Major Incongruence and Occupational Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Model of Career Distress and Outcome Expectation.

Ji Geun Kim,Ki-Hak Lee

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02360

Abstract

This study investigated the possible mediation of career distress in the relationship between major incongruence and occupational engagement and whether this mediation depends on the degree of outcome expectation. Moderated mediation analysis was tested on a sample of 346 Korean undergraduate students. The results indicated that career distress mediated the relationship between major incongruence and occupational engagement. Moreover, the negative indirect effect of major incongruence on occupational engagement through career distress weakened as the level of outcome expectation increased. The significant mediation effect of career distress is meaningful given the evidence on the role of emotion in career adaptation. In addition, the significant moderation effect of cognitive evaluation and belief in the mediating relationship on career problem, career emotion, and career behavior is meaningful in that it provides insights in cognitive intervention that could be effective in career counseling.

Highlights

One of the most important expectations that undergraduates have about the education they receive it that it meets the demands of their future career (Li et al, 2013)
We examined the direct and indirect effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable via a mediator, and if the effect is conditional on the moderator
An examination of the correlations showed that major incongruence was positively related to career distress (r = 0.29, p < 0.001) and negatively related to occupational engagement (r = −0.28, p < 0.001), whereas career distress was negatively correlated with occupational engagement (r = −0.28, p < 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important expectations that undergraduates have about the education they receive it that it meets the demands of their future career (Li et al, 2013). The congruence between current academic major and desired job domain is bound to be closely related to undergraduates’ successful transition to their future career path (Wolniak and Pascarella, 2005). Many undergraduates experience a mismatch between their current majors and their desired career paths for two main reasons: limited knowledge on which major is related to which career path upon university entrance, and choice of major without thorough consideration of how major choice may influence future career paths (Galotti, 1999; Shin et al, 2014). This study referred to the mismatch between academic major and desired career goal after graduation as “major incongruence” and explored its effects on the career adaptation of undergraduates. Among various P-E fit types, the agreement between one’s major and their desired career goal, or major congruence, can be explained

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