employability skills; whoqol-bref; freshmen students
Abstract :
[en] With increasing access at European universities, supporting and promoting the high education, students’ mental well-being and generic employability capacities have become priorities, but their respective influences, after an adaptation period of seven months, remain unclear.
<br />OBJECTIVE: To analyse the relationships between students’ well-being and self-perceived academic employability skills, and other social and environmental factors. METHODS: 321 freshmen students at the end of their first year completed an online questionnaire. Two instruments were used to assess well-being: the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), which explores psychological suffering, and the psychological quality of life subdomain of the Whoqol-bref. RESULTS: Psychological Whoqol-bref scores are linked to the academic employability skills (AES) items of drafting, critical spirit, problem-solving, teamwork, and supervision/direction of others, and has positive effects on AES score and on the following Whoqol-bref domains: physical, social relationships and environmental. Although three of six psychological Whoqol-bref items (ability to concentrate, satisfaction with self, negative feelings) are correlated with GHQ-12 items (sleeping, decision-making, feeling under strain, problem-solving, depression, self-confidence, thinking about self, feeling happy). GHQ-12 score is negatively linked with Whoqol-bref physical. CONCLUSIONS: For better quality of life, and improved employability skills, innovative activities should be developed to ascertain the sustainable academic's abilities of students.
Research center :
- Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE) > Institute for Health and Behaviour
Disciplines :
Public health, health care sciences & services Sociology & social sciences
Author, co-author :
Baumann, Michèle ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE)
Karavdic, Senad ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE)
Limbach-Reich, Arthur ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE)
External co-authors :
no
Language :
English
Title :
First-year at university: the effect of academic employability skills and physical quality of life on students’ well-being.
Publication date :
2014
Journal title :
Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation