Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students

This paper reports the development of a research instrument to examine the expectations and self-perceptions of employability of business undergraduates (bachelor degree students) in three UK universities, and examines relationships with other measures. The scale was found to have a satisfactory internal reliability coefficient for an untested measure (α = .75) and had discriminant validity from other new measures such as university commitment. ‘Internal’ and ‘external’ dimensions were identified, the latter relating to the perceptions of the strength of the university brand, the state of the external labour market, and the demand for the degree subject. Perceptions of future employability were surprisingly modest, notably for those in arguably the strongest position, suggesting that these self-perceptions may be a product of relative societal expectations, consistent with positional conflict theory.     

A Survey of College Counseling Facilities

Of 1,136 senior colleges surveyed in the United States, 71 per cent of the 415 responding reported that they had student counseling facilities. The median ratio was 1 counselor per 770 students; 18 per cent make use of graduate students as assistants; 8 per cent exclude certain groups of students from these facilities. The majority of counseling services are connected with student personnel divisions, and more than half routinely test entering freshmen for academic aptitudes or achievement, personality factors, or vocational interests. Over three-quarters offer optional testing of intelligence, personality factors, vocational and academic aptitudes, and vocational interests. Over half limit counseling to “normal” problems, and the largest specific orientation is Rogerian; most, however, consider their approach “eclectic.”     

Self-perceived employability: Investigating the responses of post-graduate students

This paper reports the further testing of a research instrument to examine the expectations and self-perceptions of employability of business students at post-graduate level, building on previously reported research with undergraduates [Rothwell, A., Herbert, I., & Rothwell, F. (2008). Self perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(1), 1-12]. On this occasion the scale was again found to have a good internal reliability coefficient (α = .84), and discriminant validity from university commitment. Forcing a four-factor solution found components relating to the university’s reputation, individual self-confidence and proactivity, external labor market factors, and finally the individuals’ engagement with study and academic performance. For this multi-cultural post-graduate sample, perceptions of employability were good, but within that they placed significant emphasis on the brand and reputation of the university. Results indicate the potential for further studies with refined scales, particularly the combined scale of employability and ambition.     

大学生就业能力的结构及其对就业结果的影响

通过对1017名大学毕业生的问卷调查,探讨大学生就业能力的结构及其对就业结果的影响。结构方程模型验证了Fugate,Kinicki和Ashforth(2004)提出的就业能力结构理论:就业能力由适应性、职业认同、人力资本和社会资本组成。就业能力与就业结果各因素之间有显著的正相关。学校类别,职业认同、人力资本对大学毕业生所获得的录用通知数量有显著的预测作用;学校类别,人力资本对大学生毕业后的起步工资有显著的预测作用;人力资本、职业认同、适应性对大学毕业生对所签约工作的满意度有显著的预测作用;适应性对入职半年后的工作适应有显著的预测作用。     

Relationship Between Perceived Organizational Support,Proactive Personality,and Perceived Employability in Workers Over 50

This article examines the relationship between perceived organizational support, proactive personality, and perceived employability in a sample of workers over 50. An online questionnaire assessing these variables were filled by 213 employees. Results confirmed that individual dispositions have a significant impact on perceived employability but also indicated that organizational context may have a greater impact on employability. The implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions are offered for future research on employability.     

An Adaptation of the Tyler Vocational Card Sort

An assessment method originated by Tyler is modified and extended. Supplementary comments on the administration of the technique are included. Through the sorting of occupational title cards, the method elicits client attitudes and information regarding occupations as well as views that the client holds pertaining to himself. A rationale drawn from Kelly's Personal Construct Theory is described that places the Tyler method within a broader conception of the vocational counseling process. This process involves the identification and clarification of possible motives for choosing occupations, followed by a reduction of the number of motives that the client would attempt to satisfy with his vocational choice.     

