persons

BACKGROUND

Considering that beliefs may be assessed and changed, inventories measuring employability and career beliefs may be of utmost importance for career interventions.

OBJECTIVE

This study introduces the psychometric properties of a brief version of the Employability and Career Beliefs Inventory (ECBI) in a sample of unemployed persons.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Altogether, 2023 unemployed persons aged from 18 to 66 years old and living in Southern Portugal participated in an online survey. The ECBI's original internal structure was tested and did not fit the data. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were implemented, and a three-factor solution was retained. The three factors discriminate three types of beliefs named growth, pessimism, and flexibility. Measurement invariance models identified scalar equivalence across gender and educational degree, and metric invariance across age. All items fit the graded response model's parameters. The growth and flexibility subscales were less effective in the assessment of low latent trait levels, whereas the opposite was observed with the pessimism subscale. Internal consistency is good yet discrimination between factors is questionable. Correlations to career decision-making self-efficacy evidence validity based on the relations to other constructs.

CONCLUSION

Despite the limitations, the brief version of the ECBI proposed in this study is ready for further use and development among unemployed persons.

Opting In and Out: A Qualitative Study Exploring Career Break Experiences of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists

BACKGROUND

Since 2002, an average of 17.5% of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) have reported being out of the paid dietetics workforce, and approximately half of those report intention to return. With the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' focus on expanding workforce demand and capacity, understanding why and how dietitians opt in and out of the dietetics workforce may provide insights into how to potentially reduce the number of career breaks or expedite and enhance the reentry process.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the lived experiences and perspectives of dietitians who were taking (with intention to return) or had taken a career break and returned to the paid dietetics' workforce.

DESIGN

A qualitative study with semistructured interviews was conducted.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING

Participants (n = 22) were recruited through purposive sampling over social media. They were required to be credentialed as RDNs, reside in the United States, and have either previously or currently (with intent to return) taken a break from the dietetics workforce. Interviews were conducted using Zoom videoconferencing technology during September 2021.

DATA ANALYSIS

Data were analyzed using a Coding Reliability Thematic Analysis approach.

RESULTS

The data are summarized in four themes: (1) motivations to leave and return, (2) staying connected with dietetics, (3) preparing to return and returning to the dietetics workforce, and (4) desired resources for career breaks and reentry.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the experiences of dietitians who take career breaks may help inform career reentry and help the profession meet the current and future workforce demand.

Are They Created Equal? A Relative Weights Analysis of the Contributions of Job Demands and Resources to Well-Being and Turnover Intention

Building upon the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti et al., 2001) and the extensive research on employee turnover intention and well-being, we examined various demands and resources in relation to these outcomes. This study examined the differential relationship between job demands, and personal and job resources, and two organizational outcomes: turnover intention and emotional exhaustion. The job demands were role overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and work-life balance. The job resources were resilience, servant leadership, relatedness, autonomy, job opportunities, pay satisfaction, and person-organization fit. An online questionnaire was administered to full-time employees via Qualtrics panel (N = 364). Job demands were positively related to emotional exhaustion, and personal and job resources were negatively related to turnover intention. Using relative weights analysis, demands and resources were found to account for different amounts of variance in the outcome variables. This study informs our understanding of and contributes to the advancement of the JD-R model to encompass various job demands and personal and job resources and their differential relationship to emotional exhaustion and turnover intention.

How Does Enlistment Motivation Shape Organizational Commitment? The Role of Career Identity and Organizational Support

This study, based on the integrative model of commitment and motivation and organizational support theory, examined the mechanism of intrinsic and extrinsic enlistment motivation on three facets of organizational commitment. A three-wave field questionnaire survey was conducted among 1606 Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets from Chinese universities. The results showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively predicted affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuous commitment. The positive effect of intrinsic motivation was stronger than extrinsic motivation. However, the interactive effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation negatively predicted the three aspects of organizational commitment. Career identity mediated all the direct effects above. Moreover, organizational support moderated the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on career identity. When organizational support was low, the positive effect of intrinsic motivation on career identity was stronger; whereas, when organizational support was high, the positive effect of extrinsic motivation on career identity was stronger. Furthermore, extrinsic motivation and organizational support jointly moderated the effect of intrinsic motivation on career identity and the mediating effects between intrinsic motivation and the three facets of organizational commitment. Specifically, when extrinsic motivation and organizational support were low, the direct and mediating effects above were stronger.

Humanizing science: seven actions for PhD students to become next generation, future-proof scientists

PhD students, also referred to as the early stage researchers (ESRs), that were participating in the European Union's Horizon 2020 consortium, OrganoVIR, have the ambition to become top scientists in virology with innovative, animal-free, research models; organoids. To achieve this ambition, developing more self-confidence and resilience was used to strengthen personal leadership needed in such professional role. Towards this purpose, seven actions have been selected that guide the ESRs through their PhD journey and help them elevate their career perspectives and employability in the international labor market. In this essay, we share the seven personal development actions that have been carried out by the ESRs in the OrganoVIR H2020 Innovative Training Network (ITN) project, with the goal of demonstrating how training human skills can contribute to innovation and collaboration in European research. This article is an effort by OrganoVIR's Training and Education Committee to provide views on personal growth and leadership awareness.

Cross-country comparison: does social democratic party power increase an employee's perceived employability?

Individuals strive to be highly employable, yet, we lack a uniform definition of 'employability'. Within the labour market, employability can be seen as a product of individual human capital resources. However, this study argues that employability is also affected by the structure of the labour market and therefore also considers a country's economic situation and political power to quantify employees' perceived employability. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme, the Manifesto Project Dataset, and the International Labour Organization, this study uses a multilevel regression model with data from 30 countries. This paper disentangles the impact of individual careers and country policies (micro-macro linkage) on the perceived employability of their employees. At the individual level, initial education is the main predictor of employees' current perceived employability, but vocational training is not. At the country level, the share of social democratic party power in each country, as a driver of active labour market policies, has a net effect on employee's perceived employability, irrespective of their individual human capital investments. The generalisability of the findings is relevant to current debates about whether workers should become managers of their own careers or whether policymakers should take responsibility.

