Relationship between Employability Skills and Career Adaptability among Agricultural Students of Bensina and Arak Universities, Iran

This descriptive correlational study was conducted to investigate the relationship between employability skills and career adaptability among agricultural students. The study population was 1300 senior bachelor agricultural students of Bu-Ali Sina University and Arak University in the academic year 1396-1397. According to the table of Krejcie and Morgan, 341 of them were selected through proportional stratified sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Validity of the questionnaire was approved based on the opinions of faculty members at Bu-Ali Sina University. A pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability of the instrument, which the Cronbach's alpha values for the main scales of the questionnaire, was at the appropriate level (in the range of 0.80 to 0.93). The collected data was analyzed using Canonical Correlation Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling technique by the help of SPSS and AMOS software. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between employability skills and career adaptability. Notably, problem solving skills were significantly related to the four sub-scales of career adaptability (career concern, career control, career confidence and career curiosity). The results of the study reveal the importance of developing students' employability skills in order to strengthen their career adaptability. The findings have implications for the development of employability skills and career adaptability.