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Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i8.8399
1
Article
Factors influencing career adaptation: The positive effects of mastery goal
orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy
Baiyan Du, Jingcheng Wang, Yuzhe Qian, Jun Cheng*
College of Teacher Education, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324003, China
* Corresponding author: Jun Cheng, 32025@qzc.edu.cn
Abstract: In the highly competitive employment environment, most college students have
left their jobs for a short time after employment, and attention should be paid to students’
career adaptation. However, the further influence of skilled goal orientation, social support
and career-determined self-efficacy on college students’ career adaptation needs to be
confirmed. This study analyzes the effects of these factors on college students’ career
adaptation. This study aims to analyze the impact of mastery goal orientation, social support,
and vocational decision self-efficacy on career adaptation among 224 university students in
East China. The results indicated that university students generally exhibit positive levels of
mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and overall career
adaptation. Female students demonstrate higher levels of mastery goal orientation, social
support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation compared to male students.
As students progress in their academic years, their levels of mastery goal orientation, social
support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation tend to increase. Students
majoring in humanities and social sciences have higher level than students majoring in
science and engineering in all factors. Students majoring in humanities and social sciences
exhibit more optimism in all factors compared to students in science and technology fields.
The relationships among these factors show positive correlations. Mastery goal orientation,
social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy all have positive effects on career
adaptation. Among these, family support stands out as the most influential subordinate factor
of social support on career adaptation. The most influential subordinate factor of vocational
decision self-efficacy on career adaptation is conscious decision-making. Therefore, male,
lower grade, science and engineering college students are the groups that need to be paid
attention to in improving career adaptation. Skilled goal orientation, family support and
conscious decision making have a better effect on the improvement of career adaptation.
These results can provide important reference information for universities, counselors and
college students in the training of career planning, and theoretically enrich the relevant
research on college students’ career adaptation, and provide certain enlightenment for future
researchers.
Keywords: career adaptation; mastery goal orientation; social support; vocational decision
self-efficacy
1. Introduction
With the rapid changes in the employment environment, the issue of
employment for college students is becoming a social problem. According to a
survey conducted by MyCOS (2022) on college graduates from 2017 to 2021 in
China, the turnover rate within six months after graduation has been consistently
high. 43% of the respondents left their jobs due to dissatisfaction with salary,
benefits, and treatment. 34% of them left because they felt unsatisfied with the
CITATION
Du B, Wang J, Qian Y, Cheng J.
(2024). Factors influencing career
adaptation: The positive effects of
mastery goal orientation, social
support, and vocational decision self-
efficacy. Journal of Infrastructure,
Policy and Development. 8(8): 8399.
https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i8.8399
ARTICLE INFO
Received: 5 March 2024
Accepted: 5 August 2024
Available online: 28 August 2024
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2024 by author(s).
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and
Development is published by EnPress
Publisher, LLC. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
2
personal development opportunities in their jobs. Additionally, 24% of the
respondents left due to high job demands and significant work pressure (MyCOS,
2022). This indicates that many college students are not only facing the question of
whether they can successfully find employment, but also the issue of lower job
quality even if they do find employment. Furthermore, due to the drastic growth in
higher education, there is an imbalance between the number of college graduates and
job vacancies, which undermines the guarantee of quality education credentials for
graduates (Moreau and Leathwood, 2006). Faced with a challenging job market,
college students may also experience negative issues during their academic and
career-related development, such as academic fatigue, low motivation, long-term
dissatisfaction with life after graduation, and low quality of life (Bang and Gyu,
2018; Kim, 2015; Singla et al., 2022).
Therefore, career development is of fundamental interest to college students. In
order to ensure high-quality employment for college students, researchers have
proposed that occupational adaptation is a consequential factor for successful career
development (O’Connell et al., 2007). Wetstone and Rice (2023) argue that
occupational adaptation for college students refers to their ability to cope with career
development challenges, career transitions, and unpredictable crises that may arise
after employment (Wetstone and Rice, 2023). Yong (2020) suggests that college
students’ occupational adaptation not only signifies successful employment after
graduation but also represents their ability to adapt to current societal demands and
the contemporary job market (Yong, 2020).
Together, these studies reveal that successful employment is not only about
obtaining a position, but also about continuous development and adaptation in the
workplace. However, it is necessary to consider the process factors of college
students before work, which involves the orientation of individuals’ intrinsic
motivation in task processes or challenges (Li and Shi, 2023; Pierard et al., 2022;
Tolentino et al., 2014). Goal-oriented individuals are conducive to completing task
requirements and efficiency in a short period of time, while skilled goal-oriented
individuals will focus on the development process of proficiency, and have an active
mindset of challenge in order to achieve and understand goals (Park and Yang, 2020;
Soltani et al., 2022). For college students who are in the stage of vocational ability
reserve, to improve vocational adaptation requires that college students pay attention
to exploring the career process itself during their long career, rather than taking the
career as a short-term task and goal (Bae and Kim, 2019; Faadhilah, 2019; Li and
Shi, 2023). Moreover, the potential advantages of skilled goal-oriented on college
students’ occupational environment adaptation are discussed deeply, which is an area
neglected in the past research.
