Abstract
This study examines the underlying mechanism that connects career social support with employability through a survey of 392 Chinese college students. The results showed that career social support had a positive effect on career adaptation and employability of college students, and career adaptation mediated the association between career social support and employability. Furthermore, proactive personality was found to play a moderating role in linking career adaptation and employability. More specifically, higher levels of a proactive personality strengthen the enhancing effect of career adaptation on the employability of college students. Therefore, there was a moderated mediation effect between career social support and employability of college students.
Highlights
The employment of college students is a persistent hot topic in China
We established a moderated mediation model, and the purpose of this paper was twofold: (1) to explore whether career adaptability mediated the relationship between career social support and employability; (2) to test whether a proactive personality moderated the mediation effect of career adaptability
We tested whether career adaptability mediated the relationship between career social support and employability
Summary
The employment of college students is a persistent hot topic in China. Since the expanded enrollment in 1999, the number of Chinese college graduates has increased sharply during recent years. According to a survey conducted by China’s Ministry of Education (Mycos Research Institute, 2019), the number of college graduates in China reached over 8.3 million in 2019, which was a historical high. The employment rate of college graduates was 91.5% in 2018, and it was lower than that in 2014 (92.6%), indicating that the employment rate in China was on a gentle, but steady, downward slide. It is worthwhile to identify the influential factors that underpin undergraduates’ employability, which will be beneficial to improve the employability of college students and alleviate the social problems of unemployment
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