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the perceived occupational structure of career counselees was investigated. Ninety-six career counselees completed the RAMAK vocational interest inventory. Then, the occupational constructs of each subject were elicited by the career grid procedure. Finally, each subject rated 24 occupations and his/her ideal and rejected occupations on his/her own elicited constructs. The intrasubject analyses indicated that the preferences for occupational fields as measured by the interest inventory reflect the fields' proximity to an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure. The implications for career development are discussed.     

Exercise after work,psychological mediators,and affect: A day-level study

In this diary study, we tested the recovery potential of exercise activities during leisure time and examined the psychological mechanisms underlying the relation between exercise activities and affect. We hypothesized that spending time on exercise activities after work will be related to subsequent affect in the evening, and that psychological detachment from work, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions explain why exercise activities are related to subsequent affect. One-hundred and twenty-six participants from diverse occupations completed a diary twice a day over five consecutive work days. Multilevel analyses showed that exercise activities after work were related to positive, but not to negative affect in the evening. As proposed, psychological detachment, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions mediated the relation between exercise activities after work and positive affect in the evening.     

Neuropsychological and MMPI correlates of patients' future employment characteristics

Previous research has suggested that patients' neuropsychological test scores correlate not only with neurologic status but also with their success in coping with some of the demands of daily living. This study investigated the utility of such laboratory test scores in predicting several vocational variables. Patients who had recieved neuropsychological evaluations were recontacted and questioned about their employment over the previous 6 mo. Of the 78 individuals who participated, 25 had been chronically unemployed. The remaining 53 were asked about job stability, hours worked, and wages earned, and were administered the Minnsota Job Requirements Questionnaire. Patients' scores on the Halstead-Reitan Battery, the WAIS and the MMPI were highly correlated with employment status (employed or chronically unemployed), income, and skills required on the jobs held. The results suggest that these tests may have clinical utility in assessing patients' employability, as well as the types of jobs for which they are suited.     

Effect of positive,negative, and mixed occupational information on cognitive and affective complexity

A series of concentrated research studies over the past 8 years has significantly demonstrated that cognitive complexity in the vocational realm is positively related to congruence or appropriateness of vocational choice. Moreover, research has shown that introducing occupational information significantly reduces, rather than increases, cognitive complexity. The results of the study reported here relate to changes in cognitive complexity as a function of the type of occupational information introduced, namely, information with respect to the advantages of occupations; the disadvantages of occupations, or a combination of positive and negative features of occupations. Our results clearly demonstrated that while positive occupational information alone leads to greater simplicity, negative or mixed information significantly retards the trend toward greater simplicity. Results are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives, especially with reference to the typical occupational information provided in routine vocational counseling.     

Do Employees Leave Just Because They Can? Examining the Perceived Employability–Turnover Intentions Relationship

The relationship between perceived employability and turnover intentions seems much more complicated than what the common sense would suggest. Based on the reviewed literature, it was expected that job satisfaction, affective commitment, and perceived job security would moderate this relationship. Using a sample of working individuals from different occupations and sectors (N = 721), it was found that employees who perceived themselves as highly employable were more likely to have turnover intentions when their affective commitment was low and perceived job security was high; and the relationship was negative for employees with shorter tenures. Understanding the conditions under which perceived employability is associated with turnover intentions may help organizations design human resource policies that allow them to retain an educated and competent workforce.     

Traditionality of children's interests as related to their parents' gender stereotypes and traditionality of occupations

This study tested the common hypothesis that parents' gender stereotypes, maternal employment status, and the traditionality of parents' occupations, are associated with the traditionality of children's vocational interests. The traditionality of preschool children's (n=113) interests was examined by an instrument developed for the current study. Parents were administered the Attitudes toward Women Scale, and traditionality of their occupations was assessed. Only the traditionality of the mothers' occupations significantly correlated with the traditionality of the interests of both boys and girls. Other variables tested, as well as their interactions, were not found to show such relationships. The results were discussed in terms of the function of the role model in gender identity development and vocational schema modification.We thank Rachel Karniol for her helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

A Case for Homogeneity of Personality at the Occupational Level

The forces of attraction–selection–attrition have been hypothesized to create homogeneity of personality within organizations, and vocational choice theory predicts that these forces lead to a ‘modal personality’ within given occupations. This study compared the homogeneity of a set of personality characteristics for 6582 incumbents from eight organizations in eight occupations. The results indicated that (1) the homogeneity hypothesis was supported both within organizations as well as within occupations; and (2) the homogeneity within occupations was higher than that found in organizations.     

