This study explores how doctoral graduates weigh considerations of employment sectors and cities in their career decision-making processes. Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory and a Four-quadrant Model, researchers analysed interviews from 40 STEM doctoral graduates in China. Findings demonstrate that self-efficacy, outcome expectations and…

Researchers have shown that the pursuit of doctoral studies is often related to the desire to become an academic, despite the constrained academic labour markets and changing (or deteriorating, as some have argued) academic working conditions (AWC) worldwide. In this study, we assessed the extent to which Chinese PhD students were aware of the…

Purpose: This study aims at addressing the impact of entrepreneurial education (EE) by highlighting career choice intentions (CCI) and entrepreneurial mindset (EM) as impact indicators, as well as unpacking the drivers and mediators in the formation of CCI among college students underpinned by social cognitive career theory (SCCT).…

China hosts around 68,000 international medical students (IMSs) primarily from lower income countries in Africa and Asia, who have the potential to contribute to international medical services. Understanding how these IMSs make career decisions can help better address the issue of global medical workforce shortage. However, such research is…

This study explores the dynamic journey of women as they become academics in non-elite Chinese public universities. It focuses on their aspirations and the evolving subjectivity that accompanies this process. Ten participants from the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) fields, aged 28-57, were interviewed; the transcripts were analysed using…

This study compared the career choices, contributions, and challenges of Chinese graduates of Japanese and Australian universities who returned to China, and it explored the factors that influenced them based on the life planning model. The mixed-method approach was adopted by combining the results of 208 questionnaire responses and 13…

Given the shortage of STEM workers, it is important to examine the factors associated with students' academic career intentions. However, the mechanism through which subjective norms influence academic career intentions has not been determined. Our study empirically tests a model identifying science identity as an intervening variable in this…

Based on career construction theory, this study explored the relationship and mediating mechanisms between career adaptability and secondary school students' academic engagement. Four hundred and eight secondary school students from three Chinese secondary schools were surveyed using a three-wave time-lag design. The study found that career…

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of educational choice on the intention to enter the examination, and the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy. A total of 1391 freshmen from six higher vocational colleges in Guangdong Province of China were investigated with Education Choices Scale, Career Decision-Making…

Given the intricate and competitive global academic landscape and Chinese female PhDs' critical situation of being marginalized and otherized, this study aims to examine the academic career decision-making experiences of three unmarried and childless Chinese female PhD graduates. Collaborative autoethnography is employed to delve into the three…

Much of the scholarship on employment and career pathways of PhD graduates has examined the issues, including pre-doctoral experiences, quality of doctoral education, networking and career choices across different sectors; however, contextual environmental factors have been generally overlooked. This study aims to explore the academic career…

Career choice research has attracted the attention of recruiters and young graduates. The study aims to investigate the psychological factors that influence college students' employment choices. As a result, data for the study were gathered from 250 final-year college students in China via an online questionnaire survey. The study identified the…

This article provides a review of existing research on youth transitions within regional, remote and rural communities. Results were organised according to the Systems Theory Framework of Career Development, highlighting the importance of geographical location as an environmental influence within the career decision-making process. By deploying a…

This paper addresses the perceptions and mechanisms of doctoral student job decisions regarding the pursuit of careers in the government sector in China. Through the lens of social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we analysed 30 semi-structured interviews that had been conducted with doctoral students from two prestigious Chinese universities who…

Taking three typical interdisciplinary programs integrated with modern technologies in a vocational college as examples, this research was designed to identify the indicators of student career maturity and to explore the indirect effect of career learning planning on the relationship between career maturity and confidence in self-directed career…