Evaluating employability in contexts of change: validation of a scale

Introduction

Employability is a crucial factor in managing to emerge and changing job demands. This study validates an expanded version of the Employability Appraisal Scale: EAS-60, as an instrument to identify and improve competencies for employability.

Method

The EAS-60 was tested in a cross-sectional study in a Spanish population. An exploratory study was carried out using a sample of 188 workers, and the scale's structure was analyzed and confirmed in two Confirmatory Factor Analyses using a sample of 527 workers. Finally, reliability and validity were evaluated.

Results

Exploratory and confirmatory analyses provide evidence supporting the multi-dimensional structure. The scale presents good psychometric properties and criteria for interpreting the scores.

Discussion

The EAS-60 is a reliable and valid instrument. It allows Human Resource Managers to offer career plans at work that include specific actions of job socialization, training, improvement of specific skills, etc. Furthermore, employees can increase their employability and develop their professional careers.

Supporting employability through sport: what kind of training?

Training, as a core device in the projects that use sport to increase employability, is today a much-cited element in papers in the sector. However, there seems to be little research that specifically delves into training processes. This contribution analyses the state of the art on the subject, focusing on the characteristics of the training courses mentioned in literature, highlighting some recurring critical issues. A proposal, which considers the limitations discussed above, is formulated as a result of this analysis. More specifically, we introduce, as a contribution to the debate, a training model for team sports coaches developed within the EU Erasmus + sport project SBSMED. Theoretical assumptions, methodology, contents and assessment methods of training effectiveness will be explained, highlighting valuable elements and the open issues that emerge from this experience.

Motivation to succeed is not enough: motivated students need to know how to plan/organize their steps on their way to success

The study is based on dispositional (career motivation) and social-cognitive (generalized self-efficacy) theories of personality, further on the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation and future time perspective theory (task value, time, and study environment). The study aimed to explain the mechanism of the prediction relationship between motivation and students' performance. It was assumed that skills of planning and organizing (operationalized as generalized self-efficacy and learning strategies) mediate the prediction of motivation (career motivation and task value) on students' success (operationalized as academic achievement and employability). In two studies (N = 313, N = 219), the hypotheses of the mediation models were supported by structural equation modeling. Generally, the skills of organizing/planning fully mediated the students' performance, measured as academic achievement and employability (number of employers). The results show the importance of combining dispositional motivation characteristics with dynamic planning skills on the way to students' success. Traditional psychological predictors of performance, like general mental ability and conscientiousness, were not controlled. Higher education institutions could support motivated students on their way to success by teaching them how to plan and organize specific steps on their way to success.

With a little help from my friends: adopting a P-E fit perspective in understanding the value of organizational learning climate for sustainable employability

Purpose

The objective of our study was to investigate how organizational learning climate (measured as developmental opportunities and team support for learning), career commitment, and age are related to employees' self-perceived employability, vitality and work ability (e.g., their sustainable employability). Our study adopted a P-E fit perspective building upon the notion that sustainable employability is a function of both the person (P) and the environment (E) and tests a three-way interaction between organizational learning climate, career commitment, and age.

Design

In total, 211 members of the support staff of a Dutch university completed a survey. Hierarchical stepwise regression analysis was used to analyze the data.

Findings

Only one of the two dimensions of organizational learning climate that we measured, namely the developmental opportunities, appeared to be associated with all indicators of sustainable employability. Career commitment only had a direct positive relationship with vitality. Age was negatively related to self-perceived employability and to work ability, but not to vitality. The relationship between developmental opportunities and vitality was negatively influenced by career commitment (a negative two-way interaction effect), while a positive three-way interaction effect was found between career commitment, age, and development opportunities, and with self-perceived employability as the outcome.

Theoretical and practical implications

Our findings confirmed the relevance of adopting a P-E fit perspective on sustainable employability, and of considering the possible role of age in this. It requires more detailed analyses in future research to unravel the role of age in the shared responsibility for sustainable employability. In practice, the results of our study imply that organizations should provide all employees with a working context that facilitates learning, however, with a special focus on older employees, for whom it is a particular challenge to protect their sustainable employability, possibly due to age-related stereotyping.

Originality

Our study adopted a P-E fit perspective on sustainable employability and examined the association between organizational learning climate and all three components of sustainable employability: self-perceived employability, vitality and work ability. Moreover, it investigated whether and how the employee's career commitment and age influence this relationship.

Predicting effects of career adaptability and educational identity on the career decision-making of Chinese higher vocational students

The present study aimed to explore factors affecting Chinese higher vocational students' career decision-making. A sample (N = 983) was surveyed with a questionnaire. The results showed that somewhat more than half of the students (57.4%) decided to apply for a bachelor's degree whereas the rest decided to work (22.4%) or undecided (20.2%). Academic performance, grade, gender, study major, and career adaptability were shown to predict decision-making. By contrast, educational identity did not predict participants' career decision-making. These findings imply that career education should be based on students' choices for future development.

Learning in the workplace: evidence on the role of behavioural job crafting on fostering self-perceived employability

Purpose

Given the instability and volatility of the labour market and the global talent scarcity, placing more attention on job employability is fundamental. In this context, the literature has already extensively examined employability as a crucial individual aspect, identifying some significant antecedents, including the applicability of training on the job. The present study aims to examine the impact that teaching employees to craft their job may have on the levels of applicability of training and if, in turn, this improves self-perceived employability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors involved three private organizations that followed three workshops on job crafting behaviour. To empirically assess the intervention, the authors asked participants of the workshop to complete four quantitative diaries on a weekly basis, i.e. one per week, one before the intervention and three after the intervention. The diaries comprised measures of job crafting behaviours, applicability of training and self-perceived employability.

