The school-to-work transition:: a multitheoretical and longitudinal model

In order to study the correlational and causal relationships which link the antecedents, the process, and the results of the school-to-work transition, a longitudinal research (18 months) was performed with a sample of 123 engineering students during the last semester of their academic program. A multidimensional theoretical approach allowed to show, with the use of structural equations, that the intention to find a job (antecedent) resulted essentially from the perceived behavioral control and the social norm associated with such a project, and predicted the efficiency of the job search activity (process) which, itself, significantly determined the objective and the subjective quality (result) of the obtained job. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and of possible preventive interventions with persons who have to cope with a school-to-work transition.