Secondly, the resource help that students seek through social relations and the
career decision they make during career exploration will be important processes that
affect students’ career adaptation (Abele and Spurk, 2009; Park et al., 2021). Social
relations involve students’ family relations, friends’ relations, and relationships with
important people around them. The emotional value, career information and
experience they provide can help students understand the requirements of their target
career field, reduce the pressure on students in the career environment, and enable
students to establish a positive mentality in the career adjustment process (Cohen and
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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Hoberman, 1983; Newman et al., 2021; Park et al., 2021; Schoon and Henseke,
2023). In addition, students’ efforts in the career process, such as taking the initiative
to collect information and solve problems, and consciously making clear decisions,
will also help them enhance their confidence, make reasonable evaluation of career
decisions, and finally adapt to the role and requirements of the career (Betz et al.,
1996; Baek and Lee, 2019). Although the support of these social relationships and
the self-efficacy of career decision have been proven to contribute to students’ career
planning. However, in order to improve the employment quality of students, it is
necessary to understand which specific social resources can directly and effectively
improve career adaptation (Li and Shi, 2023). In addition, the factors that can better
improve students’ career adaptation after students have the efficacy of information
collection, conscious decision making and problem solving have yet to be confirmed.
The subjects of this study are college students in eastern China. The purpose is
to analyze the effects of college students’ proficient goal orientation, social support
and career-determined self-efficacy on career adjustment. The level of proficiency in
goal orientation, social support, career decision self-efficacy and career adaptation
was observed. It provides new insights for college students’ career adaptation.
Previous studies have shown that goal orientation, social support and career-
determined self-efficacy have a positive and close relationship with career
adjustment, but there is still a lack of relevant research on the impact of these factors
on college students’ career adjustment. This study can solve the research gap, bring
some enlightenment for the employment guidance of colleges and universities,
enrich and deepen the existing vocational adaptation theory.
2. Literature review
2.1. Career adaptability
Career adaptability is a self-regulatory ability to cope with changes in the
environment and circumstances, and it can be enhanced through the interaction
between personal and external factors. Initially, career adaptability was proposed by
Super and Knasel (1981) to better explain the vocational development process during
adulthood. Subsequently, Pratzner and Ashley (1985) defined career adaptability as
the ability of individuals to adapt to career demands or change a career to meet
personal needs. Currently, the concept of adaptability has been developed to the
social significance level, defined as the ability to actively coordinate between
individual psychological, intrinsic needs, and external social environments
(Wetstone and Rice, 2023). Zhou et al. (2023) argue that career adaptability not only
involves changing oneself in a given environment but also includes the ability to
change the environment subjectively in order to feel satisfied. Xu et al. (2023)
propose that career adaptability involves having a planned attitude towards the future
and exploring oneself and the environment.
The career adaptability of college students is mainly reflected in their readiness
to flexibly respond to career requirements. Gu et al. (2023) consider career
adaptability as a core element in the field of employment for college students,
primarily dealing with the degree of preparedness for predictable and unpredictable
challenges in employment. Agoes Salim et al. (2023) argue that career adaptability is
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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a concept that needs to be addressed for college students to maintain a stable life and
sustained employment after graduation because it involves students’ early
exploration of changes in the job market to enhance their flexible coping abilities. In
other words, career adaptability is the ability to maintain stability and respond
effectively to the external environment even in uncertain circumstances.
According to the concept proposed by Wang et al. (2023), when faced with the
need to make career choices, students with high career adaptability have the ability
to assess future events and control unexpected situations. Jessie et al. (2012) argue
that college students are in a period of transitioning from being students to
professionals. Graduates, in particular, are about to leave their previous roles and
begin the process of adapting to and performing professional tasks (Koen et al.,
2012). Therefore, students with high career adaptability are also likely to predict
good job quality. Xu et al. (2023) mention in their research that career adaptability is
positively related to job satisfaction, meaning that college students with good career
adaptability actively accept challenges and changes, maintaining their stability and
achieving desirable outcomes in their careers.
College students’ career adaptability not only signifies their employment
success after graduation but also represents their ability to adapt well to the current
societal changes and the employment environment of their time. It can be seen as a
factor that contributes to quality employment, indicating that college students secure
job positions that align with their academic qualifications and competencies, and that
reflect their personal and societal value.
2.2. Mastery goal orientation
Goal orientation is a motivational concept related to self-achievement and self-
regulation in learning, and individuals with goal orientation make tasks or learning
activities meaningful by combining them with their own cognition (He et al., 2022).
According to the definition by Dweck and Leggett (1988), goal orientation and the
resulting responses and interpretations vary based on individual goals. These goals
can be categorized into mastery goal orientation and performance goal orientation.
Mastery goal orientation refers to individuals’ willingness to actively embrace new
challenges and improve their abilities during task processes, while performance goal
orientation refers to individuals’ tendency to avoid negative reactions to their own
abilities or to seek external positive reactions by performing tasks. Therefore,
performance goals and mastery goals are mutually exclusive concepts, especially
when individuals with performance goal orientation face obstacles during task
processes, it might lead to decreased performance, avoidance of challenges, and
triggering feelings of helplessness. On the other hand, individuals with mastery goal
orientation are driven by exploration and curiosity, and they engage in challenging
tasks, even in the face of failure, with a problem-solving focus, summarizing
experiences and feedback (Elliott and Dweck, 1988). Individuals with mastery goals
actively enhance their career-related abilities, achieve personal efficiency growth,
and successfully promote self-regulatory strategies necessary for adapting to career
paths (Dweck, 1986).
