Exploring the Impacts of Factors on Career Choice for Sustainable Career Development of Vietnamese Students

Abstract

Career choice has always been one of the key factors to predict future sustainable development. This study investigates the impact of peer influence and cognitive influence on career choice in a sample of 3849 Vietnamese university and college students. Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory model, the study reveals that both factors have a direct positive influence on vocational choice. In decreasing order, vocational outcome expectations have the strongest impact on career choice, followed by self-efficacy and peer influence. Additionally, the findings indicate a moderate correlation between self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations. The partially mediated relationship between self-efficacy and career choice through vocational
outcome expectations is also proved. The research contributes to the literature on career decision-making and provides useful recommendations for government, businesses, and students to help reduce the difficulties in choosing a vocation for students’ sustainable development.