Psychological career resources and coping resources of the young unemployed African graduate: An exploratory study

Orientation: Youth unemployment in South Africa presents unique challenges to the young unemployed graduate and requires a range of psychological coping capacities from the young adult. Research purpose: This study explored the relationship between the psychological career resources (as measured by the Psychological Career Resources Inventory) and coping resources (as measured by the Coping Resources Inventory) of a sample of 196 young unemployed African graduates. Motivation for study: There is an increasing need for career counsellors and practitioners to explore the psychological attributes and career-related resources that young people employ or require to help them deal with the challenges posed by unemployment during the school-to-work transition phase of their lives. Research design, approach and method: A survey design and quantitative statistical procedures were used to achieve the research objective. Convenience sampling was used on a population of 500 unemployed graduate black people who attended a 12-week Work Readiness Programme (39% response rate). Main findings: Multiple regression analyses indicated that dimensions of psychological career resources contribute significantly to explaining the proportion of variance in the participants’ coping resources scores. Practical implications: The insights derived from the findings can be employed by career counselors and practitioners to construct a more comprehensive career framework for the individual in the school-to-work transition phase. Contribution/value-add: The findings add valuable new knowledge that can be used to inform career services concerned with guiding and counselling young graduates in the school-to-work transition phase.