Self-Management in Preventing Quiet Quitting through Career Readiness among Generation Z University Students

Abstract

Quiet quitting has increasingly been discussed as a form
of psychological disengagement characterized by minimum
effort and limited initiative, including among Generation Z
preparing to enter the workforce. This study examines whether
career readiness mediates the relationship between selfmanagement and quiet quitting among students of the Faculty of
Islamic Economics and Business, Universitas Islam Negeri
Sumatera Utara. A quantitative explanatory-correlational design
was applied to 91 active students of the 2022 cohort, selected
through purposive sampling. Data were collected using a fivepoint Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using partial least
squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS.
Self-management had a significant positive effect on career
readiness and a significant negative effect on quiet quitting.
Career readiness, however, had no significant direct effect on
quiet quitting and did not mediate the relationship between selfmanagement and quiet quitting. These findings indicate that selfmanagement reduces quiet quitting mainly through a direct
pathway. Theoretically, the study highlights the central role of
internal self-regulation; practically, it suggests that universities
should strengthen students’ self-management, time management,
and intrinsic motivation to sustain engagement and career
preparation.