Previous studies suggest that mastery goal orientation has a positive impact on
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career adaptability (Mei et al., 2021). Park and Yang (2020) propose that mastery
goals drive college students to flexibly seek coping strategies and solutions to
potential threats. In other words, in order to maintain continuous stability in
employment or career planning, individuals actively adjust their learning plans to
adapt to changing market demands and effectively deal with crises caused by
external changes (Park and Yang, 2020). Bae and Kim (2019) argue that college
students with mastery goal orientation not only focus on achieving good academic
performance but also engage in various learning activities to acquire knowledge and
skills that are relevant to their future careers. They have a strong desire to develop
their competencies and adapt to different career challenges. Furthermore, mastery
goal orientation is positively associated with career exploration, career decision-
making self-efficacy, and career adaptability (Park and Yang, 2020). Students with a
mastery goal orientation tend to have a proactive and adaptive career attitude,
actively exploring different career options and developing the necessary skills and
knowledge to succeed in their chosen field.
Research has also shown that mastery goal orientation is related to positive
career outcomes. For example, individuals with a mastery goal orientation are more
likely to experience higher job satisfaction and job performance (Park and Yang,
2020). This is because they are motivated by the intrinsic value of the work itself and
the opportunity for personal growth and development. They are more likely to
engage in continuous learning and improvement, which contributes to their success
in their careers.
In summary, career adaptability and mastery goal orientation are two important
constructs in the field of career development. Career adaptability refers to the ability
to adapt and thrive in changing career circumstances, while mastery goal orientation
reflects individuals’ motivation to acquire new knowledge and skills and achieve
mastery in their chosen field. These two constructs are closely related, as individuals
with a mastery goal orientation are more likely to develop the skills and adaptability
needed to navigate their careers successfully.
2.3. Social support
Social support refers to the sum of resources, emotional care, information, and
evaluation that individuals can obtain through social relationships. It can be
understood that when individuals cope with stress, they believe that external forces
will provide corresponding support. Initially, Baqutayan (2011) suggested that
external support for individuals can be divided into four aspects: emotional support,
informational support, instrumental support, and appraisal support. Emotional
support refers to others providing emotional value to help maintain emotional
stability. Instrumental support refers to the support of resources such as time,
material goods, and labor that individuals need. Informational support resolves
personal and environmental conflicts through externally provided information value.
Appraisal support involves positive feedback on one’s role and behavior (Baqutayan,
2011). Park (2016) further proposed that emotional, informational, instrumental, and
appraisal support for college students primarily come from friends, parents, teachers,
and other people in their surroundings. This also reflects that social support is a
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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subjective evaluation of the relationship between students and the people around
them (Park, 2016). This subjective evaluation can result in different satisfaction
outcomes based on the number or quality of the support provided. For example,
some people believe that having someone to support them is sufficient when facing
external threats. Others define social support based on the number of individuals
who support them (Parmentier et al., 2021; Sarason et al., 1983).
In empirical studies on social support and college students’ career development,
many researchers have identified social support as a contextual factor and reported
its significant impact on career development. Kang (2015) suggested that social
support provides positive actions related to students’ career development, generates
internal positive motivation to cope with threats and pressures, and has varying
degrees of influence on career adaptation under different levels of support from
family, friends, teachers, and schools. Fawehinmi and Yahya (2018) studied 188
college students to examine the causal relationship between social support and career
adaptability. Han (2019) confirmed the positive impact of social support on career
adaptation and suggested that universities need to provide diverse career
development experiences and help students gather diverse career development
information to enhance their abilities. Lee (2019) validated that social support is a
predictive factor for career adaptation, indicating that college students with higher
social support also have higher career adaptation. The sub-factor of social support,
family support, significantly influences career adaptability.
Based on the aforementioned studies, it can be concluded that social support is a
perceived evaluation of college students’ social relationships with the people around
them. It can generate internal positive factors to address external threats and has a
positive impact on career adaptation.
2.4. Career decision-making self-efficacy
Career decision-making self-efficacy originates from Bandura (1977) concept
of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s confidence in their ability to
accomplish specific tasks or work to achieve goals and can predict an individual’s
cognition, motivation, and behavior (Locke and Bandura, 1987). Subsequently, Betz
and Hackett (1981) applied the concept of self-efficacy to the career domain. They
believed that the judgment of one’s ability to perform actions significantly influences
human behavior. In other words, when individuals evaluate their own abilities to
achieve specific career goals, it can influence their behavioral outcomes (Betz and
Hackett, 1981). Taylor and Betz (1983) combined career decision-making with self-
efficacy and proposed a belief that individuals have about the tasks necessary to
make career decisions. Researchers gradually expanded this concept to study the
relationships among career identity, career interests, career decision-making, and
other factors. Therefore, career decision-making self-efficacy plays an important role
in individuals’ career development and can explain various psychological factors
related to career development, such as motivation, behavior, and attitudes.
Jiang et al. (2022) stated that the career decision-making process during college
involves compromise, decision-making, setting specific career goals, and preparing
detailed future plans to achieve those goals. However, challenges in employment,
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such as rapid economic development and job shortages, have become the main
obstacles for college graduates (Jiang et al., 2022). Therefore, career decision-
making self-efficacy needs to be emphasized. Taylor and Betz (1983) conducted a
study on 346 college students, and the results showed that students with higher
confidence in their career decision-making made more instances of career decisions
compared to those with lower levels of self-efficacy. Hou et al. (2019) believed that
career decision-making is a task for college students before employment, which is
related to establishing their own identity and achieving psychological and economic
independence. Therefore, having a strong sense of self-efficacy is an assessing and
driving factor before engaging in career-related behaviors.
The study by Storme et al. (2019) demonstrated that when students have high
career decision-making self-efficacy, they approach career-related tasks with a more
positive attitude. Park (2016) confirmed the significance of career decision-making
self-efficacy in college students’ career development by stating that self-efficacy
beliefs can influence career exploration, goal setting, and decision-making processes.
Students with higher levels of career decision-making self-efficacy are more likely to
engage in proactive career behaviors, have clearer career goals, and make more
informed career decisions (Park, 2016).
In summary, career decision-making self-efficacy refers to individuals’
confidence in their ability to make effective and informed career decisions. It plays a
crucial role in shaping individuals’ career development, influencing their motivation,
behavior, and attitudes towards their career goals. College students with higher
levels of career decision-making self-efficacy are more likely to engage in proactive
career exploration, have clearer career goals, and make informed decisions about
their future careers.
2.5. The present study
Research model and hypotheses
Based on the previous theoretical basis, proficiency goal orientation, social
support and career decision self-efficacy all have an impact on career adjustment.
Therefore, this study sets proficiency goal orientation, social support and career
decision self-efficacy as independent variables, and occupational adjustment as
dependent variables. Figure 1 shows the model for this study. And put forward the
following three research hypotheses:
Figure 1. Research model.
Research question 1: How do college students perceive social support,
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
8
proficient goal orientation, career-determined self-efficacy, and career adaptation?
Research question 2: How do proficiency goal orientation, social support and
career-determined self-efficacy affect college students’ career adaptation?
H1: Skilled goal orientation has a positive (+) effect on career adaptation.
H2: Social support has a positive (+) effect on occupational adaptation.
H3: Career-determined self-efficacy has a positive (+) effect on career
adaptation.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research subjects
According to the research results of Liu and Cui, the input and output efficiency
of universities in eastern China is higher than that of universities in other regions,
and the college students cultivated by them also have better career planning ability
than those in other regions (Cui, 2022; Liu, 2013). For this reason, purposive
sampling is adopted in this study to select samples, which means that researchers can
consciously select groups that can represent occupational abilities (Tongco, 2007).
Therefore, this study focuses on collecting data from college students in East China
by means of online questionnaire collection. After obtaining the help of
questionnaire collection from some college teachers in eastern China, 229
questionnaires were collected. Excluding non-responsive and invalid questionnaires,
224 questionnaires were finally available for analysis in this study. The final
population statistics are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Presents the demographic characteristics of the research participants.
Component
Number of people
Ratio
Gender
Male
110
49.1%
Female
114
50.9%
Grade
1
35
15.6%
2
57
25.4%
3
64
28.6%
4
68
30.4%
Professional Category
Humanities and Social Sciences
102
45.5%
Science and Engineering
122
54.5%
Total
224
100%
3.2. Research instruments
In the relevant studies on occupational adjustment, the influences of different
factors on occupational adjustment have been revealed (Wetstone and Rice, 2023;
Yong, 2020; Zhou et al., 2023). It can be seen that occupational adaptation has
always been considered as a structural relation of the dependent variable, and this
study also takes occupational adaptation as the dependent variable on the basis of
previous theories. The scale developed by Super and Knasel (1981) was used as the
tool of this study. There were 11 questions, all of which were Likert 5-degree scale,
and the Cronbach α of occupational adaptation measured in this study was 0.849.
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
9
In the study observing the influence on the dependent variable of career
adjustment, some leading researchers took proficiency goal orientation as the
predictor (Baek and Lee, 2019; Mei et al., 2021; Park and Yang, 2020). This study
will continue to use this relational structure to analyze the effect of skilled goal
orientation on occupational adjustment. The measurement tools of Button et al.
(1996) were used for a total of 10 questions. In this study, the proficient goal-
oriented Cronbach α was 0.808.
In the studies of Fawehinmi and Yahya (2018), Han (2019), Kang (2015) and
Lee (2019), the influence structure of social support on occupational adjustment was
proposed. Based on this, the study takes social support as an independent variable
and occupational adjustment as a dependent variable. The tools of Zimet et al. (1988)
were used to measure individuals perceived social support. It is composed of three
sub-factors: family, friends and significant others, with 4 questions each for a total of
12 questions. The Cronbach α of social support confirmed in this study is 0.888, the
Cronbach α of family support is 0.784, the Cronbach α of friend’s support is 0.791,
and the Cronbach α of significant others support is 0.760.
