Abstract:

The school-to-work transition of young people is fraught with many obstacles and challenges. The way students perceive their future employability and chances in the labour market can influence their decision on when and how to enter the labour market. As other authors noted, youth self-perceived employability is associated with their own perceived abilities or preparedness and evaluation of labour market contexts. This paper examines the individual and contextual factors that can affect self-perceived employability. This paper employs a categorical method in analysing data from several European countries from the FES Youth Study Southeast Europe 2018/19, focusing on factors that can affect students' expectations of finding employment after finishing their studies. The results reveal that the socio-economic characteristics and national contextual variables influence the students’ self-confidence in finding a job after graduating. Moreover, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the transition process from school to work in emerging economies.

Acknowledgement:
This work has been supported by the NUCLEU program, funded by Ministry of Education and Research, under the project PN 19130302.

Keywords:

Youth, school-to-work transition, perceived employability, labour market.