Understanding students’ motivation towards proactive career behaviours through goal-setting theory and the job demands–resources model

Figures & data

Table 1. Universities represented in the survey.

University	Participants
University of Bedfordshire	85
Cardiff University	63
Glasgow Caledonian University	52
University College London	28
Queen’s University Belfast	26
University of Hull	25
Birmingham City University	20
Birkbeck, University of London	18
Middlesex University	13
University of Exeter	13
Oxford Brookes University	12
Coventry University	11
University of Cumrbia	8
University of Reading	8
Goldsmiths, University of London	3
Anglia Ruskin University	2
Open University	1
School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London	1
University of Dundee	1
University of Greenwich	1
University of Nottingham	1

Table 2. The pattern of relationships among survey variables.

	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1. Year of study	1.85	0.81	–
2. Age	22.95	6.92	0.45^†	–
3. Self-efficacy	3.84	0.62	0.10*	0.17*	(0.89)
4. Academic workload	2.88	0.71	0.20^†	0.19^†	0.06	(0.78)
5. Employment workload	2.00	1.13	0.14**	0.32^†	0.12	0.32^†	(0.96)
6. Goal commitment	4.25	0.80	0.08	0.23^†	0.39^†	0.15**	0.18***	(0.91)
7. Mastery approach	6.62	1.13	0.11*	0.23^†	0.49^†	0.18^†	0.27^†	0.41^†	(0.83)
8. Career planning	4.06	0.83	0.31^†	0.27^†	0.33^†	0.24^†	0.24^†	0.55^†	0.29^†	(0.89)
9. Skill development	3.98	0.74	0.14**	0.23**	0.37^†	0.22^†	0.24^†	0.44^†	0.36^†	0.51^†	(0.76)
10. Career consultation	3.64	0.88	0.15**	0.21^†	0.28^†	0.09	0.15*	0.50^†	0.25^†	0.53^†	0.47^†	(0.76)
11. Networking	3.23	1.08	0.12*	0.14**	0.29^†	0.10	0.25^†	0.37^†	0.25^†	0.39^†	0.46^†	0.58^†	(0.92)
12. Perceived employability	4.12	1.46	0.07	0.20^†	0.35^†	−0.05	0.18^†	0.22^†	0.16***	0.30^†	0.34^†	0.32^†	0.34^†	(0.85)

Notes: N = 345–406, alpha coefficients are reported on the diagonal, Year of study: 1 = First year; 2 = second year, 3 = final year.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .005.

^†p < .001.

Figure 1. Theoretical model of undergraduate student employability.

Table 3. Fit indices for models tested.

Model	χ²	χ²/df ratio	RMSEA	Lo 90	Hi 90	PCLOSE	CFI	PNFI
1	1212.33, df = 609 p < .001	1.99	0.05	0.04	0.05	0.80	0.93	0.76
2	1194.95, df = 603 p < .001	1.98	0.05	0.04	0.05	0.83	0.93	0.75
3	1052.31, df = 507 p < .001	2.08	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.50	0.94	0.75
4	1103.66, df = 507 p < .001	2.18	0.05	0.05	0.06	0.19	0.92	0.74
5	985.84, df = 419 p < .001	2.35	0.06	0.05	0.06	0.02	0.92	0.74
6	1157.18, df = 474 p < .001	2.44	0.06	0.05	0.06	0.001	0.91	0.89
7	1020.83, df = 390 p < .001	2.62	0.06	0.06	0.07	<0.001	0.91	0.73
8	1078.23, df = 390 p < .001	2.77	0.06	0.06	0.07	<0.001	0.89	0.71
9	971.74, df = 314 p < .001	3.10	0.07	0.07	0.08	<0.001	0.89	0.70
10	291.27, df = 88 p < .001	3.31	0.07	0.06	0.08	<0.001	0.93	0.66

Figure 2. Final model with β coefficients. Only significant pathways are shown. *p < .05, **p < .01, ^†p < .001.