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In France, the vocationalization of higher education has resulted in an increase in the number of graduates and created new opportunities. The access of these vocational bachelor graduates to the labour market raises the issue of their professional prospects amid changing economic and social circumstances. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

To provide insights into these issues, the employment situation of bachelor graduates during the first years of active working life will be compared with other tertiary graduates entering the labour market in the same years, using econometric models that estimate the effects of vocational courses “all other things being equal”, incorporating a range of individual characteristics.

Overall, vocational bachelor graduates experienced fewer difficulties in seeking to enter the labour market during difficult economic circumstances. They did not achieve upward social mobility with a lower probability of obtaining a managerial/professional occupation three years after graduation. These results confirm that diplomas continue to play a central and hierarchized role in France.

The originality of this paper is to highlight the labour market transition of vocational bachelor graduates during a period of economic crisis, inquiring on the social benefit of this new diploma in France: what were the impacts of the changing economic conditions and influx of vocational bachelor graduates on their labour market transition and their chances of upward social mobility?

The vocational education and training (VET) system needs a future change in order to be more accountable to employers (and their associations) for training outcomes that match employer expectations. As part of this, an important focus is employability skills that go beyond work-related technical and interpersonal skills to include employer-preferred values, attitudes and personality dimensions. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of supervised work experiences (SWEs), among other factors, on undergraduate vocational trainees’ acquisition of employability skills.

A total of 138 respondents ranging in age from 17 to 24 years who successfully completed their two years program awarded with Malaysian Skill Certificate were included. They were divided into two sub-populations, trainees participating and trainees not participating in the SWE. Descriptive analysis, Correlation and ANCOVA were applied for data analysis.

The results showed that participating students achieved a moderately higher level of employability skills compared to students not participating in the SWE. The findings also revealed other factors contributing to the acquisition of employability skills, including gender, age, work experience, self-concept and achievement motivation. However, achievement motivation was found to be significantly related to the acquisition of employability skills. Therefore, participation of vocational trainees in the SWE influences the acquisition of employability skills which are identified as career success skills and could facilitate youth in transition from school to work.

Although the research has reached the aims, there were a few limitations which may effect on generalization of the findings. Because of the limit access to students from all majors in vocational training, this study focused on six types of skills. In addition, the number of participants from different courses was not equal.

The research findings also imply several practical implications. First, based on the finding, it can be suggested that industries provide students’ vocational training under supervision of expert in their course area in order to enrich the level of trainees’ acquisition of employability skills. Second, referring to the finding, focusing on the key aspects of employability skills, industries can improve the trainees learning process and producing workers with abilities to allow them to interact with job duties in the organization of workplace.

This study can serve as a model for evaluation when implementing school to work programs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether young people’s peer networks can be an asset in finding employment during the transition from school to work. It examines whether peer networks size and peers’ self-efficacy regarding their own job search are associated with job seekers’ career-relevant behaviors and outcomes, i.e., the number of applications completed and the number of job offers received.

Associations between job seekers’ peer networks and their job search behaviors and outcomes were investigated during their final year of vocational training. Sociometric measures were used to assess young people’s peer network size. Sociometric and self-report measures were used to establish the characteristics of the peers that comprise each job seekers’ network, resulting in the overall self-efficacy across each job seekers’ network.

The results show that peers’ efficacy beliefs are positively associated with young people’s engagement in job search activities (i.e. a greater number of applications completed) and indirectly associated with their job search outcomes (i.e. a greater number of job offers, which are mediated by the number of applications) that are independent of the peer network size.

The results underline that although peers might not provide instrumental support, encouraging interactions with (efficacious) peers may nonetheless be beneficial to young job seekers. Methodologically, the results demonstrate that the operationalization of self-efficacy as a network characteristic might provide us with valuable insights into the characteristics that turn social networks into beneficial social resources.

Military officials who become accustomed to the distinct culture of the military face a variety of challenges when attempting to transition into the civilian workforce as veterans. These hardships even pertain to short- and mid-term veterans (SMVs) who leave the military at early career stages to pursue alternative career options. In this study, the authors explored the career construction decisions made by South Korean SMVs who left their military careers and successfully transitioned into the civilian workforce.

The authors used a phenomenology approach and conducted a semi-structured interview with 19 SMVs to unpack their career transition experiences.

The authors identified the motivational factors that encourage SMVs to develop their four career adaptabilities and illustrated the necessity for such qualities pre- and post-transition. Furthermore, the authors characterized each individual experience by the theoretical constructs of career adaptability and highlighted the contextual characteristics that prompted the emergence of career adaptability.

This study contributes to the understanding of career mobility at early career stages and how career adaptability is developed and manifested in the context of transitioning from the military to civilian society.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the concept of employability. It reviews and systematizes the two main current perspectives about employability, the individual and the critical. The individual perspective is dominant and currently determines the term; its basic premise is that an individual is responsible for his/her socio-professional career. By contrast, the critical perspective deconstructs the former concept and analyzes its role in maintaining the status quo.

Through a review of literature about employability this paper analyses the different conceptions and the consequences of the assumption of each perspective nowadays.

This paper provides an analytical framework of all the key elements involved in the notion of employability based upon the bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006). This model offers a vision that encompasses the different explanatory elements of the employability concept.

The ultimate goal of this paper is to rekindle the debate on employability and to do so, it is necessary to explore the origins of the concept, the contexts it affects, who it benefits and, conversely, who it jeopardizes.

The German institutional setting of skill formation is supposed to enable young people smooth and structured transitions into the labor market. For decades, the large majority of graduates of the “dual system” of vocational education experienced good chances to immediately access appropriate job positions. However, labor market entry has become less stable in the last two decades. In this paper, we examine the changing transition from vocational training to the first job in Germany. We analyze the consequences of inter-firm mobility and unemployment after finishing vocational education for the transition to the first job. Our results show that leaving the training firm, and especially unemployment, strongly enhance occupational shifts at labor market entry. In addition, not keeping one’s trained occupation negatively affects the chances to enter skilled job positions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the difference in attaining and maintaining employment between transition age youth (ages 19–22) with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) completing and not completing vocational training.

A quantitative causal-comparative research design using existing data extracted from the National Longitudinal Transitional Study-2 (NLTS-2) via a restricted data use license issued by the National Center Special Education Research, Institution of Education Sciences, US Department of Education. One-way ANCOVA and multiple regression analysis with one independent variable and six control variables were used for the study.

The results showed there is a significant difference in employment status between transition age youth with EBDs completing vocational training as compared to non-completion of vocational training, controlling for gender, race, age, mental health services, academic achievement and prior work experience. Individuals who completed vocational training are more likely employed after two years, than those who had not completed vocational training.

The outcomes of the study showed that vocational training during the transitional period had a positive impact on outcomes such as employment status, participation in job skills programs and perceived preparedness for employment. These findings support the idea that vocational training during the secondary school period is an effective way to scaffold support for the transitional period. As a result, these findings justify the use of vocational training as part of the transitional preparation for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.