Increasing the chances of career success abroad: the role of cultural orientations in the relationship between international students’ protean career orientation, career competencies and perceived employability

ABSTRACT

A successful school-to-work transition is a foundation for long-term career success. Yet, in an increasingly globalized world of work, there is still little understanding of this process in the context of international students – skilled migrants whose school-to-work transition may be complicated by the cross-cultural transition. This study aimed to answer the research question: to what extent are international students’ individualism/collectivism and acculturation orientations related to the indirect relationship between a protean career orientation and perceived employability via career competencies? To answer this question, we conducted a quantitative study among 302 international Master’s students in the Netherlands. Our findings showed that having a protean career orientation is related positively to perceived employability via career competencies. Contrary to our expectations, international students’ individualism/collectivism cultural orientation did not moderate this indirect relationship. However, surprisingly, high individualism was negatively associated with career competencies. Regarding acculturation orientations, we found that host culture orientation did not impact the indirect relationship between a protean career orientation and perceived employability, while high home culture orientation strengthened this relationship. Together, these findings show that both career and cultural orientations may play a role in international students’ career competencies development and employability and, thus, their career success abroad.

KEYWORDS:

• employability
• career success
• protean career orientation
• career competencies
• school-to-work transition
• international students
• individualism
• collectivism
• acculturation

1. Introduction

The successful school-to-work transition at the beginning of one’s career is a crucial cornerstone of long-term career success (Blokker et al., 2023; Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2003). Yet, there is little understanding of this process in different contexts, including potentially vulnerable groups, such as international students (Akkermans et al., 2021). In the globalization era, when boundaryless careers (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996) become a norm rather than a deviation (Baruch et al., 2013), there is a substantial increase in international mobility (Zikic, 2015). For example, in the Netherlands, the number of international university students has almost doubled in five years, and in 2021 there were 79,826 international students enrolled at Dutch universities, representing 23% of the Dutch student population (Universities of the Netherlands, n.d.). Similar trends were noticeable in the UK and the US where the numbers of international students in 2021 exceeded 600,000 and constituted approximately one million, respectively (HESA, n.d.; Open Doors, 2021). International students are an especially vulnerable student group who may face cultural and language problems, homesickness, and other cross-cultural transition issues (Sherry et al., 2010), which may complicate their transition into work. This is problematic because international university students are highly skilled migrants (Ziguras & Law, 2006) whose knowledge and skills may help organizations fill skill gaps growing due to ageing populations and the shortage of skilled professionals (Silvanto et al., 2015). Thus, understanding the school-to-work transition in the international student context may be particularly relevant.

To successfully transition into work, international students should develop their abilities to find and retain employment, i.e., their employability (Fugate et al., 2021). Modern employability literature emphasizes perceived employability as an essential psychological resource for career advancement (Harari et al., 2021) and a key career success indicator (Akkermans & Tims, 2009). Since higher perceived employability positively affects perceived marketability (De Vos, De Hauw & Van der Heijden, 2011) and well-being (Kirves et al., 2014), it can help students cope with the complex transition into work. Furthermore, research (e.g., Cortellazzo et al., 2020) shows that to increase perceived employability, students may adopt a protean career orientation (PCO); (Hall et al., 2018), which may help them to navigate today’s complex career landscape. Adopting the PCO might enable students to develop career competencies (Baruch et al., 2019), which are positively related to the perceived employability of young workers (Blokker et al., 2019) and may mediate the PCO – perceived employability relationship.

When examining the PCO, career competencies, and perceived employability of international students, it is crucial to consider the context that may shape individuals and their actions (Delva et al., 2021). In the Netherlands, international students come from different parts of the world (OECD. Stat, n.d.). As students have various national backgrounds, they may differ in cultural values (Hofstede, 1980). For instance, students may vary in individualism/collectivism cultural orientations (Hartung et al., 2010), which differentiates cultures most significantly (Triandis, 2001). Furthermore, students may adapt to cross-cultural transitions differently by adopting two acculturation orientations: towards the host country’s or home country’s culture (Berry, 1997). As acculturation and individualism/collectivism orientations may influence individuals’ career-related behaviours and outcomes (Miller & Kerlow-Myers, 2009; Ramesh & Gelfand, 2010), these cultural orientations likely affect the PCO – career competencies – perceived employability relationship. However, to date, little is known about the role of these orientations in individuals’ careers and in international students’ perceived employability.

