Employability, Emotional Intelligence and Career Preparation Support Satisfaction among Adolescents in the School-to-work Transition Phase

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between the employability and career support satisfaction and emotional intelligence of a convenience sample of predominantly black (N = 590) South African adolescents (mean age 17, males 43%, females 57%). Data were collected using the South African Employability Inventory (Beukes, 2009) and the Assessing Emotions Scale (Schutte, Malouff, & Bhullar, 2007). A survey design and quantitative statistical procedures were used to achieve the research objective. Multiple regression analyses indicated that emotional intelligence contributes significantly to explaining the proportion of variance in the participants' employability scores. Emotional intelligence and employability were also significantly related to the participants' satisfaction with the career preparation support they received. The findings may be used to inform career services for young adults preparing for the world of work.

Keywords:

• career preparation support
• early career development
• employability
• emotional intelligence