The influence of achievement motivation on college students’ employability: A chain mediation analysis of self-efficacy and academic performance

Abstract

Employability of college students has been attached great importance by higher education institutions, employers, and governments because college graduates are the strategic human resource for the sustainable growth of universities, organizations, and countries across the world. It is also receiving growing attention from academic community. This study aimed to examine the psychological mechanism that impacts college students’ employability. It adopted an empirical approach by collecting data from 646 final-year students from 9 universities in the mainland of China. SPSS 25.0 was used for description, correlation, and regression analysis. AMOS 24.0 was utilized for path analysis. Model 6 Bootstrap method of PROCESS Version 3.5 was adopted for mediation analysis. The results showed that achievement motivation positively predicted self-efficacy, academic performance, and employability among undergraduates. Participants’ self-efficacy did not significantly impact their employability or play a mediating role in the relationship between achievement motivation and employability, while academic performance was a significant mediator of this association. Self-efficacy and academic performance served as chain mediators in the prediction of achievement motivation on college students’ employability. After controlling gender and family residence, achievement motivation still had significant and positive impact on employability of college students. This research made several noteworthy contributions to the existing studies on college students’ employability and provided insight for practitioners in strengthening their employability through these psychological constructs.

Impact of personality on cadet academic and military performance within mediating role of self-efficacy

“…These beliefs influence individuals’ choices, efforts, and resilience in the face of difficulties ( Kanapeckaitė et al, 2022 ; Bekesiene et al, 2023 ). Recent research on occupational self-efficacy showed that self-efficacy increases persons’ belief and confidence in performing the tasks, challenges, and stresses associated with their profession ( Li et al, 2022 ; Mei et al, 2022 ). Additionally, according to the Guo et al (2017) study, higher occupational self-efficacy can motivate more people to solve work-related problems.…”

“…To understand the complex processes that link the personality of cadets and the military performance, the primary objective of this study was to test the mediation effects of self-efficacy between the Big Five traits and military performance. Previous studies focused mainly on the evaluation of student beliefs and attitudes toward their ability to achieve academic success by using self-efficacy mediation to academic performance in civil universities ( Alyami et al, 2017 ; Doménech-Betoret et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2022 ). As the existing literature provides limited information on the effect of personality traits on military performance, this study is aimed at evaluating the military performance of cadets.…”

Linking undergraduates’ future work self and employability: a moderated mediation model

“…Future work self is an important motivational resource for proactive career behavior, individuals with a high level of future work self tend to engage in proactive career behaviors (e.g., career planning) toward a better employment status in the future [ 12 ]. Existing research suggests that motivation is a significant and substantial predictor of student employability [ 13 , 14 ]. However, empirical research on the relationship between students’ future work self, an important motivational resource, and perceived employability is still lacking, and the mechanism of whether and how future work self act on students’ perceived employability remain unclear.…”

The effect of cadet resilience on self-efficacy and professional achievement: verification of the moderated mediating effect of vocational calling

“…In the realm of academic research, prior investigations have predominantly focused on the evaluation of students’ beliefs and attitudes pertaining to their capacity to attain academic excellence ( Caprara et al, 2011 ; Zimmerman, 2013 ; Hayat et al, 2020 ; Bekesiene, 2023 ). These studies have frequently employed self-efficacy as a mediating factor to understand the relationship between such beliefs and actual academic performance within civilian educational institutions ( Yu et al, 2016 ; Alyami et al, 2017 ; Doménech-Betoret et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2022 ). However, the literature offers a limited scope when it comes to unravelling the implications of vocational calling on the intricacies of military performance.…”