Employability of graduates has gained considerable interest among researchers recently. This interest came about because of reported concerns by employers regarding the lack of employability skills among graduates thereby rendering them unemployable. South Africa is experiencing persistently high unemployment rates among the youth, particularly those with degrees. Similarly, self-employment of graduates has gained considerable interest among researchers around the world. Despite high unemployment rates among the youth of South Africa, self-employment levels are disappointedly at low levels. Therefore, knowledge of university students‟ perceptions with regard to employability and intention for self-employment is important. The phenomenon of employability has gradually developed over the decades. This resulted in researchers finding it difficult to come up with a common definition of the concept. Nonetheless, researchers share similar views with regard to the importance of employability, particularly among graduates. Due to the changing nature of the world of work, there is an unprecedented need for graduates to possess employability skills that will enhance their employability throughout their working life. For a long time, there has been a debate in South Africa regarding the preparedness of graduates for the world of work. Employers complain about the quality of graduates while universities feel that employers are not appreciative of their contribution in producing appropriate graduates. Therefore, there is a need to investigate employability of students continuously, as the future workforce will come from this cohort. For many decades, self-employment has been viewed as an important component of economies of many countries. In light of this, there has been an increasing interest in self-employment around the world. In the case of South Africa, research has consistently indicated that compared to countries at similar levels of development, the country lags behind on this front. In response to this, numerous attempts have been undertaken to strengthen actions that encourage and support self-employment as an attractive substitute to wage employment for students. There is a shared view among researchers that the decision to enter into self-employment is preceded by intention. Therefore, there is a continuous need to investigate self-employment intentions in South Africa, particularly among students. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment among university students. A quantitative research approach was followed to collect data. A questionnaire was administered among second year, third year and postgraduate students at four universities in two provinces of South Africa. Factor analysis was used to establish whether data were appropriate for analysis. T-tests and ANOVA were used to compare students‟ employability skills, perceived employability and intention for self-employment. While there were no significant differences in terms of employability skills and perceived employability, significant differences were found on self-employment intentions on various variables. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship among the factors of perceived employability and the relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment. The results indicated that there is a statistically significant relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment among university students. Reflecting on the results of this study it is evident that university students perceived themselves as employable. In line with the results, it is important that the employability skills of students should be developed, as this will enhance their employability. The curriculum should be designed in such a way that it incorporates employability skills. Employers and government should play a meaningful role in this regard. While the majority of students indicated that they intend to be self-employed someday, there were a substantial number of students who do not view self-employment as a career option. Therefore, self-employment should be made a compulsory module across different fields of study. Different stakeholders should be involved in encouraging university students to engage in self-employment activities. / PhD (Entrepreneurship)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

Employability of graduates has gained considerable interest among researchers recently. This interest came about because of reported concerns by employers regarding the lack of employability skills among graduates thereby rendering them unemployable. South Africa is experiencing persistently high unemployment rates among the youth, particularly those with degrees. Similarly, self-employment of graduates has gained considerable interest among researchers around the world. Despite high unemployment rates among the youth of South Africa, self-employment levels are disappointedly at low levels. Therefore, knowledge of university students‟ perceptions with regard to employability and intention for self-employment is important. The phenomenon of employability has gradually developed over the decades. This resulted in researchers finding it difficult to come up with a common definition of the concept. Nonetheless, researchers share similar views with regard to the importance of employability, particularly among graduates. Due to the changing nature of the world of work, there is an unprecedented need for graduates to possess employability skills that will enhance their employability throughout their working life. For a long time, there has been a debate in South Africa regarding the preparedness of graduates for the world of work. Employers complain about the quality of graduates while universities feel that employers are not appreciative of their contribution in producing appropriate graduates. Therefore, there is a need to investigate employability of students continuously, as the future workforce will come from this cohort. For many decades, self-employment has been viewed as an important component of economies of many countries. In light of this, there has been an increasing interest in self-employment around the world. In the case of South Africa, research has consistently indicated that compared to countries at similar levels of development, the country lags behind on this front. In response to this, numerous attempts have been undertaken to strengthen actions that encourage and support self-employment as an attractive substitute to wage employment for students. There is a shared view among researchers that the decision to enter into self-employment is preceded by intention. Therefore, there is a continuous need to investigate self-employment intentions in South Africa, particularly among students. