Investigating the intrinsic factors that explain variance in perceived employability amongst industrial psychology students at a selected university
Abstract
The economic future of South Africa is highly dependent on the prospective employability
status of the current generation of students progressing through their studies and those entering
the working world. However, the unemployment of tertiary graduate students is becoming an
ever-rising problem in South Africa today. Students often embark on their tertiary studies with
little forethought of the difficulties that they may later face with regards to securing a job until
only after the completion of their studies. In addition, it has long been established that
possessing a good academic record alone is not synonymous to being employable and therefore
it is important to understand the unique individual intrinsic factors that contribute to this
phenomenon.
The aim of this research study was to answer the question, "what are the intrinsic factors that
explain variance in self-perceived employability amongst industrial psychology students at a
selected university in the Western Cape?" In order to answer this research initiating question,
a theoretical structural model of the nomological network of variables explaining variance in
employability was developed and tested.