The effect of entrepreneurial education on career choice intentions of college students: a social cognitive career theory approach
Abstract
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).
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested on a survey sample of 1,198 students from 15 higher education institutions in China. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the different effects of EE on CCI, which is a categorical variable with four types of options.
Findings
The results confirmed the effects of EE on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), entrepreneurial outcome expectations (EOE) and EM, as well as the heterogeneity of antecedent connections with students preferring one career choice to the others. The results also revealed the mediating role of ESE and EOE in the model.
Research limitations/implications
The study implies that ESE and EM should be integrated into EE learning outcomes and educators should focus on multiple career choice intentions rather than just entrepreneurial intention for college students' sustainable development.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the literature by verifying CCI and EM as impact indicators of EE, to a nuanced understanding of the educational development of various options of career paths by comparing different career intentions in a mediating model and to the expansion of SCCT by integrating diverse factors in a coherent model within the context of higher education in China.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive guidance throughout the review process. The authors would like to thank the students and contacts who participated in this research. They would also like to thank graduate Xingchen Wei at Nanjing Normal University for her assistance with data processing and the Department of Education at Oxford University for supporting Dr. Cui's research as a Visiting Research Fellow.
Funding: This work was funded by the key project of Jiangsu Social Science Fund, China (No.23JYA001).
Citation
Cui, J. and Gu, L. (2024), "The effect of entrepreneurial education on career choice intentions of college students: a social cognitive career theory approach", Education + Training, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-01-2024-0036
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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