Chang (2017), Park (2016) and Storme et al. (2017) took career decision self-
efficacy as a major factor in predicting career adaptation. Therefore, this study takes
career decision-making self-efficacy as the independent variable and career
adaptation as the dependent variable. The questionnaire of Nunnally and Bernstein
(1994) has 13 questions and 3 sub-factors, including 6 questions of conscious
decision making, 4 questions of information collection, and 3 questions of problem
solving. In this study, the Cronbach α of career decision self-efficacy was 0.838, the
Cronbach α of conscious decision making was 0.791, the Cronbach α of information
collection was 0.782, and the Cronbach α of problem solving was 0.796. In Table 2,
the reliability and composition of skilled goal orientation, social support, career
decision self-efficacy, career adaptation are summarized.
Table 2. Instrument composition for mastery goal orientation, social support, career
decision self-efficacy, and occupational adaptation.
Variable
Number of items
Cronbach α
Mastery goal orientation
10
0.808
Social support
Family support
4
12
0.784
0.888
Friend support
4
0.791
Important person support
4
0.760
Career decision-making
self-efficacy
Awareness decision-making
6
13
0.791
0.838
Information collection
4
0.782
Problem solving
3
0.796
Career adaptability
11
0.849
3.3. Research programming
In this study, the collected data was analyzed by SPSS 25.0 program. First,
descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to understand the demographic
characteristics of the research participants. Second, the reliability of the
measurement tools was assessed through a validation of the confidence interval.
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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Third, descriptive statistical analysis was performed to calculate the mean, standard
deviation, kurtosis, and skewness of the research variables, investigating whether
they followed a normal distribution. Fourth, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
conducted to examine the differences in mastery goal orientation, social support,
career decision self-efficacy, and occupational adaptation based on the demographic
characteristics of college students. Fifth, correlation analysis was used to explore the
relationships among mastery goal orientation, social support, career decision self-
efficacy, and occupational adaptation. Finally, regression analysis was employed to
further investigate the influence of mastery goal orientation, social support, and
career decision self-efficacy on occupational adaptation.
4. Research findings
4.1. Descriptive statistical analysis
To determine whether the variables in this study met the assumptions of normal
distribution, descriptive statistical analysis was conducted, which included
calculating the mean, standard deviation, kurtosis, and skewness. The results are
presented in Table 3 and Figure 2. The mean score for mastery goal orientation was
3.91, for social support was 3.93, for career decision self-efficacy was 4.04, and for
occupational adaptation was 3.86. The skewness and kurtosis values of the variables
fell between −0.9 and 1.4, indicating a normal distribution. When the kurtosis and
skewness are less than −2 and 2, the distribution pattern can be considered normal
(George and Mallery, 2019).
Table 3. Presents the descriptive statistics of the research participants for each variable.
Variable
Average value
Standard deviation
Kurtosis coefficient
Coefficient of skewness
Mastery goal orientation
3.91
0.57
−1.054
1.417
Social support
3.93
0.60
−0.917
0.350
Career decision-making self-efficacy
4.04
0.45
−0.755
0.269
Career adaptability
3.86
0.58
−0.917
0.379
N = 224
Figure 2. Trends in mastery goal orientation, social support, career decision, self-efficacy, and occupational
adaptation among college students.
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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4.2. Differential analysis
Significant gender differences were observed in mastery goal orientation (t =
−6.836), social support (t = −3.347), career decision self-efficacy (t = −3.967), and
occupational adaptation (t = −3.432), all with statistical significance (p ≤ 0.001). As
shown in Table 4 and Figure 3, female students exhibited higher levels of mastery
goal orientation (M = 4.41), social support (M = 4.05), career decision self-efficacy
(M = 4.16), and occupational adaptation (M = 3.98) compared to male students, who
had lower levels of mastery goal orientation (M = 3.67), social support (M = [insert
male mean value]), career decision self-efficacy (M = [insert male mean value]), and
occupational adaptation (M = [insert male mean value]).
Table 4. Summary of differences among research participants.
Demographic variable
Species t/F value
Mastery goal
orientation
Social support
Career decision-
making self-efficacy
Career
adaptability
Gender
Male (M ± SD)
3.67 ± 0.62
3.79 ± 0.63
3.93 ± 0.48
3.73 ± 0.64
Female (M ± SD)
4.14 ± 0.39
4.05 ± 0.54
4.16 ± 0.39
3.98 ± 0.50
t
−6.836***
−3.347***
−3.967***
−3.242***
Grade
1 (M ± SD)
3.13 ± 0.35
3.19 ± 0.48
3.42 ± 0.37
3.18 ± 0.65
2 (M ± SD)
3.77 ± 0.56
3.71 ± 0.57
3.74 ± 0.28
3.62 ± 0.43
3 (M ± SD)
3.88 ± 0.31
4.00 ± 0.43
4.26 ± 0.21
3.98 ± 0.39
4 (M ± SD)
4.45 ± 0.14
4.42 ± 0.23
4.42 ± 0.19
4.29 ± 0.36
F
105.797***
68.342***
161.050***
55.946***
Professional category
Humanities and social sciences (M ± SD)
4.29 ± 0.28
4.36 ± 0.23
4.37 ± 0.20
4.22 ± 0.35
Science and engineering (M ± SD)
3.59 ± 0.55
3.56 ± 0.5
3.77 ± 0.43
3.55 ± 0.57
t
12.227***
14.096***
13.541***
10.795***
*p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001, N = 224.