Findings

Multi-level analysis of data collected provided support to the positive associations between job crafting behaviour and self-perceived employability with the mediating effect of applicability of training. Notably, the applicability of training improves when individuals search for challenges, which indirectly affects perceived employability in terms of organizational sense.

Research limitations/implications

In the present study, no control group was used with which the results of our intervention could be compared. However, this does not affect the overall results, given the amount of intraindividual variability.

Originality/value

The paper proposes initial avenues for promoting employability at work via the use of behavioural job crafting intervention.

Career Adaptability as a Predictor of Job Search Intentions and Career Readiness of Young Adults in the United Arab Emirates

In this study, we used the career construction theory (CCT) to examine the effects of career adaptability resources and career adapting responses on the career readiness of young adults in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using data from a sample of 635 senior business students at two universities, we found that career adaptability has a positive impact on two measures of career readiness including career decidedness and perceived employability. Our findings also indicate that career adaptability, as expected, predicts two relevant career adaptive responses within the United Arab Emirates context including intentions to seek “Wasta” (using social connections to help in finding a job) and willingness to work in the private sector (WWPS). We further found that WWPS mediates the relationship between career adaptability and perceived employability. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Customization and use of digital storytelling in providing online career counseling services to students with physical-motor disabilities: A mixed study

Nowadays, students with disabilities suffer from various problems in entering the labor market and they need to receive career guidance services. This study was carried out in two parts of quantitative and qualitative with multiple purposes as a mixed design. In the qualitative part, challenges and problems of students in receiving career guidance and counseling were investigated and in the quantitative part, the effect of online career counseling on decreasing the challenges in receiving career counseling services by students with disabilities was studied. Moreover, in the quantitative part, the effect of online counseling on improving academic buoyancy, employability, and mental health of people with disabilities was investigated and its comparison with online career counseling based on digital storytelling was carried out. The qualitative part included 17 experts and students with disabilities and the quantitative part included 95 students with disabilities that were randomly assigned into experimental (i.e. digital storytelling and online career counseling) and control groups. The results of the qualitative part showed that students with disabilities suffer from various individual and social problems in receiving career counseling services. The results of the quantitative part showed that online career counseling with and without digital storytelling can solve the challenges against people with disabilities in receiving career guidance services to some extent. In the second part of quantitative results, it was indicated online career counseling with and without digital storytelling has a significant effect on academic buoyancy, employability, and mental health of students with disabilities and the use of digital storytelling in online counseling led to higher efficiency in employability and mental health.

Employability in health professional education: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

The concept of employability can help educators understand the variability in the career outcome of graduates. Within the health professional education (HPE) literature, various conceptions of employability are used and implied. This review considers how the concept 'employability' is depicted and characterised in HPE literature.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted. The authors searched Medline, Web of Science and Scopus databases for English language literature relevant to employability in HPE. Arksey and O'Malley's review protocol and the criteria defined in the preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist (PRISMA-ScR) were used with methodological guidance provided by Levac et al. and Peters et al. with the exception of formal stakeholder consultation.

RESULTS

The search resulted in 158 articles, of which 34 articles were included in this review. Charting the included articles revealed that within the set of articles, there is much diversity in study design, geographical setting and health profession. Three conceptions of employability were identified: acquiring a professional job, sustaining employment and thriving in the workforce.

CONCLUSION

Conceptions of employability in HPE are largely focused on listing skills and capabilities for entry into employment and sustaining a career. To address gaps in research, structural contributions to employability and institutional strategies to promote conditions for thriving in disruption should be explored.

Current college graduates' employability factors based on university graduates in Shaanxi Province, China

With the development of higher education, there are a large number of college graduates turn into the labor market, and college students' employability has become a popular topic. In order to explore the factors that affect employability's improvement and what factors employability includes, this article summarizes the previous research on employability, uses university graduates of Shaanxi Province as research examples, and investigates the employability factors of college graduates. With the help of SPSS software, data analysis is conducted on the 220 valid questionnaires. The study uses reliability and validity analysis to verify the quality of the questionnaire, takes the exploratory factor analysis to test the employability factors of college students, and employs multiple linear regression analysis to test the factors that influence employability's improvement. The results of the research show that individual traits, social experience, and workplace training have a significant impact on college students' employability; knowledge understanding and learning ability, self-management ability, emotional intelligence, generic skills, professional ability, and career planning capability are the important factors of the employability which college students should master. Our research results update the influencing factors of employability, so that contemporary college students have a new understanding of employability, and help them to improve their employability more pertinently.

An Investigation of the Moderating Effects of National Culture Values on the Interaction Between Job Insecurity and Employability on Employee Outcomes

This study investigated the combined effects of national culture and perceptions of employability on relationships between job insecurity and work and non-work outcomes for individual employees. Data from 28,674 participants in 35 nations were obtained from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey. Results showed that nation-level differences in individualism/collectivism (I/C), uncertainty avoidance (UA), and masculinity/femininity (M/F) accounted for variation in the degree to which perceptions of employability buffered the negative effects of job insecurity on job satisfaction, work engagement, and subjective well-being. Among more collectivist cultures, employability did less to minimize the effects of job insecurity on job satisfaction than in more individualistic cultures. Employability also had a weaker effect on buffering the consequences of job insecurity for job satisfaction and work engagement when cultural uncertainty avoidance was higher. And across all three outcome measures, higher levels of job insecurity combined with lower perceptions of employability were consistently more detrimental to individuals in more masculine cultures. Results support the prevailing theory regarding the mechanisms underlying the effects of job insecurity on individuals and suggest several important practical implications for managing a global workforce.

