Which are the predictors of perceived employability? An approach based on three studies

Abstract

This study proposes a holistic model of perceived employability in university students, covering the following five areas: human capital, social capital, cultural capital, individual attributes and behaviours, and contextual factors. Three studies comprising five experts and 1,088 students were performed. Through these studies, the psychometric properties of the scales used were verified, and the proposed theoretical structural model was estimated. The results confirm that university student networks, labour market and self-confidence in job searching and university are the most important factors in graduates’ perception of employability.