Business employability for late millennials: exploring the perceptions of generation Z students and generation X faculty

Purpose The paper aims to explore employability in business as perceived by Generation Z (late millennials) business students and faculty. It focuses on perceptions regarding necessary employability skills from the diverse standpoints of two different groups of stakeholders within one Higher Education Institution. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a Mixed Qualitative Design approach including a core and a supplementary component; Generation Z student perceptions are initially identified through a thematic analysis of students’ research reports on employability. These perceptions are then further contextualized through findings from a series of personal interviews conducted with Generation X academics in the same institution. Findings The findings support the two basic dimensions of perceived employability, work readiness and employability skills, for which students and educators hold similar notions. Both stakeholders distinguish between “hard” and “soft” skills, but filter their relative importance through a generational lens. An emerging finding was the link between personality traits and perceived employability skills. Originality/value The paper examines the much-debated issue of perceived employability through the eyes of Generation Z students; research on employability perceptions of Generation Z is, to date, limited. The topic is timely, as Generation Z is the newest generation entering the business job market. In addition, the paper adds to the emerging contemporary stream of literature exploring employability in the field of business education.

Level of Perceived Employability of Engineering Students in Kathmandu Valley

The discourse of employability revolves around the mitigation of mismatch between educational outcomes and the job market demand. This discourse is pertinent in engineering education as it is dedicated to producing human resources with the required employability skills. In this context, the students - to whom employability is transformed - are in the central focus. Their perceptions about their abilities in demonstrating and performing in the world of work require attention to connect education and their work. Considering this, the level of perceived employability of the engineering students studying in their final year was measured by using a self-constructed scale in a representative sample of 314 students of Kathmandu valley. The finding shows that the graduating students’ perceived employability was not consolidated and optimised to reflect on their behaviour and practices. It is at the level of ‘emergence’ and ‘presence’, which is thus not enough to see in their abilities to perform better. Therefore, the students were not able to perform as per the expectation of the market. The key implication of this study is that the gap of work-study transition stipulated to be minimised for the employability of the graduates with their exposure in the world of work.

Impact of Protean Career Attitudes on Career Outcomes via Job Crafting Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model

The protean career attitude (PCA) is an emerging proactive career attitude and an essential source for successful career development. However, to do so, the individuals also must employ proactive career behaviors at work to achieve desired career outcomes. The study proposes that the individuals with protean career attitudes employ best work practices through job crafting behaviors and attain desired career outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of protean career attitudes on career outcomes, i.e., Perceived Employability (PE) and Subjective Career Success (SCS) through job crafting behavior. The data from the employees working in the universities of Pakistan revealed that PCA has a positive impact on individual career outcomes. It was also found that there exists a pathway of serial mediation from job crafting towards perceived employability to achieve career success. The individuals who craft their jobs are more likely to enhance their employability, ultimately leading to career success. The study highlights the importance of PCA and Job Crafting behaviors, yet un-explored phenomena, for the employees for career development.

Perceived Employability, Academic Commitment, and Competency of University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study of Student Well-Being

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has led to the closure of schools and universities, which forced students to reorganize their daily and academic lives. The pandemic has thus impacted the well-being of students in various ways. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the perceived employability, self-efficacy, ambition, organizational commitment, and career planning of students, as well as mental well-being, student engagement, and academic burnout during the pandemic. A total of 269 Italian university students participated in an online questionnaire. Our results highlight that students experienced high levels of uncertainty about their employability and career planning. In contrast, however, they reported healthy levels of mental well-being and student engagement, high career ambitions, and strong self-efficacy, despite the impact of COVID-19. We suggested that intervention and supportive programs should be offered to students over the long term in order to minimize the negative impact of the pandemic.

Can you manage shocks? An investigation of career shocks on proactive career behavior: a COR theory perspective

PurposeConsiderable research has been done to link career-development strategies to career-management success, but little is known about how career shocks (CSs) relate to proactive career behavior (PCB). Furthermore, the study investigates the mediation mechanism of personal resources (i.e. perceived self-efficacy (PSE) and perceived employability (PEMP)) in the linkage between CSs and PCB using the tenets of conservation of resources (COR) theory.Design/methodology/approachUsing the survey approach, the authors recruited 322 banking professionals and validated the proposed model and hypotheses in AMOS.FindingsThe outcome shows that CSs are significantly related to PSE and PEMP (personal resources), subsequently linked to PCB. Moreover, personal resources mediate the linkage between CSs and PCB. Thus, CSs cannot be ignored but can be minimized through proactive efforts.Practical implicationsThe findings support the banks' management to protect their personnel career by not giving CSs and build their PCB through personal resources. The employees should strive for enhancing personal resources through organizational development opportunities (i.e. training and development) to rescue themselves from sudden CSs.Originality/valueShocks cannot be ignored but can be managed through PCB. This research is the first that successfully adds to the career-development literature by empirically establishing the direct and indirect association between CSs and PCB through personal resources.