Career capital, career success, and perceived employability: evidence from medical billing companies in the post-COVID world

BACKGROUND

This paper focuses on the concept of career construction based on the theory of conservation of resources to understand the overall effect of career capital on career success from both a subjective and objective manner through the mediating effect of perceived employability.

OBJECTIVE

This study attempts to explain how different integrated aspects of career capital, including human, social, and psychological (antecedents), influence both subjective career success and objective career success (outcome) through the mediating effect of perceived employability (mediator).

METHODS

Time-lagged data of 331 employees from the telehealth medical billing service companies based in Pakistan were analyzed through a structural equation modeling technique using SmartPLS software.

RESULTS

The main results confirmed that career capital positively affects perceived employability and career success while perceived employability positively mediates the relationship between career capital and career success.

CONCLUSION

This research responded to prior calls by explaining the positive mediating role of perceived employability (as a mediator) in explaining the positive influence of career capital on career success using different various dimensions of career capital and career success. This research included the contextual issues by testing the model in the telehealth sector of Pakistan. The findings suggested that context or occupation matters in the relationship between career capital and career success.

Development and validation of Chinese college students' future employability scale

COVID-19 and the pandemic-induced lockdowns juxtaposed against the surge in the number of college graduates have made the dilemma of "fierce competition and difficult employment" more real. The employment of college students has become a topic of serious concern in society. This study aimed to develop a Future Employability Scale for Chinese college students and evaluate its reliability and validity. Based on the analysis of the literature, the study developed the initial measurement scale of the college students' future employability and calibrated the initial measurement and question volume based on experts' feedback. First, the students' group was measured, and data from 389 university students were collected and analyzed. Second, the data collection and verification factor analysis of 387 university students were collected and verified, and the internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, and validity of the scale were evaluated. Further, 68 college students were selected to evaluate their test-retest reliability after an interval of one month. The Future Employability Scale of college students had 28 items covering four dimensions: knowledge skill, personality quality, interpersonal network, and career development. The reliability test found that the total scale of the Future Employability Scale and the internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, and retest reliability of each dimension were good, and the validity test suggested that the scale had good content validity, structural validity, and calibration correlation validity. With a clear structure, good reliability, and validity, the Future Employability Scale is a good tool to measure the future employability of college students.

Impact of human capital and social capital on employability of Chinese college students under COVID-19 epidemic-Joint moderating effects of perception reduction of employment opportunities and future career clarity

This research constructed a relationship model between human capital, social capital, and the employability of college students. With two moderating variables introduced, the perception reduction of employment opportunities under the COVID-19 epidemic and future career clarity, this research studied the direct impact of human capital and social capital on the employability of college students and boundary conditions. Research data from 810 employed Chinese college graduates shows that both human capital and social capital have a positive and significant impact on the employability; the perception reduction of employment opportunities under the COVID-19 epidemic negatively regulates the relationship between human capital and the employability of college students; the future career clarity positively regulates the relationship between human capital and the employability of college students; the perception reduction of employment opportunities under COVID-19 epidemic and the future career clarity jointly regulate the relationship between human capital, social capital and the employability of college students. These conclusions enrich the relevant theoretical and practical research on the employability of college students under the COVID-19 epidemic.

Examining the role of employability as a mediator in the relationship between psychological capital and objective career success amongst occupational psychology professionals

Employability is core to our understanding of career sustainability, and at an individual level, identifying the personal resources that support employability in the achievement of career success is warranted. This study builds on the conservation of resources theory, examining the role of employability as a mediator in the relationship between psychological capital and objective career success. To test our hypotheses, we utilised a context-specific practitioner sample of 135 individuals with UK-accredited occupational psychology qualifications. Employability was conceptualised using the competence-based model, underpinned by occupational expertise. Psychological capital and employability were measured using self-report questionnaires, whilst career success was determined via gross annual salary and practitioner status, ensuring objective measures of this outcome variable. Structural equation modelling identified that the relationship between psychological capital and objective career success was fully mediated by employability. These novel findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the role of psychological capital as a personal resource in achieving career success via its influence on employability.

It takes more than agency: Linking support from teaching staff, career engagement, and movement capital among university students

Introduction

Career self-management behaviours are key to overcoming the challenges of entry into the labour market. Combining the Conservation of Resources and Career Self-management theories, this study delves into the concept of Career Engagement among Italian University students by examining its relationship with Support from teaching Staff and Movement Capital. We hypothesised a mediation model in which Support from Teaching Staff predicts Career Engagement which, in turn, fosters Movement Capital. As the pandemic led to the adoption of online learning solutions, we also explored whether and how the interaction between teachers and students during online classes moderates the said mediation relationship.

Methods and results

We collected data from 276 Italian University students through an online questionnaire. Results supported the mediation hypothesis, corroborating the mediating role of Career Engagement. We also observed that this relationship is stronger at medium and higher levels of online interaction between teachers and students.

Discussion

Findings contribute to existing evidence about the role of Career Engagement in facilitating career resources' acquisition and extend the understanding of its contextual antecedents in Higher Education contexts. Results also align with the importance attributed to interaction in online learning environments. This work suggests ways to encourage career behaviours in Higher Education and equip prospective labour market entrants with career resources.

Reciprocal Effects of Career Adaptability and Occupational Self-Efficacy: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study With Varying Time Lags

Researchers widely agree upon the pivotal role of career self-management in vocational development. Yet, little is known about how core self-management constructs denoting agentic capacity affect each other reciprocally over time. We address the shortage of existing longitudinal change investigations by proposing and testing a reciprocal model in which career adaptability and occupational self-efficacy as core career self-management constructs are reciprocally interrelated. Cross-lagged panel analyses of three-wave data from a large and heterogeneous sample of employees indicate support for the presence of substantial reciprocal effects of career adaptability and occupational self-efficacy across time lags of three, six, and nine months. From a series of exploratory multigroup analyses, this pattern of results emerges as robust across a range of sociodemographic variables, including gender, age, education, leadership position, and organizational tenure. Moreover, the results remained stable after considering further controls (e.g., future temporal focus, grade point average). Our findings broaden the scope of dynamic vocational research by demonstrating the utility of a change-oriented approach in elucidating the emergence of individuals’ career self-management. We discuss practical implications concerning career intervention strategies, study limitations, and prospects for future research.