Figure 3. Gender differences in variables among research participants.
Significant grade differences were observed in mastery goal orientation (F =
105.979), social support (F = 68.342), career decision self-efficacy (F = 161.050),
and occupational adaptation (F = 55.946), all with statistical significance (p ≤ 0.001).
As shown in Table 4 and Figure 4, fourth-year students had the highest levels of
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
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mastery goal orientation (M = 4.45), social support (M = 3.88), career decision self-
efficacy (M = 3.77), and occupational adaptation (M = 3.13). They were followed by
third-year students with higher levels of mastery goal orientation (M = 4.42), social
support (M = 4.00), career decision self-efficacy (M = 3.71), and occupational
adaptation (M = 3.19). Second-year students exhibited intermediate levels of mastery
goal orientation (M = 4.42), social support (M = 4.26), career decision self-efficacy
(M = 3.74), and occupational adaptation (M = 3.42). First-year students had the
lowest levels of mastery goal orientation (M = 4.29), social support (M = 3.98),
career decision self-efficacy (M = 3.62), and occupational adaptation (M = 3.18).
These data indicate an increasing trend in mastery goal orientation, social support,
career decision self-efficacy, and occupational adaptation with advancing grade
levels.
Figure 4. Grade differences in variables among research participants.
Figure 5. Major category differences in variables among research participants.
Significant differences were observed in mastery goal orientation (t = 12.227),
social support (t = 14.096), career decision self-efficacy (t = 13.541), and
occupational adaptation (t = 10.795) based on major category, all with statistical
significance (p ≤ 0.001). As shown in Table 4 and Figure 5, students majoring in
humanities and social sciences displayed higher levels of mastery goal orientation
(M = 4.29), social support (M = 4.36), career decision self-efficacy (M = 4.37), and
occupational adaptation (M = 4.22), compared to students majoring in science and
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
13
engineering fields, who exhibited lower levels of mastery goal orientation (M = 3.59),
social support (M = 3.56), career decision self-efficacy (M = 3.77), and occupational
adaptation (M = 3.55).
4.3. Analysis of correlations among variables
Before examining the influence of mastery goal orientation, social support, and
career decision self-efficacy on occupational adaptation, Pearson correlation
coefficients were calculated to explore the relationships between the research
variables. The results are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Results of correlation analysis.
Variable
MGO
SS
FAS
FRS
IPS
CDMSE
ADM
IC
PS
CA
1: MGO
-
2: SS
0.668***
-
3: FAS
0.638***
0.890***
-
4: FRS
0.556***
0.889***
0.701***
-
5: IPS
0.564***
0.841***
0.647***
0.589***
-
6: CDMSE
0.554***
0.538***
0.467***
0.465***
0.480***
-
7: ADM
0.538***
0.511***
0.443***
0.436***
0.465***
0.940***
-
8: IC
0.478***
0.464***
0.410***
0.375***
0.438***
0.854***
0.759***
-
9: PS
0.449***
0.450***
0.386***
0.417***
0.372***
0.858***
0.691***
0.581***
-
10: CA
0.621***
0.679***
0.665***
0.564***
0.559***
0.610***
0.584***
0.530***
0.502***
-
*p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001.
Notes: MGO: Mastery Goal Orientation; SS: Social Support; FAS: Family Support; FRS: Friend
Support; IPS: Important Person Support; CDMSE: Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy; ADM:
Awareness Decision-Making; IC: Information Collection; PS: Problem Solving; CA: Career
Adaptability.
In terms of the relationships between the main variables, mastery goal
orientation showed significant positive correlations with social support (r = 0.668),
as well as its sub-factors such as family support (r = 0.638), friend support (r =
0.556), significant other support (r = 0.564), and occupational adaptation (r = 0.621),
all at the p ≤ 0.001 level. Social support demonstrated significant positive
correlations with career decision self-efficacy (r = 0.538) and its sub-factors,
including decision-making awareness (r = 0.511), information gathering (r = 0.464),
problem feedback (r = 0.450), and occupational adaptation (r = 0.679), all at the p ≤
0.001 level. Furthermore, career decision self-efficacy showed a significant positive
correlation with occupational adaptation (r = 0.610) at the p ≤ 0.001 level. Hence, all
variables exhibited positive correlations with each other.
4.4. Analysis of the influence of relevant factors on occupational
adaptation
The regression analysis of the impact of mastery goal orientation (MGO), social
support (SS), and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) on occupational
adaptation (CA) is summarized in Table 6 and Figure 6. The analysis of the impact
of the independent variable, mastery goal orientation, on the dependent variable,
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
14
occupational adaptation, yielded an R2 value of 0.385, with a β coefficient of 0.621,
and p ≤ 0.001. The variance inflation factor is 1.000. Variance inflation factor below
10 indicates that there is no multicollinearity between variables (O’brien, 2007).
