The effects of career adaptability on intended academic persistence: The mediating role of academic satisfaction

Dental students' perception of their educational environment in relation to their satisfaction with dentistry major: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Students' perception of their educational environment and satisfaction with their major can reveal the extent of their readiness to practice their profession after graduation. This study aimed to evaluate dental students' perception of their educational environment and satisfaction with their major in dentistry, as well as the relationship between these two factors.

METHODS

An online survey was conducted in 2022 among first- to fourth-year students across 11 dental schools in Korea. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) and Academic Major Satisfaction Scale (AMSS) were used to measure the students' perception of the educational environment and satisfaction with their major in dentistry, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 539 students participated in the survey (response rate = 18.1%). The overall mean scores of the DREEM and AMSS were 125.03 (maximum score 200) and 22.01 (maximum score 30), respectively. Fourth-year students had the lowest scores in the overall DREEM, DREEM subscales (excluding students' perceptions of atmosphere), and AMSS. The overall DREEM scores and all DREEM subscales showed statistically significant positive and moderate correlations with AMSS (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Using the DREEM, we identified areas that need improvement and the academic year (fourth year) that require proactive support. Considering the positive correlation between all DREEM subscales and the AMSS, measures to comprehensively improve the educational environment are needed to improve dental students' satisfaction with their major.

Assessing factor structure and reliability of the career adaptability scale in students with special educational needs

Despite the importance of career guidance and life planning education in helping students' career development, considerably limited research has been done to provide a good educational assessment to identify SEN students' strengths and weaknesses of career adaptability. This study aimed to assess the factor structure of the career adaptability scale in mainstream secondary students with special educational needs. The results support adequate reliabilities of the total scale and subscales of the CAAS-SF among over 200 SEN students. The results also support the four-factor structure of the career adaptability construct in assessing career concern, control, curiosity and confidence. We also found its measurement invariance across gender at the scalar invariance level. The positive and significant correlation patterns between boys' and girls' career adaptability and its sub-dimensions with self-esteem are similar. Overall, this study support that the CAAS-SF is a good measure with adequate psychometric properties for assessing and developing practical career guidance and life planning activities and programs for SEN students to support their career development needs.

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale–Short Form: Validation among Portuguese University Students and Workers

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) was recently reduced to a briefer 12-items version, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Short Form (CAAS-SF). Considering its advantages in long protocols, we validated CAAS-SF for the Portuguese context. Participants were 314 university students (17–47 years old, Mage = 21.50, SDage = 4.32, 82.8% females), and 899 working adults (17–66 years old, Mage = 40.14, SDage = 11.95, 76.8% females). Sociodemographic, career adaptability, vocational identity, and life satisfaction measures were applied. Confirmatory factor analyses supported CAAS-SF four-factor hierarchical structure, Cronbach alpha estimates supported CAAS-SF good reliability, and Pearson correlations indicated positive associations with CAAS, vocational identity, and life satisfaction. Multigroup analyses indicated CAAS-SF adequate configural invariance, full metric and scalar invariance across genders, and partial scalar invariance across students and workers’ groups. These findings support CAAS-SF usage as a valid and reliable measure to assess career adaptability with Portuguese university students and workers both in research and practice.

Understanding the serial mediating effects of career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy between parental autonomy support and academic engagement in Chinese secondary vocational students

This study investigated new avenues for understanding the association between parental autonomy support and academic engagement among Chinese secondary vocational students based on Self-Determination Theory and Career Construction Theory. We highlighted the mediator role of career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between parental autonomy support and academic engagement. Using self-reported data from 1,930 secondary vocational students in a city in Central China, we performed correlation analysis and mediation analysis by using SPSS and Mplus. The results revealed that parental autonomy support was positively associated with students’ academic engagement. Moreover, as an adaptability resource and adapting response, career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy played mediating roles between parental autonomy support and academic engagement. These findings offered crucial empirical evidence for understanding the association between parental support and academic engagement among Chinese secondary vocational students. Meanwhile, it also validated the application of Career Construction Theory in a sample of secondary vocational students in China and provided constructive insights for implementing diverse support measures to boost their academic and career development.

A Multiple Mediational Meta-Analysis of the Influence of Proactive Personality on Subjective Career Success at the Career Exploration Stage

Drawing on the career construction theory model of adaptation, this meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) examines the effects of proactive personality on the subjective career success of adolescents and emerging adults. We identified 46 studies that covered 52 independent samples and 24,092 participants through literature retrieval. Based on these studies, we created an integrative model linking proactive personality with career adaptability, student career construction, and subjective career success. The results of the meta-analysis showed that all bivariate relationships among proactive personality, career adaptability, student career construction, and subjective career success were significantly positive. The results of the MASEM indicated that career adaptability intervened in the relationship between proactive personality and subjective career success, but student career construction, as a suppressor, carried out the negative association between proactive personality, career adaptability and subjective career success in the sequence of adaptation. We also discuss the research implications and provide directions for future research.

