Navigating employability

This dissertation examines how individuals navigate employability across different stages of their working life by exploring its determinants, outcomes, and contextual factors. Employability is conceptualized as the continuous ability to obtain, maintain, or create work through the optimal use of competences. Across four empirical studies, the dissertation investigates factors that contribute to employability and examines how employability relates to work outcomes in different educational, organizational, and cultural contexts. The studies address the role of 21st-century skills, social media use for professional development, learning climate facilitation, learning value of the job, turnover intention and subjective career success. In addition, contextual factors including motivation, dark leadership, and occupational future time perspective are examined. Drawing on longitudinal, cross-national, and mixed-method research approaches, the dissertation demonstrates that employability is a dynamic process shaped by the interplay between individual capabilities, learning opportunities, organizational environments, and broader contextual factors. The findings provide insights for employability research as well as for higher education and professional HR practice.