Profiles of Employability and their Career and Psychological Implications among Unemployed Youth
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Profiles of Employability and their Career and Psychological Implications among Unemployed Youth Grand H.-L. Cheng 1,2
& Darius
K.-S. Chan 3 & Wing Tung Au 3
Received: 22 June 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020/ # The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) and Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Employability may play an important role in the job seeking behavior and well-being among unemployed youth. To date, the literature has tended to study the indicators of employability individually, without considering the intertwinement among them. The present research (N = 447 unemployed youth [16 to 24 years] in Hong Kong) addressed this gap. We adopted latent profile analysis to examine eight employability indicators (proactivity, boundaryless mindset, identity awareness, career self-efficacy, education level, work experience, networking, and social support). Four employability profiles were identified: high employability, moderate employability, low social support, and low adaptability – career identity. These profiles differed in job search intensity and psychological health. Mediation analysis revealed that the impact of employability profiles was channeled through perceived upward mobility. Our latent profile approach has captured the reality of employability and thus provided a valid picture of its impact among unemployed youth. The observed mediating effect of perceived upward mobility illustrates what employability means in social identity terms. This study has contributed to the understanding of unemployed youth’s quality of life. Keywords Employability . Perceived upward mobility . Job search intensity .
Psychological health . Latent profile analysis . Youth unemployment Unemployment has been at the top of the agenda of governments. In particular, the youth unemployment rate is typically higher than the overall figure, presumably * Grand H.-L. Cheng [email protected] * Darius K.-S. Chan [email protected]
1
School of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2
Public and Social Policy Research Centre, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
3
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
G. H.-L. Cheng et al.
because young people are relatively in lack of experience and skills, and find it difficult to get employed or keep their jobs (McTier and McGregor 2018). From 1999 to 2019, the unemployment rate for all ages in the United States ranged between 3.7% and 9.6% (Statista 2020a). That for those aged 15 to 24 spanned between 8.2% and 18.3% (Statista 2020b). As jobs provide income and social status, unemployment signals low quality of life (Simona-Moussa and Ravazzini 2019) and may impair psychological well-being (McKee-Ryan et al. 2005; Paul and Moser 2009). It is critical to study the job seeking behavior of those who are unemployed, as subsequent employment, if achieved, indicates improved quality of life (Gander et al. 2019). Taken together, unemployed youth’s vocational behavior and well-being w
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