BUILDING A GLOBAL CAREER: LEARNING AGILITY AS A KEY FACTOR BETWEEN SELF EFFICACY AND CAREER PLANNING OF VILLAGE YOUTH WITH PLS ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of learning agility as a mediating variable in the relationship between self-efficacy and career planning in rural youth who participated in overseas internship training. In facing the challenges of the global job market, psychological readiness is an important aspect besides technical skills. With a quantitative approach and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis method, this study involved 201 training participants from LPK Seiko Tasikmalaya. The instruments used have been validated and include measurements of self-efficacy, learning agility, and career planning. The results showed that self-efficacy has a significant positive effect on career planning, and learning agility partially mediates the relationship. These findings indicate that youth with high self-efficacy tend to have better learning agility, which in turn improves the quality of their career planning. This study provides a theoretical contribution to the career development literature, especially by raising the context of rural youth which is still rarely studied. Practically, the results of this study can be the basis for developing a job training curriculum that not only focuses on technical skills but also pays attention to psychological readiness to increase global competitiveness. Simultaneous enhancement of learning agility and self-efficacy can be an effective strategy to expand rural youth access to the international labor market.