Emotional self-efficacy, graduate employability, and career satisfaction: Testing the associations

• Published in: Australian journal of psychology Vol. 65; no. 4; pp. 214 - 223
• Main Authors: Dacre pool, Lorraine, Qualter, Pamela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Taylor & Francis 01.12.2013; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: career satisfaction; Careers; emotional competence; Emotional intelligence; emotional self-efficacy; Emotions; Employability; graduate employability; Job satisfaction; Modelling; Self-efficacy; Selfefficacy; trait emotional intelligence
• ISSN: 0004-9530; 1742-9536
• DOI: 10.1111/ajpy.12023

Graduate employability has been the subject of little empirical research. There are a number of difficulties in defining and measuring graduate employability, which means that there is a paucity of research that looks at its predictors and outcomes. Previous work has proposed that emotional competence improves graduate employability, and this study further investigates this idea by examining the association between emotional self-efficacy and employability. Also investigated is the association between employability and career satisfaction. Working graduates (N = 306) completed measures of emotional self-efficacy, self-perceived employability, and career satisfaction, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling. We found emotional self-efficacy to be an important predictor of graduate employability. Additionally, we found that graduate employability mediates the relationship between emotional self-efficacy and career satisfaction. Some recommendations, in light of these findings, are discussed.