Self-rated competences and future vocational success: a longitudinal study

Today, a major goal in higher education is the advancement of students' vocational competences. To assess the extent to which this goal is met, both competences acquired during university studies and later vocational success need to be measured. In our study, we collected self-ratings of competences (t1) and indicators of vocational success (t2) in 210 alumni of the Freie Universität Berlin. Using structural equation models along with this longitudinal data, we found that self-ratings of competences accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in different measures of vocational success five years later.