Influential Factors of Career Adaptability for College Students in Engineering

This study applied social cognitive career theory to investigate the structural relationships between mastery goal orientation, support for career development, career decision-making self-efficacy, engineering interest, and career adaptability for engineering students. Data were collected from 307 Korean engineering students from two universities, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships between the variables. The results indicated that the level of mastery goal orientation and support for career development significantly affected career decision-making self-efficacy. Engineering students’ career decision-making self- efficacy also positively influenced their engineering interest and career adaptability. Finally, the students’ engineering interest positively affected their career adaptability. Based on these findings, we suggest future research directions and discuss implications to improve engineering students’ career adaptability.