Future orientation and perceived employability of chinese undergraduates: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Although scholars and practitioners have highlighted the significance of students’ attitudes for their future employment, few empirical examinations have attempted to determine the potential association between students’ future orientation and their perceived employability. Thus, drawing on career construction theory, we test the positive effect of students’ future orientation on their perceived employability by exploring the mediator of problem-based learning and the moderators of job market knowledge and proactive personality. Collecting our data via a time-lagged design (N = 368), we have found that the positive association between future orientation and employability is mediated by problem-based learning. Our moderation analyses further revealed that job market knowledge positively moderates the relationship between future orientation and problem-based learning and that students’ proactive personality positively moderates the relationship between problem-based learning and perceived employability.