Design and validation of the Employability Factors Scale (EFE) in work integration social enterprises

Abstract

Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISE) have as an objective the social and labour insertion of people in situation and/or risk of social exclusion, offering them training and insertion itineraries that improve their employability. In this context, it is necessary to have rigorous tools to evaluate employability with the purpose of systematizing the processes, guiding the integration programs, and evaluating the impact and the results that these have on people. Therefore, the objective of this study is to present the design and validation process of the Employability Factors Scale (EFE). To do so, the starting point was the construction of the scale prototype that was subject to validation through item performance and reliability and validity analyses. A factorial study was carried out, using the principal component analysis (PCA) and a case analysis of ten people. The results show adequate values in the different analyses and the procedure has allowed to better specify the factors that make up the scale prototype and to add them to the final version. In conclusion, the final version of the Employability Factors Scale is presented as a reliable and valid instrument that can be used for the construction of personal projects and the evaluation of their impact.