Li Xiang, Pu Ruihui, Liao Hong
School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Panzhihua University, Panzhihua, China.
Faculty of Economics, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 17;13:954828. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954828. eCollection 2022.
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. 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. 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. 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.
随着世界不断受到新一代信息技术和知识经济的推动,大学生在培养职业相关能力方面面临着越来越大的压力。他们的就业能力受到了高等教育机构、政府、雇主、家长甚至学生群体自身等利益相关者的日益关注,因为它在职业成功、社会稳定和经济繁荣中起着决定性作用。在社会认知理论的理论指导下,本研究旨在探讨创新能力、社会适应能力和自我效能感影响大学生就业能力的认知和心理机制。它还试图分析自我效能感在创新能力、社会适应能力和就业能力之间关系中的中介作用,而这在学术界很少被研究。本研究采用了定量研究方法。通过问卷调查法从中国大陆9所高等教育机构的726名本科生中收集数据。研究模型显示拟合良好(χ2/df = 4.46,RMSEA = 0.069,SRMR = 0.049,GFI = 0.934,CFI = 0.965,NFI = 0.955,TLI = 0.955)。本研究应用结构方程模型(SEM)进行数据分析。研究结果表明,创新能力、社会适应能力和自我效能感与本科生的就业能力显著正相关。具有较强创新能力、社会适应能力和自我效能感的大学生在就业市场上往往更具就业能力。SPSS PROCESS Macro的模型4显示,自我效能感在创新能力、社会适应能力和就业能力之间的相关性中起中介作用。具有较高创新能力和社会适应能力的本科生对自己采取具体行动和实现预期目标的能力更有信心,这反过来又增强了他们的就业能力。该研究表明,在信息技术和知识经济时代,通过对创新能力、社会适应能力和自我效能感进行积极干预来提高本科生就业能力的可能性。