The psychological factors influencing youth moving from unemployment to employment in South Africa

African Journal of Career Development

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The psychological factors influencing youth moving from unemployment to employment in South Africa
 
Creator Pereira, Daphne J. Joosub, Noorjehan Basson, Pieter
 
Subject Psychology youth unemployment; youth employment; kinship support; identity formation; job search; South Africa.
Description Background: Youth unemployment in South Africa has increased significantly over the past decade. There are, however, stories of success in securing employment. Exploring factors influencing these successes is important because they may inform interventions that have the potential to increase youth employment.Objectives: This study explored the experiences of four black female, South African youth who successfully transitioned from unemployment to employment.Methods: Utilising a qualitative design methodology and the inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, data were gathered from four first-time employed participants regarding their experiences of progressing from unemployment to employment.Results: Four main themes emerged from the analysis that highlighted the psychological impact of looking for employment among South African youth. The themes examined the value participants placed on tertiary education, the loss of identity caused by the negative consequences of job-search rejection, the positive impact of kin support and the influence of the participants’ psychological strengths. The final theme elucidated the participants’ positive identity formation post-employment.Conclusion: The results from this study underscored the value of kin support, the use of specific psychological strengths in securing employment and the timing of identity formation in the school-to-work transition phase for South African youth.Contribution: This study may contribute to the existing body of literature on youth unemployment, understanding the psychological impact of the journey to employment and the factors that contribute to securing employment.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-09-26
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ajcd.v6i1.118
 
Source African Journal of Career Development; Vol 6, No 1 (2024); 9 pages 2617-7471 2709-7420
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/118/595 https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/118/596 https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/118/597 https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/118/598
 
Coverage Gauteng South Africa 2020-2023 Youth; Female; Black
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Daphne J. Pereira, Noorjehan Joosub, Pieter Basson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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