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment among university students. A quantitative research approach was followed to collect data. A questionnaire was administered among second year, third year and postgraduate students at four universities in two provinces of South Africa. Factor analysis was used to establish whether data were appropriate for analysis. T-tests and ANOVA were used to compare students‟ employability skills, perceived employability and intention for self-employment. While there were no significant differences in terms of employability skills and perceived employability, significant differences were found on self-employment intentions on various variables. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship among the factors of perceived employability and the relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment. The results indicated that there is a statistically significant relationship between perceived employability and intention for self-employment among university students. Reflecting on the results of this study it is evident that university students perceived themselves as employable. In line with the results, it is important that the employability skills of students should be developed, as this will enhance their employability. The curriculum should be designed in such a way that it incorporates employability skills. Employers and government should play a meaningful role in this regard. While the majority of students indicated that they intend to be self-employed someday, there were a substantial number of students who do not view self-employment as a career option. Therefore, self-employment should be made a compulsory module across different fields of study. Different stakeholders should be involved in encouraging university students to engage in self-employment activities. / PhD (Entrepreneurship)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

Tidigare har målteorier, föräldrastöd och karriärutveckling studerats men hur upplever unga vuxna sin anställningsbarhet i relation till sitt sociala arv från föräldrarna? Detta är studiens syfte att undersöka. Intervjuer genomfördes med 15 deltagare från två klasser på en gymnasiefriskola. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys för kategorisering och tematisering utfördes. Det uppkom tre teman: handling, medvetet betydelsefullt och teoretiskt betydelsefullt. Resultatet visade bland annat att deltagarna prioriterar socialt umgänge, olika idrotter och egen tid men upplever utbildningen som betydelsefull för framtiden. De unga vuxna som vuxit upp med vårdnadshavare utanför arbetskraften talade om hur arbetslösheten kan undvikas medan unga vuxna uppvuxna med vårdnadshavare i arbetskraften fokuserade på att utveckla sin anställningsbarhet. För att belysa skillnader i materialet utfördes viss jämförelse. Slutsatsen var att arbetsgivare kan tänkas möta både naiva och skeptiska arbetssökanden som inte ser kopplingen mellan yrke och drivkrafter men som är medvetna om att de egna valen är avgörande för livssituationen.

Innebörden av anställningsbarhet har kommit att förändras i takt med att samhället och arbetsmarknaden utvecklats, och numera anses det i större utsträckning är tidigare vara individens egna ansvar att vara anställningsbar. Syftet med studien var därför att undersöka hur unga personalvetare upplever sin egen anställningsbarhet samt ta reda på hur individens självförmåga spelar in i hur denne ser på sin anställningsbarhet. Resultatet baserades på tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med unga personalvetare som analyserades genom en kombination mellan induktiv och deduktiv tematisk analys. Det som främst verkade öka upplevd anställningsbarhet var arbetslivserfarenhet, socialt kapital, expertis inom ett visst HR-område, till viss del utbildning samt en god självförmåga. Det som verkade minska den upplevda anställningsbarheten var brist på erfarenhet, konkurrens om jobb, samt yttre faktorer som brist på respons eller avslag på jobbansökningar. Till sist verkade även jämförelser med sin omgivning påverka anställningsbarheten negativt. Studien har visat att det finns goda förutsättningar för unga personalvetare att utveckla och stärka sin upplevda anställningsbarhet på flera sätt men att detta förutsätter att de relativt snabbt får jobb inom HR efter examen. / As the job market has developed over time, the meaning of employability has changed toward the individual being responsible for their own employability. The purpose of the present study was to examine how young HR professionalsperceive their employability and how the individual’s self-efficacy impacts the perceived employability. Ten semi-structured interviews with young HR professionals were analyzed using a combination of inductive and deductive thematic analysis. The main factors that increased the perception of employability were work life experience, social capital, expertise within a specific HR-topic, and, to a limited extent, education. Aspects that decrease perceived employability are lack of relevant experience, job competition, and external factors such as lack of response from job applications. Also, upward comparisons with others had a negative impact on perceived employability. The study has shown that there are good conditions for young HR professionals to develop and strengthen their perceived employability in several ways, but that this presupposes that they have been employed within HR near in time after graduation.

