Disparities in Career Attitudes among Postgraduate Students

The preparation of students’ future career trajectories is a dynamic process in relation with social and educational determinants. Our objective is to analyse the associations between generic employment capabilities, career attitudes and related factors among postgraduate students. All masters’ students registered at the Centre for Documentation and Information on Higher Education (CEDIES) database in Luxembourg were contacted by post to participate in an online questionnaire. The five point scale questionnaire was scored as follows: 1) Dynamic Career Attitudes (DCA); 2) Employability Soft-Skills (ESS); 3) Search for Work Self-Efficacy (SWSES); 4) Quality of Life domain Autonomy (QLA); and 5) Socio-demographic characteristics. The data were analysed using bivariate tests, correlations and multiple linear regression models. 481 of the volunteers (26.4 years; SD=5.5) were predominantly women, Luxembourgish, unemployed and had less than or equal to six months of job experience. The higher the ESS, SWSES and QLA scores, the higher the DCA score was. Nationality, being unemployed, having less than six months job experience and being in the first year of a Master’s degree programme were associated with a lower dynamic career attitude score. The Dynamic Career Attitudes scale seems to be an appropriate instrument to evaluate the efficacy of the university career services programme.