These results indicate that college students’ proficiency in goal orientation has a
positive (+) effect on career adaptation. This indicates a positive influence of
mastery goal orientation on occupational adaptation among university students.
Table 6. Regression analysis of proficiency goal orientation, social support and career decision self-efficacy on career
adaptation (N = 224).
The dependent variable
The independent variable
B
S.E
β
R2
F
VIF
Career adaptability
Mastery goal orientation
0.638
0.054
0.621***
0.385
139.105
1.000
Social support
0.665
0.048
0.679***
0.461
190.175
1.000
Family support
0.404
0.068
0.444***
0.480
67.761
2.358
Friend support
0.108
0.054
0.141***
2.098
Important person support
0.172
0.060
0.188***
1.834
Career decision-making self-efficacy
0.786
0.069
0.610***
0.372
131.494
1.000
Awareness decision-making
0.414
0.117
0.329***
0.374
43.751
3.041
Information collection
0.256
0.116
0.182***
2.395
Problem solving
0.137
0.060
0.169***
1.943
*p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001.
The impact of social support on occupational adaptation yielded an R2 value of
0.461, with a β coefficient of 0.679, and p ≤ 0.001. The sub-factors of social support
explained 48.0% of the variance in occupational adaptation. Specifically, family
support (β = 0.444), friend support (β = 0.141), and important person support (β =
0.188) all had significant positive effects on occupational adaptation. Social support,
especially family support, had a significant positive impact on occupational
adaptation.
Figure 6. Influence of relevant variables on occupational adjustment.
Career decision-making self-efficacy had a positive influence on occupational
adaptation, with a β coefficient of 0.610 and an R2 value of 0.372, indicating that it
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
15
explained 37.2% of the variance in occupational adaptation. Among the sub-factors
of career decision-making self-efficacy, decision-making awareness (β = 0.329),
information collection (β = 0.182), and problem feedback (β = 0.169) all had
significant positive effects on occupational adaptation (p ≤ 0.001). Decision-making
awareness had the strongest impact, followed by information collection and problem
feedback.
5. Discussion and conclusion
This study aimed to analyze the impact of mastery goal orientation, social
support, and career decision self-efficacy on vocational adaptation among college
students. Two research questions were formulated, and a comprehensive statistical
analysis, analysis of variance, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were
conducted on a sample of 224 college students from the East China region. The
discussion of the results is as follows:
Firstly, to address research question 1, “How do college students perceive social
support, proficient goal orientation, career-determined self-efficacy, and career
adaptation?” The descriptive statistics of this study indicate that college students
generally have positive levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, career
decision self-efficacy, and vocational adaptation. This result is partially consistent
with some previous studies (Lee, 2019). In the analysis of gender differences,
females showed higher levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, career
decision self-efficacy, and vocational adaptation compared to males. Females may
receive more positive encouragement regarding self-improvement and goal
attainment in the learning environment. With the support from family, school, and
society, there is an increasing emphasis on enhancing female self-esteem, self-
efficacy, and career decision-making, encouraging them to have higher expectations
for their education and career development, thus striving for higher goals and
achievements (Roh and Moon, 20220).
Regarding grade differences, higher-grade college students demonstrated more
optimistic levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, career decision self-
efficacy, and vocational adaptation compared to lower-grade students. This may be
attributed to the accumulation of experience. As students grow, the learning
experiences accumulated during their campus years indirectly enhance their social
networks and adaptive abilities. With deeper learning and growth, students further
improve their interests, abilities, and values in their careers (Chang, 2017).
Especially in some universities, higher-grade students are required to participate in
internships and practical activities, which contribute to enhancing their self-efficacy
and purposefully understanding career-related skills and knowledge (Do, 2019; Yun
and Kang, 2019). In contrast, lower-grade students may have less clarity about their
future career direction. Additionally, higher-grade students may face employment
pressure and career development anxiety as they approach graduation, which
prompts them to take more proactive measures to enhance their competitiveness (Yin,
2022; Zhou, 2022).
In terms of major categories, college students majoring in humanities and social
sciences showed higher levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, career
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
16
decision self-efficacy, and vocational adaptation compared to those majoring in
STEM fields. This may be related to the diversity of communication and
interpersonal skills, teaching methods, and the flexibility and diversity of careers.
Humanities and social science majors emphasize critical thinking, communication
skills, and insight into social phenomena. The cultivation of these skills helps
students gain more social support in building and maintaining social relationships
(Hyechong, 2014; Van der Westhuizen and De Wet, 2002). In terms of the
cultivation approach, humanities and social science majors focus on the relationship
between humans and culture, as well as humans and society. They also tend to
engage in discussions and debates, which facilitate the formation of reasonable
viewpoints and constructive exchanges of ideas with others, promoting the
development of social skills (Holms et al., 2017).
Secondly, to address research question 2, “How do proficiency goal orientation,
social support and career-determined self-efficacy affect college students’ career
adaptation?” The correlation analysis revealed positive relationships among the
factors. The regression results showed a positive (+) influence of mastery goal
orientation on vocational adaptation. This finding is explained in Park and Yang
(2020) study, which suggests that individuals with mastery goal orientation exhibit
resilience when facing career challenges. They view challenges as opportunities for
growth and learning, derive satisfaction from the activities themselves, and maintain
long-term engagement in tasks (Park and Yang, 2020). From the analysis of the
verification of the research hypothesis, the hypothesis H1 of this study is: “skilled
goal orientation has a positive (+) influence on career adaptation.” Gained support.