Students Perceived Employability: A Systematic Literature Search and Bibliometric Analysis

Among higher education students, perceived employability gained eminence in the last decades that attracted scholarly interests. Researchers theoretically and empirically studied the perceived employability though; inadequate preliminary review studies exist on this topic. Available researches mostly concentrated on a single approach. Thus, this study carried out a comprehensive review that comprised a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis that might boost understandings in the body of the literature. In the research process, the Scopus database from the 2008 to 2021 periods was used. The researchers set the search criteria that allowed the inclusion of 59 papers published in 45 peer-reviewed international journals. The paramount influential papers and prolific authors formulated the unit of this analysis. Furthermore, for the identification of thematic clusters and creating network maps, VOS viewer software was deployed. Citation analysis, co-authorship analysis, co-citation analysis, and co-occurrence of keywords analysis have generated interesting patterns which articulate the study results. The findings revealed enlightening insights on the content and characteristics of perceived employability, publication trends, highly cited papers, productive authors, contributing countries, repetitive themes, productive journals, and also unveiled gaps providing avenues for upcoming research works.

The Role of University Preparation for Developing Students’ Employability and Professional Competencies

The present research examines the effects of professional competencies of the university on students’ perceived employability including the relationship between perceived employability and professional competencies of postgraduates from public and private universities. The study was carried out on a sample of 300 hundred postgraduates including males (n= 150) and females (n=150). Data was gathered through a survey using the multistage proportionate random sampling technique. Perceived employability scale (Rothwell and Arnold, 2007) and Gutierrez's community college student survey (Gutierrez, 2012) were utilized. Results indicating a significant positive correlation between perceived employability and professional competencies of university postgraduates. Furthermore, results demonstrated the positive effects of professional competencies on the perceived employability of university postgraduates. Key Words: Perceived employability, professional competencies, postgraduates.

Individual antecedents of i-deals: the role of self-efficacy, networking abilities and perceived employability

PurposeThis study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of self-efficacy, networking abilities and perceived employability on the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) between individual workers and their employers.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 213 managerial professionals – a non-random sample – working for different small and medium-sized enterprises from several industries in Argentina were surveyed online. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results revealed that self-efficacy and networking abilities exert an indirect effect on i-deal negotiation through perceived employability. Those individuals with higher levels of self-efficacy or greater networking abilities tend to develop more positive perceptions of their employability and, therefore, are more prompted to negotiate i-deals with their employers.Research limitations/implicationsThis research sheds light on the dynamics underlying the relationship of employees' characteristics and skills with i-deal negotiation. Besides, it provides further evidence that individual bargaining has become widespread in professional employment contexts, above and beyond the collective labor agreements that prevail in most Latin American countries.Practical implicationsSelf-efficacy and networking abilities can be relevant individual factors in understanding i-deal negotiation, given that both shape employees' perceptions of employability.Originality/valueAlthough the impact of employee characteristics and skills on the idiosyncratic negotiation of employment terms has been broadly recognized, scholars have called for further exploration of the mechanisms underlying this relationship. By simultaneously investigating the impact of self-efficacy, networking abilities and perceived employability on i-deals, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of how an individual's personal characteristics and skills facilitate the idiosyncratic negotiation of employment terms.

Erratum: Burnout, employee engagement and self-perceived employability in the South African public sector

No abstract available.

Self-perceived employability among undergraduate students at a South African university

Orientation: South Africa has been suffering from persistently high levels of unemployment since 2008. The youth is regarded as the most at-risk group in the South African labour market and unemployment amongst the youth is considered one of the most critical socio-economic problems in South Africa. Increasing one’s employability is essential to securing employment and enhancing one’s well-being.Research purpose: This study aimed to explore the self-perceived employability of undergraduate students at a South African university.Motivation for the study: Currently, there is a scarcity of published research on the self-perceived employability amongst undergraduate students at higher education institutions in South Africa.Research approach/design and method: The study was conducted within a positivistic research paradigm. A quantitative-based cross-sectional survey design was used. Convenience sampling was used to select the students who were included in the survey. Data were collected through a web-based survey, using a standardised coded questionnaire that consisted of a five-point Likert-type scale.Main findings: The results indicated that the respondents were relatively confident about their internal employability, but they were less confident about their opportunities in the external labour market.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding one’s employability and the accompanied issues creates awareness of one’s potential, skills and knowledge to become a successful citizen and employee.Contribution/value-add: The study shed light on the self-perceived employability of undergraduate students at a South African university and consequently contributes to the existing literature on employability in the South African context.