University students' perceptions of their 'ability selves' and employability: a pilot study

Files
Self archived version
published versionDate
2018Author(s)
Unique identifier
10.1080/20020317.2018.1453221Metadata
Show full item recordMore information
Self-archived article
Citation
Räty, Hannu. Komulainen, Katri. Halvérson, Carita. Nieminen, Anna. Korhonen, Maija. (2018). University students' perceptions of their 'ability selves' and employability: a pilot study. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, Published online: 22 Mar 2018, 10.1080/20020317.2018.1453221.Rights
Licensed under
Abstract
This study sets out to investigate the university students’ perceptions of their current and expected ‘ability selves’ and the contribution of such perceptions to students’ views of their own employability. The participants consisted of a group of male and female students (N = 104) who were asked to describe their present and anticipated abilities and to respond to a set of statements describing self-perceived employability. The students highlighted social aptness, extroversion and enterprise skills in particular as features related to ability selves in current discussions of working life. These interpretations were subsequently related to the optimism they had about their own employability. ‘Ability selves’ seem to play a role in the multifaceted process of subjective confidence formation regarding one’s employment prospects after graduation.
Subjects
employability university students ability self perception of abilities self conceptLink to the original item
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2018.1453221Publisher
Informa UK LimitedCollections
- Filosofinen tiedekunta [257]