Social support also showed a positive (+) influence on vocational adaptation,
with family support having the highest impact, followed by significant others’
support and friend support. According to Han’s (2019) perspective, college students
usually obtain social support from their social relationships, and the level of support
is associated with the perceived closeness of individuals to others (Han, 2019).
Therefore, the provision of more support in social relationships may stem from the
help of students’ family members. Hypothesis H2 of this study: “Social support has a
positive (+) effect on occupational adaptation” is verified in this result.
Career decision self-efficacy had a significant positive (+) effect on vocational
adaptation, with decision awareness having the highest impact, followed by
information gathering and problem feedback. Decision awareness refers to a
conscious and deliberate thinking process when making decisions, using conscious
thinking to evaluate choices and make rational judgments (Kim, 2015). Decision
awareness focuses on integrating and evaluating information about goals,
overcoming obstacles in the career path, and adjusting plans flexibly (Germar et al.,
2023; Pignault et al., 2023). At the same time, hypothesis H3: “Career-determined
self-efficacy has a positive (+) effect on career adaptation” is supported by this result.
In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the relationship
between mastery goal orientation, social support, career decision self-efficacy, and
vocational adaptation among college students. The findings suggest that mastery
goal orientation, social support, and career decision self-efficacy are important
factors in enhancing vocational adaptation. College students with a strong mastery
goal orientation, higher levels of social support, and greater career decision self-
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
17
efficacy are more likely to adapt well to their chosen careers.
6. Implications
The results of this research will be useful to schools, counselors and students.
By promoting the outcome of career adaptability with skilled goal orientation, social
support and self-efficacy in career decision making, school curriculum design and
employment activity design can be more considered for students’ grasp of career
goals, and enable students to constantly evaluate the current employment situation
and conditions on a regular basis. Establish employment-related services that work
with students’ family members. The results of this paper can be used by counselors
to extract important information when helping students explore career paths. It is
emphasized that skilled goal orientation, family support and conscious decision
making have better effects on college students’ career adaptation. Counselors can use
these research results to guide students’ career planning, suggest giving students
confidence in career decision at the early stage of counseling, help students
understand their good field and establish career goals as early as possible, so that
students can be more easily found in the career that suits them and is interested in. At
the same time, establish contact with students’ families, and meet students’ needs in
career planning through family support. The study also provides students with key
factors to take into account in their career exploration path. Students can choose their
own career goals as early as possible during the school period, and set up academic
efforts for the goal. In order to ensure the rationality of their career decisions, they
can constantly follow up the changes in the job market and make timely evaluation
and optimization adjustments to their goals, and actively seek for family members to
provide them with information, emotional and evaluation support, so as to ultimately
achieve the purpose of improving their employment quality. In addition, this study
also screened out the groups that need to be paid attention to vocational adaptation.
Since college students with the characteristics of male, junior, and science and
engineering majors are at a lower level in the comparison of differences in various
factors, it is necessary for schools, counselors and students to improve their
proficiency, goal orientation, family support, and conscious decision-making to
improve vocational adaptation more effectively.
7. Limitations
In the analysis of the survey results of this study, although it is proved that
college students have relatively optimistic social support, skilled goal orientation,
career-determined self-efficacy, and career adaptation, it is still possible to cause
employment quality problems due to other extroverted or internal factors. For
example, the lack of effective test-taking skills, job-hunting skills, or family pressure,
gender roles, employment policies and other factors may also lead to restrictions on
students’ career development. Secondly, in the analysis of gender factors, this study
proves that women have a higher level than men in various factors, but women are
still an important group facing employment difficulties. For the specific factors that
hinder women’s employment, this study fails to capture and verify and does not
reflect the actual situation of each individual. Finally, the sample size of this study is
Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 8399.
18
small. It may not represent the actual situation of the whole college students, and it is
not possible to confirm whether there is a degree of beautification in the
questionnaire filled out by the research objects, which may have a certain impact on
the analysis results. Therefore, subsequent studies can analyze the reasons affecting
college students’ career adaptation through other factors, or examine the factors
affecting women’s career adaptation difficulties and employment difficulties from
the perspective of employment equity, increase the sample size, and conduct
research through individual interviews, so as to provide more inspiration for college
students’ employment guidance. It also brings more reference for enhancing college
students’ vocational adaptability.
Author contributions: Conceptualization, BD and JC; methodology, BD; software,
BD; validation, BD, JC and JW; formal analysis, BD and YQ; investigation, BD;
resources, BD; data curation, BD; writing—original draft preparation, BD and YQ;
writing—review and editing, JW and JC; visualization, YQ and JW; supervision, JC;
project administration, BD; funding acquisition, JC. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This project is supported by the Research Project of Zhejiang Federation
of Humanities and Social Sciences(2024B033), sponsored by the Zhejiang
Federation of Social Sciences.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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