PREDITTORI DELL’EMPLOYABILITY NEGLI STUDENTI UNIVERSITARI

The rapid pace of socio-economic changes has affected today’s context of work. Job stability, job security, vertical career progression, organizational commitment and loyalty, have been replaced by adaptability, flexibility and competitiveness (Robbins, Odendaal, & Roodt, 2001; Van Dam, 2004): organizations are forced to continuously transform themselves through reorganization, introduction of new technologies and/or recruitment of more flexible and adaptable employees (Clarke & Patrickson, 2008; Wanberg & Banas, 2000). In this perspective, individuals have to exhibit flexibility and adaptability in the construction of their career, in accordance to the possible commitment of an organization (Coetzee & Roythorne-Jacobs, 2007). In light of both the uncertainty to maintain the same job for the entire period of employment and the lack of predictability of the skills and knowledge that labour market will require in the future, individuals have to set aside those “fixed abilities” useful to achieve career success in the previous employment context, and be prepared for “the next opportunity” (Van der Heijden & Bakker, 2008). As a consequence, the concept of employability, first referred to a set of competencies that make individual able to successfully occupy specific job positions (Allvin, 2004; Gazier, 2001), is now focused on the development of competencies during working life and has became a basis for the career success achievement (Hind, 2008, p. 269). Employability is, therefore, aimed not only at finding a job, but also at maintaining, changing or increasing the job position by identifying and creating better career opportunities (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashfort, 2004; van der Heijden, 2002, 2005). As a matter of fact, the term has assumed multidimensional characteristics (Forrier & Sels, 2003) and has been defined as a pivotal factor in the relationship between individual characteristics and behavioral/cognitive adaptation in workplace (Fugate, 2006). As for the present dissertation, van der Heijde and van der Heijden’s definition according to which employability is the “continuous fulfilling, acquiring or creating of work through the optimal use of competencies” (van der Heijde and van der Heijden, 2006, p. 453), was considered. Moreover, the multi-dimensional instrument of employability developed by van der Heijde & van der Heijden (2006) and whose theoretical background come from Fugate, Kinicki e Ashfort (2004), was used. The current dissertation aimed at: 1. Examining the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Employability (MSE) – Italian version, in a sample of University students (van der Heijde & van der Heijden, 2006); 2. Operationalizing and empirically testing Fugate, Kinicki e Ashforth’s dispositional model (2004); 3. Extending and integrating Fugate et al.’s dispositional model by examining the role of some career management factors in predicting self-perceived employability. In general, the initial hypotheses were confirmed: results gave evidence of the validity of the pioneering model and of the importance of each factor in influencing employability. These positive findings encourage to continue the research in a longitudinal perspective and in specific educational areas.