First-year at university: The effect of academic employability skills and physical quality of life on students' well-being

Abstract

BACKGROUND: 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. OBJECTIVE: Our aims were to analyse the relationships between students' well-being and self-perceived academic employability skills, and other social and environmental factors. METHODS: Three hundred and twenty-one 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, decisionmaking, 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.

Relationship Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Living Condition and the Well-Being of First-Year University Students in Japan

“…The transition from high school to university is generally considered to be a positive step in personal development, as it is an important life challenge to stand on one's own two feet (Bernier et al, 2005). First-year university students with greater well-being show better academic performance (Baumann et al, 2014). Mental health is defined as a "state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community" (World Health Organization, 2014).…”

Beyond Competence: Why We Should Talk About Employability in Veterinary Education

“…Dacre Pool and Sewell articulated a now widely-used definition of employability as ''having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes that make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful.'' 31(p.280) The inclusions of the words ''a person,'' ''successful'' and ''satisfied'' moves employability beyond getting a job and into the sphere of professional/personal success and satisfaction and implies that employability is linked to an individual's well-being (as recently demonstrated empirically by Baumann and colleagues 35 ). It is also clear that the employee must be included as a stakeholder-as he or she is the person achieving success and satisfaction or, in other words, well-being.…”

The Determinants of Students’ Well‐being in Secondary Vocational Schools in Kosovo and Macedonia

“…Well-being is commonly considered as an outcome of the quality of life (Baumann et al, 2014). In the same manner, well-being in school can be related to the quality of the school and experience in the school.…”

“…In the same manner, well-being in school can be related to the quality of the school and experience in the school. Students' well-being has been found to be crucial for learning motivation, for the effectiveness of learning, and for the quality of life and psychological health later in life (Fredrickson, 2001;Baumann et al, 2014). Schools are found to play an important role in students' life satisfaction and overall well-being (Huebner et al, 1998;Lambert et al, 2014).…”

“…Children's experience in school may significantly affect their future life prospects, their views of learning, their social interactions and their relationships with their peers (Fredrickson, 2001;Baumann et al, 2014). Hence, the issue of students' well-being has been in the forefront of psychological research for several decades.…”