PurposeThe study aims to assess the relationship between cultural capital, human capital, psychological capital, social capital and perceived employability of management graduates.Design/methodology/approachThe data was analysed through variance based partial least square (PLS) structural equation modelling on 505 management students by an online questionnaire. The predictive relevance of perceived employability was investigated with PLS predict approach. Further, importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was applied to assess important and performing dimensions of perceived employability.FindingsThe results indicate that social capital was found to be the strongest predictor of graduates' perceived employability. The proposed conceptual model was found to have a moderate to high predictive relevance. IPMA results suggested that investment in psychological capital leads to higher return in perceived employability of management graduates.Research limitations/implicationsData was collected using purposive sampling and confined to university students only.Practical implicationsFindings of the study provide empirical inferences in support of human capital, social capital and social cognitive theory. Practical implications offer important inputs to policy makers, higher educational institutes, career counsellors and universities.Originality/valueThis study provides novel inputs by a comprehensive model of graduate capital to determine and predict perceived employability of graduates in emerging economy like India.