Personal Sustainability and Sustainable Employability: Perspective of Vocational Education Students

Abstract Sustainability is related to diverse relationships that exist in the world as well as to the attitudes evolving in a person’s diverse life activities, including education and work. In the sustainable employability model, there is a pedagogical idea of experience and self-identity and individual values revealing the level of personal sustainability. The present study explores vocational education students’ personal sustainability as a predictor to sustainable employability in the future. The study involved 151 vocational education students’ self-assessment of valuable (sustainable) personal characteristics, their attitude to being honest, helpful and responsible. The results have shown that the most valuable self-characteristics are being good tempered, helpful and kind. Students’ attitudes to being responsible and honest change during school years – 1st and 2nd year students do not consider them important values but senior students acknowledge them. It means that their lived experiences have promoted personal sustainability development ensuring more sustainable employability in the future.