The impacts of innovation capability and social adaptability on undergraduates’ employability: The role of self-efficacy

Introduction: As the world is consistently driven by the infusion of new-generation information technology and the knowledge economy, college students are placed under mounting pressure in developing occupation-related competencies. Their employability has been receiving growing concerns from stakeholders such as higher education institutions, governments, employers, parents, and even student groups themselves as it plays a decisive role in occupational success, social stability, and economic prosperity. Under the theoretical guidance of social cognitive theory, this study set out to investigate the cognitive and psychological mechanisms through which innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy influence the employability of college students. It also attempts to analyze the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relations between innovation capability, social adaptability, and employability which has been rarely studied in academia.

Methods: A quantitative approach was employed in this study. Data was collected from 726 undergraduates from 9 higher education institutions in the mainland of China by questionnaire survey method. The research model showed a good fit (χ2/df=4.46, RMSEA=0.069, SRMR=0.049, GFI=0.934, CFI=0.965, NFI=0.955, TLI=0.955). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to this study for data analysis.

Results: The findings showed that innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy significantly and positively correlates with undergraduates’ employability. University students with stronger innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy tend to be more employable in the job market. Model 4 of SPSS PROCESS Macro revealed that self-efficacy played a mediating role in the correlation between innovation capability, social adaptability, and employability.

Discussion: Undergraduates with higher levels of innovation capability and social adaptability are more confident in their abilities to take specific actions and achieve expected goals, which in turn intensifies their employability. The study suggests the possibility of improving undergraduates’ employability through positive interference of innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy in the era of information technology and knowledge-based economy.

Employability skills of the next generation of Chinese factory workers

Purpose

The main purpose of this study was to develop and test an employability scale in a Chinese context. Moreover, the authors investigated how socioeconomic status indicators (education and occupation of parents, household income and hukou, i.e. household registration location) affect the endowment and development of adolescents' employability skills in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via paper-based surveys from 1,146 vocational school students in rural and urban areas in China at two points in time one year apart. The authors developed a scale to measure employability skills in China and conducted general linear modeling to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that adolescents whose parents have more education, highly skilled occupations, relatively affluent household income and urban hukou are more likely to attain higher employability skills than those from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Moreover, adolescents with these background characteristics tend to improve their employability skills more than those without such characteristics. This suggests that social capital may further widen the inequality gap among adolescents.

Research limitations/implications

The framework of employability skills focuses on the general basic transferable employability skills of vocational students. Future studies could develop measures of employability skills for college graduates and widen the measurements of social capital based on the study’s findings. The findings suggest that higher education institutions should be encouraged to integrate resources to improve education inequality between rural and urban regions to the disparity in adolescents' employability skills development.

Originality/value

Building on Western frameworks, the study defines and develops an employability scale in the Chinese context that can be a practical measurement tool for researchers, educators and policymakers. The authors investigated the endowment and development of employability skills in relation to social capital. Exposure to social capital tends to affect an individual's skills and capability development at an early stage, and in the long term, this calls attention to access to quality education between rural and urban youth.

Flexible human resource management systems and employee innovation performance in China – based on the moderated mediation effect

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the impact of flexible human resource management system (FHRMS) on employee innovation performance in Chinese context. The boundary conditions of employability and organizational identity are also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on 322 questionnaire survey from employees in China. The questionnaires were collected at two time points. This study used the method of multi-level linear model analysis for empirical test.

Findings

This study has three conclusions. First, FHRMS have a significant positive impact on employee innovation performance, with employability playing a mediating role. Second, organizational identity plays a moderating role between employability and employee innovation performance. Third, organizational identity moderates the mediating effect of a human source management systems on employee innovation performance through employability.

Originality/value

The results are helpful to open the “black box” of the influence of FHRMS on employees’ individual innovation performance. This study provides a reference for enterprises to establish flexible human source management system to improve employee innovation performance.

Assessing the impact of digital education and the role of the big data analytics course to enhance the skills and employability of engineering students

This study aims to explore the role of digital education in the development of skills and employability for engineering students through researching the role of big data analytics courses. The empirical study proposes the hypothesis that both soft and hard skills have positive effects on human capital, individual attributes, and the career development dimensions of engineering students. This is achieved through constructing a framework of three dimensions of engineering students’ employability and two competency development dimensions of big data analytics courses. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 155 college engineering students and a structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The results found that courses on big data analytics have a positive impact on engineering students’ abilities in both hard skills (p < 0.01) and soft skills (p < 0.001) dimensions, while soft skills have a more significant impact on engineering students’ employability. The study has practical and theoretical implications that further enriches the knowledge base on engineering education and broadens our understanding of the role of digitalization in enhancing the skills and employability of engineering students.

The Chain Mediating Effect of Network Behavior and Decision Self-Efficacy between Work Skills and Perceived Employability Based on Social Cognitive Theory

The purpose of this study is to investigate the chain mediating effects of networking behaviors and decision self-efficacy between work skills development and perceived employability. Structural equations modeling is used to analyze data collected from 813 Chinese students. The results show the following: first, the work skills development is positively correlated with perceived employability. Second, network behavior and decision self-efficacy each have a mediating effect between work skills development and perceived employability. Finally, this study found a chain mediating effect of network behavior and decision self-efficacy between work skills development and perceived employability. Therefore, this research shows that Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) needs to focus not only on skills development and employability outcomes but also on developing a strong network-based platform for stakeholders. In addition, higher education institutions and workplaces should also provide career guidance and counseling centers to help students build confidence in career decision-making and ensure students' mental health care and healthy career development.

