Assessing career-related outcomes of the ‘Personal Initiative for Academic and Career Success' training programme among South African students

Marcus, Kauthar

Assessing career-related outcomes of the ‘Personal Initiative for Academic and Career Success' training programme among South African students

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Organisational Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Commerce

Abstract

To address the gaps in career readiness often seen among South African university students, a certified facilitator adapted an evidence-based Personal Initiative Training for Entrepreneurship into a Personal Initiative Training for Academic and Career Success among university students. It seeks to equip students with the skills to manage challenges and make informed career decisions through enhanced proactive behaviours. The programme includes structured activities focused on goal setting, problem-solving, and career planning. The research presented in this dissertation sought to investigate the programme's effectiveness in increasing university students' general self-efficacy, career planning behaviours, and perceived future employability. It followed a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design: N = 35 student volunteers participated once a week in full-day training. They provided data on the variables of interest via self-report surveys immediately prior to the initial training session, three weeks later, i.e., immediately after the last training session, and again a further two months later. An additional N = 20 university students who did not participate in training during the study period formed a control group and provided data at the same time as training participants before and two months after the training. The study utilised repeated measures analysis of variance to assess changes in self-efficacy, career planning behaviour and perceived employability from pre-test to follow-up between training and control group participants. Unlike the control group, the training group exhibited significant improvements in all three variables, indicating that the training had successfully fostered greater self-confidence, enhanced career planning behaviours, and positive perceptions of future employability. The group of participants who had not participated in the training displayed no significant changes. The results supported the effectiveness of the personal initiative training in improving the three variables of interest. They aligned with existing literature on career development interventions, emphasising the importance of self-initiative and goal setting in enhancing employability. The findings suggest that the Personal Initiative Training for Academic and Career Success can play a crucial role in improving career readiness and in preparing students for challenges of the job market. Overall, the research suggests that it is possible to support students' career development through a structured, proactive training programme. The findings also highlight the potential of personal initiative training as an effective intervention in higher education settings. Further research is recommended to explore the long-term effects of the intervention and its scalability across different student populations and academic contexts.