The role of individual factors in perceived sustainable employability: an application in higher education

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainable employability has emerged as a multifaceted construct that measures individuals' abilities to function in the labour market throughout their working lives. Therefore, it is no longer just about analysing how to achieve a successful transition from school/university to employment, but also about identifying the conditions that will allow people to continue to be capable and motivated in the long term. The aim of this work was to identify and rank the personal factors of an individual that contribute to his or her perceived sustainable employability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a quantitative methodology to estimate the structural model proposed. A stratified random procedure was used to administer an online questionnaire to 202 university master’s degree students. Before testing the structural model, the validation of each scale was performed, both at the exploratory and confirmatory levels.

Findings

The results indicate that four groups were key to improve individual sustainable employability: (1) Health Status; (2) Career Competencies; (3) Core Self-Evaluations and (4) Overcoming Competencies.

Research limitations/implications

The results are of interest to any individual, employed or not, insofar as they can reflect on the relevance of each category and how to improve them at the individual level.

Originality/value

This study contributes to research on sustainable employability focus on the analysis of young people by providing empirical evidence on its relationship with other key variables, in an area where the literature remains mainly conceptual and centred in workers.

Citation

Álvarez-González, P., López-Miguens, M.J. and Caballero, G. (2024), "The role of individual factors in perceived sustainable employability: an application in higher education", Education + Training, Vol. 66 No. 7, pp. 873-889. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-12-2023-0511