Job insecurity, employability, and mental health in the new era: A test of plausible influence mechanisms and temporal effects

Although job insecurity and employability have drawn much research attention, the plausible relationships between them and how they jointly influence mental health remain unclear in the literature. We draw upon JD-R and COR theories to test and contrast three plausible relationships between job insecurity and employability, using a longitudinal sample of 1216 employees over 18 years. We further expand tests of these theoretical positions by considering temporal dynamics, using dynamic structural equation models (DSEMs) for stronger mediation evidence and latent growth models (LGMs) to compare the effects of job insecurity and employability trends in predicting the trend of mental health. In general, findings showed that job insecurity mediated the relationship between employability and mental health, supporting the mediation hypothesis. We also found that employability moderated the relationship between job insecurity and mental health, supporting the moderation hypothesis, although the effect was weak. Results further suggested that the effect magnitudes of job insecurity and employability predicting mental health were significantly different. Specifically, job insecurity was a stronger predictor of mental health than employability across all 18 years; the trend of job insecurity also predicted the trend of mental health more strongly than the trend of employability. Taken together, this study not only advances theory precision but also methodological soundness of research on job insecurity, employability, and mental health, supporting the value of considering temporal factors in examining mental health effects of job insecurity and employability.

The Ability to Manage Unexpected Events and the Vocational Identity in Young People: The Italian Validation of Planned Happenstance Career Inventory

The present study had two goals: to test the validity of Planned Happenstance Career Inventory (PHCI) in the Italian context and to explore the relations between PHC skills and vocational identity processes within a sample of 472 undergraduate students attending university in the southern of Italy. Moreover, we examined relations between the PHCI and measures of vocational identity processes. With regard to the first goal, results show that for the Italian version of the instrument was confirmed the multifactor structure of the original version. The multi-group analyses showed that invariance between genders is supported. Convergent validity and divergent validity of the measure were reported. Concerning the second goal, the skills of planned happenstance show different associations with Vocational Identity Dimensions. As hypothesized, the exploration and commitment dimensions of vocational identity status are positive related to Planned Happenstance Skills. These findings suggest implications for career guidance and counseling.

Empirical Analysis of Population Urbanization and Residents’ Life Satisfaction—Based on 2017 CGSS

As the greatest potential of domestic demand, new urbanization shoulders the important mission of improving the living standards of residents. Based on the theory of exploitation, this paper systematically established the theoretical relationships among population urbanization rate, human capital, family capital, and life satisfaction. Through the 2017 China Comprehensive Social Survey of 1940 micro-individuals for empirical analysis, the results show that: (1) the urbanization rate of the core explanatory variable has a significant and robust positive effect on individual life satisfaction and on human capital and family capital; (2) the urbanization rate of the core explanatory variable has a significant positive effect on human capital and family capital; (3) human capital and family capital have significant positive effects on life satisfaction; (4) in the heterogeneity discussion, the male capital accumulation is higher than the female, but life satisfaction is the opposite. With the increase in age, the individuals accumulated the highest human capital and family capital in 26–34 years old and reached the peak in life satisfaction after retirement in 60–83 years old. As far as regional differences are concerned, individual human capital, family capital, and life satisfaction are decreasing from the east to the west. The results of the study will help to establish a healthy and perfect regional urbanization and to enhance the mental health of residents by promoting talent development and advocating family-friendly construction.

Self-Perceived Employability of Workers With Disability: A Case Study in an Educational Farm

Background

The job placement of persons with disability is often threatened by prejudices and stereotypes; even when they are employed, they have less qualified and less paid jobs. The aim of this study was to investigate the self-perceived employability in a sample of workers with disability, hypothesizing to find a good level of self-determination and positive meaning of work.

Materials and Methods

Ten semi-structured interviews have been conducted, applying a mix-method to the data analysis through qualitative interpretation and quantitative content analysis. Results confirmed what recent literature shows about the need for job inclusiveness for persons with disability and also underlined a profound sense of satisfaction related to the job, strong identity, and empowerment derived from the job involvement.

Conclusion

Practical implications are related to the job design procedure inspired by diversity management, in order to pay attention to every single diversity and ensure equity and inclusion.

A Multiple Mediational Meta-Analysis of the Influence of Proactive Personality on Subjective Career Success at the Career Exploration Stage

Drawing on the career construction theory model of adaptation, this meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) examines the effects of proactive personality on the subjective career success of adolescents and emerging adults. We identified 46 studies that covered 52 independent samples and 24,092 participants through literature retrieval. Based on these studies, we created an integrative model linking proactive personality with career adaptability, student career construction, and subjective career success. The results of the meta-analysis showed that all bivariate relationships among proactive personality, career adaptability, student career construction, and subjective career success were significantly positive. The results of the MASEM indicated that career adaptability intervened in the relationship between proactive personality and subjective career success, but student career construction, as a suppressor, carried out the negative association between proactive personality, career adaptability and subjective career success in the sequence of adaptation. We also discuss the research implications and provide directions for future research.

The positive side of overqualification: examining perceived overqualification linkage with knowledge sharing and career planning

Purpose

This study aims to address and observe the positive side of perceived overqualification (POQ) on employee knowledge sharing (KS) and career planning. Role identity theory highlights that an employee’s POQ is related to employee career identity in a positive way.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were supported by a time-lagged examination of 277 supervisor–subordinate dyads working in the corporate sector.