Proactive Personality and Career Adaptability of Chinese Female Pre-Service Teachers in Primary Schools: The Role of Calling

Career adaptability has attracted extensive attention from international scholars as one of the important factors predicting the future sustainability of individuals. Proactive personality and calling have a positive influence on individual career development and life satisfaction, with reference to promoting the sustainable development of individuals. This study focuses on the positive effects of career adaptability and calling on shaping female primary school pre-service teachers and provides suggestions for training excellent elementary school teachers and building quality primary education. This study investigated the relationship between proactive personality, calling, and career adaptability among 707 female pre-service elementary school teachers in Chinese universities. The results showed that proactive personality positively predicts calling and that proactive personality and calling positively predict career adaptability. Calling partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and career adaptability. Therefore, it is possible to enhance calling by cultivating the proactive personality of female pre-service teachers in elementary schools, thus further promoting the career adaptability of this group. On this basis, effective strategies should be adopted in the future to improve the career adaptability of female pre-service teachers in elementary schools for the sustainable development of this group.

The Role of Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Happiness

Careers are a reality of life that need to be considered as multi-dimensional in today’s modern societies. Choosing a career is a complex process that coincides with high school and university ages, creating psycho-social stress. Considering the literature, the effects of different environmental factors have been revealed in separate studies. This study examines both individual and environmental factors together. By adopting a quantitative research method, we collected cross-sectional data through online questionnaires from 1130 university students. The association of family influence and academic satisfaction with happiness through career decision self-efficacy was meaningful using gender, age, income, and parents’ education as control variables. Family influence and academic satisfaction were positively correlated with career decision self-efficacy and happiness. In conclusion, we found that family influence and support, students’ work, and academic satisfaction are positively significant in terms of the career process and happiness. It was understood that the career reality should be considered with a holistic view that includes family, school, and work experience.

The Impact of Positive Youth Development Attributes and Life Satisfaction on Academic Well-Being: A Longitudinal Mediation Study

While research studies revealed that positive youth development (PYD) attributes have beneficial impact on adolescent developmental outcomes, whether and how PYD qualities are related to academic well-being (such as academic stress and academic satisfaction) are unclear. Based on a longitudinal study (N = 2,312 secondary school students; Mage = 12.54 ± 0.68; 51% female) in Hong Kong, the present study tested a longitudinal mediation model in which it was hypothesized that PYD qualities predicted life satisfaction, academic stress, and academic satisfaction, with satisfaction with life mediating the influence of PYD qualities on academic well-being. Results showed that PYD qualities positively predicted academic satisfaction but negatively predicted academic stress over time. While life satisfaction partially mediated the influence of PYD attributes on academic satisfaction, it fully mediated the influence of PYD attributes on academic stress. The present study supports the proposed conceptual model and underscores the role of PYD qualities in academic well-being through the mediation of life satisfaction.

Male student nurses need more support: Understanding the determinants and consequences of career adaptability in nursing college students

BACKGROUND

To better understand nursing students' high attrition rates, especially for male student nurses, it is important to understand their academic satisfaction and compare it based on gender.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the relationships between proactive personality, core self- evaluations, types of support (emotional/instrumental/informational support), career adaptability, and academic satisfaction in nursing college students using the career construction theory.

DESIGN

This study uses a cross-sectional design.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

1062 students recruited from one health vocational college in northwest China completed questionnaires measuring proactive personality, core self-evaluations, emotional/instrumental/informational support, career adaptability, and academic satisfaction. Data was analyzed by structural equation modeling, and mediation and moderation analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Proactive personality (Beta = 0.24, p < 0.001), core self-evaluations (Beta = 0.31, p < 0.001) and informational support (Beta = 0.21, p < 0.001) were positively correlated with career adaptability, and career adaptability was positively (Beta = 0.43, p < 0.001) associated with academic satisfaction. Career adaptability mediates the relationships between proactive personality, core self-evaluations, informational support and academic satisfaction. For male student nurses, emotional support (Beta = 0.31, p < 0.01) has a positive association with career adaptability.

CONCLUSIONS

In nursing students, personal features (e.g., proactive personality, core self-evaluations) and supporting materials (e.g., informational support) have a positive association with career adaptability, and career adaptability has a mediating role in the relationships. Male student nurses need extra emotional support to promote their academic satisfaction. Targeted interventions may improve nursing college students' academic satisfaction.

High-School Satisfaction Scale (H-Sat Scale): Evaluation of Contextual Satisfaction in Relation to High-School Students' Life Satisfaction

Recent literature on positive psychology underlines the crucial role of schools to create a psychologically healthy environment and to set programs and strategies fostering adolescents’ well-being. The aim of the present study is to validate a scale that measures scholastic satisfaction since a scientific evaluation and interventions on school satisfaction can help professionals to support adolescents’ positive development and school adjustment. We adapted the College Satisfaction Scale (CSS) and confirmed the previous five-dimensional structure also in a high school students’ sample (n = 792). The High-school Satisfaction Scale (H-Sat Scale) evaluates five dimensions of school satisfaction: appropriateness of choice (CH), quality of school services (SE), relationships with classmates (RE), effectiveness of study habits (ST) and usefulness for a future career (CA). The questionnaire consists of 20 items; it showed good psychometric features and, consistent with previous literature, confirmed its validity in relation to life satisfaction and quality of life of high school students. Compared with previous scales, the H-Sat evaluates two innovative areas of school satisfaction since it gives a measure of satisfaction in career path (appropriateness of choice and usefulness for future career) could help school counsellors to set interventions in this field.