Career Adaptability of Preschool Education Majors: A Study

Chapter 1: Introduction: Research Context, Theoretical Foundations, and Problem Statement 1

Section 1: Industry Dilemma: High Turnover Rates and Rapid Professional Transformation 1

Section 2: Literature Review: Theoretical Links and Research Gaps Between Social Support and Career Adaptability 3

Section 3: Research Questions: Theoretical Gaps, Objectives, and Problem Clarification 15

Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundation and Literature Review: Conceptual Elaboration and Research Synthesis. In this chapter, we will delve deep into the theoretical basis and review the relevant literature to elaborate on the concepts and synthesize the existing research 17

Section 1: Career Adaptability: Conceptual Clarification, Dimensional Analysis, and Research Frontiers. In this section, we will clarify the concept of career adaptability, conduct a dimensional analysis, and explore the current research frontiers in this area 17

Section 2: social support: Theoretical Origins, Dimensional Construction, and Functional Validation 29

Section 3: Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: Conceptual Core, Measurement, and Influential Pathways 57

Section 4: Career Exploration: Conceptual Definition, Process Models, and Research Overview 74

Section 5: Relationship Deduction: Variable Linkages and Theoretical Model Construction 92

Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodological Execution: Model Construction and Empirical Design 103

Section 1: Model Framework: Research Structure and Hypotheses System 103

Section 2: Sample Selection: Participant Characteristics and Data Sources 106

Section 3: Instrument Validation: Reliability and Applicability of Measurement Tools 109

Section 4: Validity Verification: Confirmatory Analysis of the Measurement Model 124

Section 5: Analytical Strategy: Statistical Testing Methods and Path Planning 130

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Mechanism Discovery: Model Testing and Hypothesis Verification 137

Section 1: Data Overview: Descriptive Statistics and Distribution Characteristics 137

Section 2: Difference Analysis: Examination of Demographic Variable Effects 139

Section 3: Correlation Network: Preliminary Analysis of Inter-Variable Relationships 146

Section 4: Model Foundation: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Validity Establishment 147

Section 5: Path Testing: Structural Equation Modeling and Direct Effects 150

Section 6: Mechanism Examination: Mediation Effect Testing and Interpretation 154

Section 7: Hypothesis Summary: Verification Results of All Research Hypotheses 158

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Future Directions: Findings, Implications, and Boundaries 160

Section 1: Research Findings: Main Conclusions and Model Interpretation 160

Section 2: Theoretical Contributions and Practical Implications 165

Section 3: The Way Forward: Research Limitations and Future Directions 176

Conclusion: 184

References: 187

Preface

Against the backdrop of global educational transformation and the rapid evolution of the professional landscape, early childhood education, as the foundational stage of the national education system, has seen increasing societal focus on the development of its teaching workforce and the quality of its professional talent cultivation. However, alongside the continuous expansion of China's early childhood education sector, university students majoring in this field face multiple practical challenges during their career preparation and development, including insufficient career adaptability, persistently high turnover rates, and a need to strengthen professional identity. How to enhance their psychological resources and behavioral adaptive capacities in the face of complex professional situations through effective support systems has become a critical issue of shared concern for both academia and practice.

This book centers on the theme of "The Mechanism of Social Support's Influence on the Career Adaptability of University Students Majoring in Early Childhood Education." Grounded in Career Construction Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Ecosystem Theory, it systematically investigates how social support promotes students' career adaptability through the dual mediating pathways of career decision-making self-efficacy and career exploration. The research not only constructs a Dynamic Integration Model of Career Adaptability (DIMCA) characterized by "environmental input, psychological transformation, behavioral response, and feedback regulation," but also, through a rigorous quantitative research design, conducts empirical surveys and data analysis involving students from numerous universities across China. This validates the structural relationships and functional mechanisms among social support, career decision-making self-efficacy, career exploration, and career adaptability.

The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1, the Introduction, elaborates on the practical background, theoretical significance, and practical urgency of the research, clarifying its objectives and core questions. Chapter 2, the Theoretical Background, systematically reviews the core concepts, dimensional evolution, and research status of career adaptability, social support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career exploration, laying the theoretical groundwork for subsequent model construction. Chapter 3, the Research Methodology, details the research model and hypotheses, study participants, measurement instruments, and data analysis strategies. Chapter 4, the Results, reports the empirical findings from descriptive statistics, difference analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and mediation effect testing. Chapter 5, the Conclusion, summarizes the research findings, engages in theoretical dialog and practical discussion, and outlines the study's limitations and prospects for future research.

The innovations of this book lie in the following aspects: First, it focuses specifically on the student population within early childhood education, addressing a gap in research on career psychological mechanisms within this field. Second, it reveals the chain-mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy and career exploration in the relationship between social support and career adaptability, deepening the understanding of psychological and behavioral transition mechanisms within the career development process. Third, it proposes a "Family-School-Kindergarten" support triangle model with characteristics of the Chinese cultural context, providing a theoretical basis and practical pathways for optimizing career education systems in higher education.

It is hoped that this book can provide scientific theoretical guidance for the career development and professional adaptation of university students majoring in early childhood education, offer empirical references for university administrators, faculty, and policymakers in constructing collaborative support systems and designing intervention programs, and also provide valuable insights for researchers in related fields to broaden their academic perspectives and engage in deeper exploration.

This book was authored under the editorship of Teacher Wei Yujie from Chongqing May First Vocational and Technical College, who served as the chief editor and was responsible for the structural design and writing of all chapters, totaling approximately 51,300 Chinese characters. Teacher Guo Rui from Chongqing City College of Science and Technology served as the associate editor and undertook the proofreading, organizing, and finalizing of the manuscript. This is hereby stated for the record.

The completion of this book owes much to the support of numerous mentors, colleagues, and research participants, to whom sincere gratitude is extended. Due to the limitations of the author's expertise, omissions and shortcomings in the book are inevitable. Readers' critiques and corrections are earnestly welcomed.