Findings

The findings state that a person’s career identity is associated with increased KS and career planning. Furthermore, the effect of overqualification on KS and career planning was predicted to be mediated by career identity. Using an interactionism mechanism, this study indicated that this mediation is moderated by leader humility. The career identities of overqualified employees are elevated when a humble leader supports them. The results suggest that, when handled appropriately, POQ may benefit both employees and organizations.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of these results are examined theoretically and practically. Moreover, the findings of this study will open new avenues for scholars and practitioners in the field of organizational behavior and human resource management.

Originality/value

The study examined the positive side of POQ and its effect on employees’ career outcomes and KS attitudes. This study is among the first empirical studies to examine career outcomes and KS behavior due to POQ.

Rekindling hope and purpose in resourceconstrained areas during COVID-19: The merits of counselling for career construction

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap between the career and life chances of learners with sufficient and those with insufficient access to personal and educational resources and structures. This article draws on an adapted, qualitative, systematic literature search to shed light on the effect of the pandemic on learners in resource-constrained areas especially. It discusses the merits of counselling for career construction as an intervention that can bring about transformative change, thereby rekindling learners’ sense of hope and purpose. It also reflects on how counselling for career construction can help counsellors and teachers assist learners to deal with inadequate ‘mastering of passive suffering’ as well as inadequate mastering of developmental tasks during COVID-19. The article concludes with the view that ‘hope-, purpose-, and action’-enhancing counselling for self and career counselling can bolster the sense of agency, empowerment, dignity, and self-worth of learners in underprivileged contexts in particular. It is argued that such counselling can promote career adaptability, improve present and future employability, and enhance the meaning-making of disadvantaged South African as well as other African learners.

Dust yourself off and try again: the positive process of career changes or shocks and career resilience

Purpose

To deepen the understanding of the process of growth and development of career resilience, this study aims to investigate the impact of career history and openness to change as antecedents of career resilience and the effect of career resilience on career self-management and career outcomes (salary and career satisfaction) over time using the Career Construction Theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied structural equation modeling with cross-lagged associations between career characteristics (number of employees, job seniority and missed promotions), openness to change, career resilience, individual career management (ICM) and career success (salary and career satisfaction) using three-wave data of 872 employees.

Findings

Openness to change had cross-lagged positive relationships with career resilience. The number of (previous) employers and missed promotions had a positive effect on career resilience, whereas job seniority was related negatively to career resilience. Furthermore, career resilience had a positive effect on individual career self-management in terms of networking, practical things and drawing attention over time. No effect was found on the individual career self-management dimension of mobility-oriented behavior over time. Finally, ICM had a positive effect on salary and career satisfaction over time.

Originality/value

Altogether these results suggest that career resilience is not only a way to stay active as an employee and cope with career changes, but it also enhances employees’ chances to achieve objective and subjective career success.

Individual characteristics of students in vocational education moderating the relationship between school engagement and vocational identity

In any country, there is a group of students who are at risk of dropping out of school without any qualifications. This is detrimental for many of those students, because failure to graduate increases risks of unemployment and societal exclusion. To reduce this risk, specialized curricula aim to prepare these students for their working life by fostering the development of a vocational identity, that is, how they define themselves as workers. As a prerequisite to achieving this goal, students need to attend school and feel engaged with school. The curricula seek ways to stimulate emotional school engagement, taking into account the heterogeneous target group of students they serve. To address potential consequences of individual differences, this questionnaire study (N=996) conducted in the Netherlands explored how various individual characteristics of students in these specialized curricula moderated the relationship between emotional school engagement and vocational identity. Results show that stronger school engagement always coincided with a stronger vocational identity; however, the strength of the relationship varied. Stimulating emotional school engagement was specifically important for the subgroups of students who are young, less agreeable, less motivated, and less resilient. In order to foster the vocational identity of their students, the specialized curricula are recommended to draw nuanced conclusions and formulate refined strategies to effectively respond to the heterogeneous group of students who are at risk of dropping out.

Sex differences in self-perceived employability and self-motivated strategies for learning in Polish first-year students

Self-perceived employability (SPE) is defined as the ability to attain sustainable employment appropriate to one’s qualification level (Rothwell 2008) and perceived as a crucial factor in university graduates’ career development. Meanwhile, University students are mainly assessed through the lens of academic achievement, which depend, inter alia, on the self-motivated strategies for learning (MSL). Firstly, we tested hypothesised sex differences in SPE’s and MSL’s factors in a group of the first-year university students (n = 600) in a Central European context. Our analyses revealed that female students, despite their higher results in MSL’s factors (self-regulation, learning strategies, intrinsic values, self-efficacy) presented lower internal SPE than male students. Secondly, we explored how much general SPE can be predicted from general MSL, taking into account sex as a moderator, finding that sex factor was not significant as a moderator. We can consider general MSL as a good predictor of general SPE in both sex groups. The results will provide evidence to support HEI curricular development and strategies for workplace attitude change to address existing sex inequalities. In addition, our findings relating to MSL will provide evidence to support the development of approaches to enhancing student employability with additional long term benefits in mental health and well-being.

Research on the Status of Intangible Cultural Heritage Bearers in the Human Capital Perspective

Culture is the bloodline of the nation and the spiritual home of the people. Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) belongs to the field of culture, and the transmission of ICH is a kind of human-based cultural transmission, which is the shaping of people’s morality, character, sentiment, will, ideals and beliefs, value orientation, humanistic cultivation, artistic taste, way of thinking, wisdom, and ability in the practice of production and life of various ethnic groups. Based on the status acquisition model, this study analyzed the human capital (HC), social capital (SC), and psychological capital (PC) of ICH bearers from three perspectives. In addition to the conventional socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, place of residence, and education level as control variables, status attainment was introduced as a dependent variable, and occupational identity, job satisfaction, and entrepreneurial ability were introduced as mediating variables to construct a conceptual model in the hope of exploring the multiple influencing factors of status attainment among ICH bearers. Interviews were used to gain, the feelings and knowledge of experts, scholars, and ICH bearers, to lay a solid qualitative research foundation for this study. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to obtain basic information and professional experiences of ICH bearers to provide real support for the research analysis and discussion. As per the results of this research, all the hypotheses were supported except, HC did not have any significant impact on JS. Furthermore, SC was not in a significant association with career identity. Moreover, career identity and status attainment did not have a significant relationship.