Vocational Rehabilitation Day-Care Services for a Drug-Dependent Population

The philosophy, history, and operations of the Vocational Opportunities Center (VOC) are described. The functions of VOC include intake and evaluation, vocational and educational training, job development, child care, a women's vocational group, legal services, and cultural activities. The VOC is offered as a model of employability service to a specific client group and part of a more comprehensive multimodality drug program.     

Self-perceptions, self-worth and sport participation in adolescents

The purpose of this study was to study the associations between specific self-perceptions and global self-worth with different frequency levels of sport participation among Spanish boys and girls adolescents. Students (457 boys and 460 girls) completed the Self Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) and items assessing sport engagement from The Health Behavior in School Children Questionnaire (Wold, 1995). Results showed that some specific dimensions of self-perception were related to different frequency of sport participation whereas overall judgments of self-worth did not. Specifically, for boys and girls, higher levels of sport participation were positively associated to Athletic Competence, and for boys were also associated with Physical Appearance and Social Acceptance. The potential implications of domain specific socialisation processes on the configuration of self-perceptions are highlighted.     

Race and the workforce: occupational status,aspirations, and stereotyping among African American children

This study examined whether African American children's perceptions of occupational status and their own vocational interests are affected by racial segregation of the workforce. Children (N = 92) rated familiar occupations with respect to status, desirability, and stereotyping. Children also rated novel jobs that had been depicted with African Americans, European Americans, or both African and European Americans. As predicted, for familiar jobs, children's judgments were linked to their knowledge of racial segregation of these jobs. In addition, novel occupations that had been depicted with African Americans were judged as lower in status than the identical occupations that had been depicted with European Americans, demonstrating a causal influence of workers' race on children's judgments. Children's age and socioeconomic background moderated their occupational judgments.     

The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.     

The Opportunity Structure: Implications for Career Counseling

Traditional career counseling methods are based on the assumption that matching clients' interests, values, abilities, and aptitudes to a suitable occupation will result in opportunities for self-actualization and personal expression. However, vocational psychology tends to neglect a critical extra-individual factor: the nature of the opportunity structure. True career choice may be the experience of only a small proportion of clients. Vocational psychology has focused almost exclusively on individuals to the neglect of social, economic, and political realities.     

Measurement of person-environment fit and prediction of satisfaction in the theory of work adjustment

The measurement of person-environment (P-E) fit and the relationship of fit and job satisfaction are described, illustrated, and evaluated from the perspective of the Theory of Work Adjustment. The construct of correspondence is explicated in terms of statistical measures and applied to the prediction of job satisfaction. Two studies are reported. Using 19 statistical indices across six occupational groups, study 1 examined the issues of commensurate measurement and representations of the correspondence and satisfaction relationship. Results provided evidence for commensurate structures and directional interpretations of needreinforcer correspondence. Study 2 evaluated the relationship of four correspondence indices and job satisfaction with 225 adult vocational counseling clients in 98 different occupations 1 year after initial contact. The findings indicated that the correspondence and satisfaction relationship was moderated by profile component, type of reinforcer profile, and client's sex. Overall, the results show that the best statistical indices for assessing correspondence seem to be measures of profile shape, which explain 3 to 30% of the variance in satisfaction. Implications for commensurate measurement and for the operational and theoretical development of the concept of correspondence are discussed.     

The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.