The Influence of Teaching Quality, Social Support, and Career Self-Efficacy on the Career Adaptability Skills: Evidence from a Polytechnic in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction. Changes in the industry impact the stable condition of working in a company or industry and it is not something that can be guaranteed again in the future. The proof is that there are many phenomena of job transfers or even layoffs in various business sectors due to COVID-19 pandemic. Many studies have examined the importance of developing career adaptability skills to face the changing needs of the industry. However, studies that discuss the mechanism of forming career adaptability skills involving important antecedent factors such as teaching quality, social support, and career self-efficacy of polytechnic students are still limited. Therefore, this study aims at examining the effect of teaching quality, social support, and career self-efficacy factors on the career adaptability skills of polytechnic students. Materials and Methods. This study involved 265 students at a polytechnic in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The students expressed their perceptions of the quality of their internship learning, social support, and career selfefficacy – data analysis used Structural Equation Modeling by Amos 18 software. Results. This study reveals that teaching quality and social support does not have a direct effect on career adaptability skills. Meanwhile, career self-efficacy has a direct effect on the career adaptability skills of polytechnic students. Other findings, teaching quality and social support have a direct effect on the career self-efficacy of polytechnic students. Finally, career self-efficacy mediates the effect of teaching quality and social support on the career adaptability skills of polytechnic students. Discussion and Conclusion. This study provides important implications for the development of learning in vocational education so that students have a good mastery of career adaptability skills. Vocational education practitioners must design a vocational teaching model that combines vocational teaching, social support, and career self-efficacy to form mastery of career adaptability skills for pop-polytechnic students. In addition, the development of a vocational education curriculum needs to include mastery of career adaptability skills for students in vocational education, be it vocational high schools or polytechnics. In further research, it is necessary to develop a vocational learning model that aims to inculcate career adaptability skills for vocational students.