June 2024
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106 Reads
Asian Journal of Education
This study investigated the career barriers perceived by university students and explored how these barriers influenced career motivation, particularly through the moderating roles of career decision-making autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 explored the perceived career barriers by university students in Korea, while Phase 2 confirmed the relationship between these barriers and career motivation and verified the moderating effects of career decision-making autonomy, relatedness, and competence. We found that in Phase 1, conducted with 249 participants, four career barrier factors were confirmed: informational change, social relationships, psychological pressure, and fear of failure, from which fifteen items were derived. The types of perceived career barriers differed depending on major and gender. In Phase 2, conducted with 523 participants, we found that career decision-making motives moderated the relationships between career barrier factors and career motivation. Specifically, career decision-making relatedness and competence significantly moderated the relationship between career barrier factors (psychological pressure and fear of failure) and career motivation. The findings highlighted the importance of adopting an integrated and contemporary approach in career education, based on an understanding of the relationship between career barriers and career motivation, providing critical educational implications.