Supporting Employability by a Skills Assessment Innovative Tool—Sustainable Transnational Insights fromEmployers

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.

Testing the psychometric properties of a short skills inventory for students looking for their first job

Background

In the last two decades, the transformations that have affected the business world have had a great impact on professional performance standards. As such, they have contributed significantly to increasing concerns regarding employability. Particularly, these concerns are even more worrying among students who are looking for their first job. Consequently, this leads organizations to question whether the skills these candidates have are sufficient and adequate for them to enter the job market. Although it is a problem that deserves an urgent response, it is still poorly understood amongst academics, which is why it continues to be essential to define and signal which skills candidates should develop in order to guarantee a better person-function fit. Hereupon, the present study aims at the construction and validation of a short skills inventory for students who are looking for their first job. This inventory will allow alignment between candidates' skills and the level of performance expected by their future employers.

Methods

The development of the short skills inventory for students looking for their first job was based on Classical test theory and Item response theory methodologies. Specifically, its developmental process encompassed three studies. Study 1, comprising a qualitative scope, dealt with the development and construction of the items (n = 97). Study 2, of an exploratory nature, was intended to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument (n = 173). Finally, Study 3, of a confirmatory nature, was aimed at validating the results gathered from the Exploratory factor analysis (n = 407).

Results

This inventory is a valuable asset for the selection of students who are looking for their first job. The analyzes carried out over the various studies show that this instrument has satisfactory psychometric properties, and, as such, is a valid and reliable instrument and an alternative to the instruments currently used in the recruitment and selection processes.

Conclusions

The construction of this short skills inventory brings theoretical and practical benefits. In short, it contributes to reducing Portugal’s gap regarding psychological assessment upon selection considering the lack of validated and verified instruments for students looking for their first job.

The Relationship between Organizational Learning at the Individual Level and Perceived Employability: A Model-Based Approach

The challenges of the modern labor market determine increased job insecurity and the growing importance of sustainable employability. Today, in an era of the growth of the world’s knowledge resources, permanent learning is indispensable in order to maintain or strengthen one’s employability. Therefore, this article aims to determine the relationship between organizational learning solutions at the individual level and perceived employability in the modern labor market according to the workers’ opinions. Studies conducted on the subject literature confirm the lack of research in this field. A survey was conducted among 351 employees from a number of organizations based in Poland and was performed using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI). The study’s results indicate that out of eleven analyzed solutions, people value those connected with sustainable actions the most, such as learning from one’s own mistakes (own mistakes), observing other employees’ work (observing others), self-education, incentive systems (contributing to an increase in the commitment to competency development), and providing employees with feedback on the results of their work (feedback). Moreover, it is important to state that EFA first revealed, and CFA subsequently confirmed, two factors: Factor 1, Practical Aspects, which includes organizational learning that covered such activities as incentive systems, feedback, self-education, modern technologies, and the use of case studies, and Factor 2, Active Learning, which consists of two activities—one’s own mistakes and observing others. The research results lead to the conclusion that Factor 1, Practical Aspects, had a significant impact on perceived employability, while Factor 2, Active Learning, did not have an impact on the general assessment of organizational learning in the context of perceived employability. The authors also present the diamond attempt toward actions that might be taken by organizations in order to enhance the employability of workers in general. The conducted research is considered to be idiographic and exploratory.

Regional Development in Romania: Empirical Evidence Regarding the Factors for Measuring a Prosperous and Sustainable Economy

The present study aims to present, evaluate and identify the factors required to measure the prosperity and sustainability of Romania’s economy over the specific period 2000–2020 in light of sustainable regional development assessments, and examines how the main factors—as considered by the authors—may be integrated into regional development policies. The focus throughout the study is on the need to permanently support the development of Romanian regions in direct relation to the sustainable indicators presented within the model—through the use of data from empirical analysis—which are measures of Romania’s economic prosperity and long-term economic growth. Therefore, the study intends to assess the progress of each region of the country, showing the evolution and selection of factors that are related to sustainability, namely, child survival, poverty and education, with implications for regional development strategies and local initiatives that must promote wider sustainable regional development. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to analyse the influence of sustainable inflows on economic prosperity, reflected in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita for each region in Romania, considering factors related to sustainability and the major differences between the regions, depending on the effectiveness of these public policy applications. With this approach, our goal—considering all the macroregions of the country—is to emphasize the significance of two main aims in sustainable regional development: a better allocation of the means which actively aim to decrease the unemployment rate and a better infrastructure for public services. National, regional and local administrations play important roles in promoting coherent sustainability in economic, social and environmental activities. Regardless of the level at which development policies are devised—local, county or regional—they must take into consideration and monitor the determinants of sustainable development in cases where development is the ultimate goal.

A University Training Programme for Acquiring Entrepreneurial and Transversal Employability Skills, a Students’ Assessment

The objective of this paper is to analyze university graduate students’ assessments of the attainment of skills acquired in a Training Programme (TP) to develop entrepreneurial skills and transversal employability competencies. Both are vital for the success of today’s societies and play an important role in the sustainable development agenda. The TP was a 12-week programme with six modules combining entrepreneurship training and traditional teaching methods. There were nine editions and 148 students worked in teams preparing business plans to present to consultants and potential investors. First, the nominal group technique was used to identify which competencies can be acquired through TP. Second, a survey was designed to identify the level to which the competences were attained. The results suggest that the students attained two types of skills, acquiring a higher level of proficiency in entrepreneurial skills and those transversal competencies. Additionally, different levels of attainment of entrepreneurial skills were found in different groups of students. We provide new evidence that TPs, as compulsory subjects in the core curriculum of degree programmes, will help accomplish both objectives: the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills and generic university educational competencies. The overall outcome of this research highlights the value added by the TPs.