This study identified the relationships of student engagement with senior student satisfaction and perceived employability skills from STEM fields in the U.S. A comparison of the relationships of student engagement, student satisfaction, and perceived employability skills was made across senior Asian international students and their American peers in STEM programs. The National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE) data (2011) was used in this study. Structural equation modeling analyses and invariance tests were employed to estimate different models of student engagement, student satisfaction, and perceived employability skills across different samples. The results found that both sense of support and relationships with others of emotional engagement were found the most important constructs to predict college student satisfaction and perceived employability skills. The cognitive engagement had a significant positive effect on student perceived employability skills across all college students, Asian international students, and American students in STEM education. Moreover, this study identified the mediator role of student perceived employability skills on the relationship between student engagement and student satisfaction for all three samples. Additionally, Asian international students differed from American students regarding academic involvement, participating in extracurricular activities, and sense of support in STEM education. Last but not least, this study supported that the three-dimension student engagement model developed by Fredricks et al. (2004) could apply to U.S. college students. Practical and theoretical implications were discussed and limitations acknowledged. / Doctor of Philosophy / It is widely accepted that attracting STEM talents to the U.S. is a key element to maintain the United States' economic supremacy and competitive advantage in a global economy. Asian international students play a significant role to maintain a steady supply of STEM talent pipelines in the U.S. job market. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationships of student engagement with senior student satisfaction and perceived employability skills from STEM fields in the U.S. This study This study was also to identify the relationships of student engagement, student satisfaction, and perceived employability skills across senior Asian international students and their American peers in STEM programs. The results found that both sense of support and relationships with others of emotional engagement were the most important factors to predict college student satisfaction and perceived employability skills. Cognitive engagement had a significant positive influence on student perceived employability skills across all college students, Asian international students, and American students in STEM education. Moreover, this study identified the mediator role of student perceived employability skills on the relationship between student engagement and student satisfaction. Additionally, Asian international students differed from American students regarding academic involvement, participating in extracurricular activities, and sense of support in STEM education. Last but not least, this study supported that the three-dimension student engagement model could apply to U.S. college students. Practical and theoretical implications were discussed and limitations acknowledged.

This research examined if differences in social categories between two groups, natural—born U.S. citizens and undocumented immigrants with deferred action (DACA) led to differences in self-perceptions at work in areas such as Occupational Self-Efficacy (OSE), Organization Based Self-Esteem (OBSE), and Perceived Employability (PE). Additionally, the effect of Perceived Supervisor Similarity (PSS) on these relationships was also observed. Results showed significant differences only in PE with the DACA group having an unexpectedly higher level than the citizen group. The model was supported as OSE, OBSE, and PSS all significantly predicted PSS in both groups. Lastly, interaction effects were only found in the citizen group with PSS moderating the relationship between OSE and OBSE predicting PE. Specifically, PSS affected levels of PE at high levels of OSE and at low levels of OBSE. Lastly, I explored how temporal self-appraisals may have lead the DACA group to be less of an out-group along with additional implications to this field of research with this population.

The contemporary working environment is characterised by constant change and increased cognitive and emotional demands on employees. At the same time, long-term employment is no longer guaranteed and often employees are not loyal to one organisation throughout their careers. These changes alter and threaten the viability of the employment relationship. Employees still provide a competitive edge for organisations and their expectations should be managed in such a way that the current organisation remains the employee’s employer of choice. If employers fail to achieve this, employees will be less satisfied and voluntary turnover will result, with detrimental effects on the organisation, both directly and indirectly. In order to ensure the retention of valuable employees, organisations need to identify the predictors of employees’ intention to leave and the nature of the relationships between these factors. Previous studies focused on evaluating the content of the psychological contract and its relation to employee well-being and intention to leave. However, the focus should be less on what employees expect from employers and more on whether these expectations are being fulfilled, now and in future, and whether employees perceive it as fair. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the outcomes of the psychological contract, the evaluation of the state of the psychological contract and its predictive ability remains largely unexplored. More research is also needed to identify mediators in the psychological contract domain. Employability emerged as a coping resource for employees in times of uncertainty. Unfortunately, the more employable employees are, the more likely they will leave the organisation. Due to the assumed positive relationship between employability and performance, organisations should aim to enhance the employability of their employees but at the same time they should seek ways to retain these employees. Empirical research on the outcomes of perceived employability is limited and more research is also needed to identify moderators. The objectives of the study were 1) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) mediates the relationship between employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation; and 2) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) moderates the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the significance of the relationship between the variables simultaneously. Two structural models were evaluated; one with employee well-being as mediator and one with the state of the psychological contract as moderator. The results indicated that employee well-being partially mediates the negative relationship between the state of the psychological contract and intention to leave. The state of the psychological contract played a significant role in predicting individual outcomes. The results also indicated that perceived employability had a positive relationship with intention to leave. This is in line with previous international studies. Contrary to what was expected, no significant relationship was found between perceived employability and employee well-being. Furthermore, the state of the psychological contract did not moderate the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. The