Bridging the Academic Gap: Examining Academic Program Satisfaction and Perceived Employability Among Psychology Graduates

Abstract

Perceived employability has become a central concern for psychology graduates navigating a competitive labor market, particularly in Pakistan, where the professional scope of psychology remains comparatively narrow. This study examined the relationship between academic program satisfaction and perceived employability among final-year and recently graduated psychology students. Using purposive convenience sampling, data were collected from 285 BS and MS/MPhil psychology students and recent graduates enrolled in universities across Islamabad, Pakistan. Academic program satisfaction was measured with the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and perceived employability with the Perceived Employability Scale (PES). Data were analyzed in SPSS using Pearson correlation, an independent-samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Academic program satisfaction was strongly and positively correlated with perceived employability (r = .603, p < .01). MS/MPhil students reported significantly higher perceived employability than BS students (p = .001), whereas the difference in program satisfaction was not statistically significant (p = .080). Both variables differed significantly across BS final-semester, MS/MPhil final-semester, and recently graduated groups, with the highest scores among recent graduates. These findings indicate that satisfaction with one's academic program is closely tied to graduates' confidence in their own employability, with implications for career guidance within psychology curricula in Pakistan.