For Sustainable Career Development: Framework and Assessment of the Employability of Business English Graduates

Employability is an important indicator of the competency of the employees. Employability model is a useful analytical framework for studying the ever-changing relationship between higher education and the job market. At present, the demand for business English graduates is increasing, however, there is a skill gap between their educational readiness and the recruitment requirements. In order to solve this problem, this study adopted mixed methods research and carried out the research design according to the exploratory sequence design to construct an employability model for business English graduates. A 46-item scale was developed to measure the employability of business English graduates' employability. After assessment, it was found that the employability of business English graduates was multi-dimensional, with three dimensions-professional knowledge, generic competencies, and career management and 10 sub-dimensions-English language skills, foreign trade competencies, computer and internet application skills, social skills, learning and development, personal traits, thinking ability, work ethics, career identity and planning, and service awareness. This study verified that the employability of business English graduates reached the standard of talent training and met the requirements of employers. There were employability differences in gender, places of origin and educational institutions. From this study, it could be inferred that cultivation of business English majors should be multi-dimensional.

The Role of Self-Efficacy as a Mediating Variable in CareerEDGE Employability Model: The Context of Undergraduate Employability in the North-East Region of Nigeria

(1) Background: Tertiary institutions are facing increasing pressure to produce employable undergraduates who can drive the sustainability of strong economic growth and development. As such, responsibility lies with the higher education sector in ensuring undergraduates’ readiness for entry to the labor market, thus joining the ranks of those already employable. Thus, this study applied the CareerEDGE model as a theoretical basis to investigate the factors associated with undergraduate employability. The mediating effect of self-efficacy on the predictive relationships was also examined. (2) Methods: Data were collected from a sample of 264 from six universities in the North-East region of Nigeria. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to perform the data analysis in this study. (3) Results: Results revealed that the five constructs of the CareerEDGE model (career development learning; work experience; degree subject knowledge, skills, and understanding; generic skills; and emotional intelligence) are positively associated with undergraduate employability. Self-efficacy was found to mediate this relationship. Altogether, these results signal that the CareerEDGE model contributes to undergraduate employability and that self-efficacy is instrumental in elucidating this relationship. The results add to the extant knowledge on the impact of the CareerEDGE constructs on students’ approaches to careers. (4) Conclusions: The findings have significant implications for higher education institutions and career practitioners in identifying ways of enhancing undergraduates’ career planning strategies within a more challenging labor market context.

The Storm Doesn’t Touch me!—The Role of Perceived Employability of Students and Graduates in the Pandemic Era

Perceived Employability acquires growing relevance as a psychological protective resource now that new entrants in the labour market from higher education are experiencing a deterioration of their occupational prospects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brings worries and jeopardises psychological well-being. This study aims to extend research on perceived employability among Italian University students and graduates. Perceived employability is posited to predict flourishing directly and indirectly by reducing material, social, and health worries related to COVID-19. Moreover, this study contends that perceived employability buffers the positive impact of perceived adverse conditions of the labour market on worries, changing the effect on flourishing. In total, 471 university students and graduates completed an online survey. The analyses reveal that perceived employability positively influences flourishing directly and indirectly by reducing COVID-19-related worries. Nevertheless, the results do not support the moderating action of perceived employability. Despite some limitations (e.g., a cross-sectional design), this study significantly advances the exploration of perceived employability as a critical personal resource to deal with the transition to work under pandemic-related crises. This study draws on its results to advise higher education to increase perceived employability, such as through career guidance activities and work-based learning experiences.

Employability of graduates and postgraduates in respect to retail industry: a study of selected states of North India

Purpose

Taking a multidimensional perspective, the study aims to identify and examine the factors that are essential for employability. The study pursues to understand the underlying causes that facilitate the development of appropriate skills and attitudes that influence the development of employability in an individual.

Design/methodology/approach

The study pursued an exploratory research design followed by a descriptive. It explored the employability factors from the perspectives of the recruiter, student (candidate) and trainer. Additionally, it followed a causal research approach to examine the relationship between factors related to the personal environment, academic system, recruiter’s bias, industry and job attributes and overall employability. The antecedents of employability and their impact were examined with all the constructs taking the recruiter, student and trainer data sets.

Findings

The study identifies and analyses the antecedent factors that influence the employability development among college graduates and undergraduates. With its findings, the study identifies the changes or improvements required in teaching and learning mechanisms, grooming students and societal practices, social and economic biases in accessibility to facilities leading to employability. It also calls for a reflection on individual’s own attitude, motivation and abilities. The study calls for an assessment of the education systems and academic quality to develop employability among students. It conjures that the alignment of teacher and learner with industry requirements is an imperative requirement for the expansion of the industry and, in particular, the retail sector.

Practical implications

The study will be of significance to the policymakers and academicians while designing the retail-specific courses and aims toward addressing the mismatch amidst the demand and supply of manpower in the retail industry. The study has been designed to make it highly relevant for the students who are potential manpower to the retail sector as well as the employees who have already entered the industry. It addresses the major factors required for India to develop a cohesive and inclusive ecosystem that provides for the benefit of millions of youths in India.

Originality/value

The literature lacks a coherent meaning and measurement of employability and identifies the need to empirically explore and examine employability skills. Furthermore, the scant empirical research focuses largely on employee or student perspective, even when the role of recruitment in the assessment of employability is most critical. This study empirically evaluates the market from the perspective of students, employees, employers, trainers and academicians and develops a model that gives a holistic picture of the causes that influence the development of employability in an individual.