The Effect of Self-Efficacy on the Work Readiness of Students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, UPN “Veteran” East Java, With Internship Experience as a Mediating Variable

Abstract

The decreasing rate of graduate employment among students of the Faculty of Economics and Business at UPN “Veteran” East Java has become an important issue, highlighting the need to strengthen students’ work readiness. This study investigates how self-efficacy influences work readiness, with internship experience serving as a mediating variable. The research focuses on students from the 2022 cohort of the Faculty of Economics and Business, UPN “Veteran” East Java. This research adopted a quantitative design involving 90 respondents selected through purposive sampling. Primary data were gathered using a questionnaire and analyzed through the Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) approach with the assistance of SmartPLS software. The results demonstrate that self-efficacy positively contributes to students’ work readiness. In addition, internship experience acts as a mediator in the relationship between self-efficacy and work readiness. These findings indicate that students who possess stronger confidence in their capabilities and gain meaningful internship experience tend to be better prepared to enter the workforce.