results highlighted the importance of well-being as a factor in employees’ intention to leave the organisation. Recommendations were made for organisations and futher reseach. / Thesis (MCom (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The contemporary working environment is characterised by constant change and increased cognitive and emotional demands on employees. At the same time, long-term employment is no longer guaranteed and often employees are not loyal to one organisation throughout their careers. These changes alter and threaten the viability of the employment relationship. Employees still provide a competitive edge for organisations and their expectations should be managed in such a way that the current organisation remains the employee’s employer of choice. If employers fail to achieve this, employees will be less satisfied and voluntary turnover will result, with detrimental effects on the organisation, both directly and indirectly. In order to ensure the retention of valuable employees, organisations need to identify the predictors of employees’ intention to leave and the nature of the relationships between these factors. Previous studies focused on evaluating the content of the psychological contract and its relation to employee well-being and intention to leave. However, the focus should be less on what employees expect from employers and more on whether these expectations are being fulfilled, now and in future, and whether employees perceive it as fair. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the outcomes of the psychological contract, the evaluation of the state of the psychological contract and its predictive ability remains largely unexplored. More research is also needed to identify mediators in the psychological contract domain. Employability emerged as a coping resource for employees in times of uncertainty. Unfortunately, the more employable employees are, the more likely they will leave the organisation. Due to the assumed positive relationship between employability and performance, organisations should aim to enhance the employability of their employees but at the same time they should seek ways to retain these employees. Empirical research on the outcomes of perceived employability is limited and more research is also needed to identify moderators. The objectives of the study were 1) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) mediates the relationship between employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation; and 2) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) moderates the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the significance of the relationship between the variables simultaneously. Two structural models were evaluated; one with employee well-being as mediator and one with the state of the psychological contract as moderator. The results indicated that employee well-being partially mediates the negative relationship between the state of the psychological contract and intention to leave. The state of the psychological contract played a significant role in predicting individual outcomes. The results also indicated that perceived employability had a positive relationship with intention to leave. This is in line with previous international studies. Contrary to what was expected, no significant relationship was found between perceived employability and employee well-being. Furthermore, the state of the psychological contract did not moderate the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. The results highlighted the importance of well-being as a factor in employees’ intention to leave the organisation. Recommendations were made for organisations and futher reseach. / Thesis (MCom (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Orientation: The employee engagement approach has been utilised to combat burnout in both private and public sector institutions. With increasing research, selfperceived employability is gaining popularity as an effective tool to reduce burnout in the contemporary world of work. Knowledge of the relationship between these three constructs is therefore important for public sector institutions and researchers in industrial and organisational psychology in South Africa. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between burnout, employee engagement and self-perceived employability amongst employees in the South African public sector. Motivation for study: Numerous studies have highlighted the prevalence of poor service delivery in public sector institutions as linked to employees feeling disconnected from their work as a result of numerous burnout symptoms. A plethora of studies have emphasised the significance of employee engagement in reducing burnout. With increasing research, focus has also been on the employability construct as a tool to manage burnout in the ever-changing working environment and the labour market. Both employee engagement and self-perceived employability have been utilised as approaches to reduce burnout amongst employees. However, the relationship between these three constructs is unknown, and therefore the findings of this study will be crucial for both public sector institutions and researchers in industrial and organisational psychology in South Africa. Research design, approach and method: The researcher conducted a quantitative study. It involved a non-probability sample of 158 South African public sector employees. Correlational and descriptive statistical analyses were utilised to analyse the data. Main findings: Burnout has a significant negative relationship with employee engagement; however, burnout does not significantly correlate with self-perceived employability. There are significant differences between the various biographical groups and burnout, employee engagement and self-perceived employability. Practical/managerial implications: Approaches to reducing burnout amongst employees should consider employee engagement and self-perceived employability as effective tools to enhance employees’ wellness, morale and productivity. Improving the engagement levels of employees and enhancing their employability will greatly improve the well-being of employees in public sector institutions and help alleviate the actual employee burnout. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The general aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the graduateness, employability and satisfaction with retention factors of individuals and whether graduateness moderates the relationship between employability and satisfaction. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional research design on a purposive, non-probability sample (N = 100) of predominant black (93%), male (49%) and female (51%) trainees between the ages of 17-29 years (early career). Presenting/applying information skills significantly and negatively predicted compensation while ethical/responsible behaviour significantly and positively predicted satisfaction with job characteristics and organisational commitment. Graduateness related positively to self-perceived general employability. General employability did not significantly predict the participants’ satisfaction with retention factors. Graduate skills and attributes did not significantly moderate the relationship between self-perceived employability and satisfaction with retention factors. Males had significantly stronger perceptions of employability compared to females while females had higher levels of work–life balance satisfaction compared to males. Overall, the results suggest that general self-perceived employability is more a function of graduateness than of retention, while graduateness positively relates to retention factors. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)