Empowering future educators: how school connectedness relates to employability through future work self salience and learning engagement

The employability of vocational preschool education students is essential for both individual career development and the broader quality of early childhood education. This study examines the associations between school connectedness and the employability of vocational preschool education students, focusing on the mediating roles of future work self-salience and learning engagement. A total of 537 vocational preschool education students (M = 19.17, SD = 0.86, 96.3% female) participated in this study. Participants completed the School Connectedness Scale, Future Work Self-Salience Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, and Employability Scale for Preschool Education Students. Structural equation modeling in Mplus8.3 was used to test the hypothesized chain mediation model. The results revealed that (1) school connectedness is positively associated with employability; (2) Both future work self-salience and learning engagement mediate the relationship between school connectedness and employability; (3) future work self-salience and learning engagement act as sequential mediators between school connectedness and employability. These findings suggest that a connected and supportive school environment is positively related to students’ employability by encouraging a clear career orientation and active learning engagement.