Abstract
Studies have documented that career exploration is significantly associated with CDSE, but how this association occurred is not clear yet. This study committed to clarifying the mechanism underlying the relationship between career exploration and CDSE by investigating the mediation effect of work volition and career adaptability among 586 pre-service kindergarten teachers. The participants are recruited from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China, covering Han, Hui, and other minorities. They took part in a two-wave (6 months apart) longitudinal survey and reported on their career exploration at T1, work volition, career adaptability, and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) at T2. Results showed that T1 career exploration is directly related to the T2 CDSE. Further, career exploration contributed to the CDSE through both the separated mediation path and the chained mediation path of T2 work volition and T2 career adaptability. The results suggest that individuals who engage in more career exploration activities are likely to have more confidence in their abilities to make career decisions over time, which was partially and serially explained by individuals’ perception of capacity despite constraints and greater self-regulatory strength. This study is a first attempt to deeply clarify the link between career exploration and CDSE, and the findings shed light on the independent and serial mediating effects of work volition and career adaptability. The implications and limitations are discussed.
Highlights
The shortage of kindergarten teachers (KG teachers) is quite a big challenge to the development of early childhood education (ECE) in China (Chen, 2019)
This study examined the association between career exploration and career decision selfefficacy (CDSE) over time, and the independent and accumulative mediating effects of work volition and career adaptability among 586 Chinese female pre-service KG teachers during their schoolto-work transition, a critical stage in their path of career
We explored the longitudinal effect of career exploration on CDSE in mainland Chinese pre-service KG teachers, which contributes to the knowledge of the CDSE field by adding new evidence to the existing literature
Summary
The shortage of kindergarten teachers (KG teachers) is quite a big challenge to the development of early childhood education (ECE) in China (Chen, 2019). The occupation is confronted with a variety of challenges, such as high job stress and low socioeconomic status (Hu, 2020; Li and Li, 2020), and these potential barriers may dampen the confidence in career decision-making. CDSE refers to individual beliefs in the ability to engage tasks associated with the career decision process (Taylor and Betz, 1983; Betz and Luzzo, 1996). High CDSE is significantly related to progress in vocational commitment (Jin et al, 2009) and facilitates smooth career decision-making (Taylor and Betz, 1983; Betz and Luzzo, 1996)
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