This study, building on the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 2001; Hobfoll et al., 2018), aims to bridge this gap by answering the question: to what extent are international students’ individualism/collectivism and acculturation orientations related to the indirect relationship between the PCO and perceived employability via career competencies? Answering this question will contribute to filling two theoretical gaps. First, this study extends the understanding of the school-to-work transition in the context of a more vulnerable group of international students. By examining the role of the PCO in career competencies and, ultimately, perceived employability, we create new knowledge on how to ensure a successful career start and build a long-term foundation for career sustainability (De Vos et al., 2020) among internationally mobile young professionals who possess knowledge and skills valuable for the global economy. Second, our research contributes to the scholarly debate on the role of culture in employability. By shedding light on the role of individualism/collectivism and acculturation orientations in the PCO – career competencies – perceived employability relationship, we illustrate how not only career orientations but also cultural orientations may play a role in the overseas career success of the internationally mobile young professionals, navigating their career in an era of rapid globalization.

1.1. Perceived employability

Perceived employability refers to individuals’ perceptions of their chances of employment (De Cuyper & De Witte, 2011). Since university students are only preparing to enter the labour market, perceived employability of university students can be defined as students’ perceptions of their chances of employment that matches their university preparation (Álvarez-González et al., 2017). Modern research (Delva et al., 2021; Van Harten et al., 2022) distinguishes internal and external employability. The former relates to employability perceptions within the current employer, while the latter refers to employability perceptions in the external labour market (De Cuyper & De Witte, 2010). As university students usually do not have permanent employment (Rothwell et al., 2008), this research focuses on external perceived employability.

1.2. Protean career orientation

The changing nature of work (Barley et al., 2017) requires young workers to take ownership of their careers (Akkermans et al., 2021), for instance, by adopting a protean career orientation (PCO) (Hall, 2002). The PCO assumes individuals’ willingness to be agentic and take ownership of their careers based on personally defined goals and psychological success (Hall, 2002; Hall et al., 2018).

A PCO is typically considered to be a combination of self-directed and values-driven career orientations (Briscoe et al., 2006). A self-directed orientation focuses on individuals’ willingness to take career ownership, whereas a values-driven orientation refers to one’s desire to follow inherent values in career decisions (Hall et al., 2018). Although these orientations are separate constructs, they are related and correlate strongly (Briscoe et al., 2012). Additionally, research illustrates potential problems with the applicability of the values-driven orientation in different contexts: for instance, the values-driven orientation may not manifest itself in non-Western cultures (Chan et al., 2012). As this paper considers students with various cultural backgrounds, it will focus on the self-directed perspective of the PCO.

Research shows that individuals with a self-directed PCO are more likely to actively look for job opportunities and learn new skills to find desirable employment (Shen & Hall, 2009), thereby becoming more confident in their employment chances. Hence, self-directed students likely also perceive higher chances of finding employment matching their education (Cortellazzo et al., 2020; Zafar et al., 2017).

H1. International university students’ PCO is positively associated with external perceived employability.

1.3. Career competencies

Career competencies are ‘knowledge, skills, and abilities central to career development, which can be influenced and developed by the individual’ (Akkermans et al., 2013, 246). Although there are different conceptualizations of career competencies (e.g., Eby et al., 2003; Kuijpers et al., 2006), this study builds on the overarching career competencies framework of Akkermans et al. (2013) because it is tied explicitly to young adults and, therefore, is the most appropriate for analysing the careers of young professionals (Grosemans & De Cuyper, 2021). Career competencies are a crucial personal resource that makes individuals more stress-resistant (Akkermans et al., 2013) and employable (Akkermans et al., 2015). There are three types of career competencies: reflective competencies involve the understanding of one’s career motivations and qualities; communicative competencies involve effective communication for increasing one’s career success chances; and behavioural competencies involve shaping one’s career by actively exploring career opportunities, planning and accomplishing career goals (Akkermans et al., 2013). These three dimensions are typically studied together as part of an overarching career competencies construct (see, e.g., Akkermans & Tims, 2009; De Cuyper & Grosemans, 2021; Plomp et al., 2016).

1.3.1. Conservation of resources theory

To analyse the role of career competencies in the PCO-perceived employability relationship, this paper draws on the conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 2001; Hobfoll et al., 2018). According to the COR theory, individuals strive to acquire and preserve resources, which are things that individuals value (e.g., personal characteristics, feelings, health; Hobfoll, 2001). When individuals cannot get, lose or fear losing resources, they may experience stress (Hobfoll, 2002). On the other hand, when individuals acquire resources, this may help them to achieve their goals (Halbesleben et al., 2014) and resist stress (Hobfoll, 2002). As resources are often interconnected and exist simultaneously, individuals accumulate resources over time, creating ‘resource caravans’ (Hobfoll, 2002).

An example of resources crucial for careers is personal resources – positive self-evaluations of one’s abilities to control and influence the environment (Hobfoll et al., 2003). By accumulating personal career-related resources, such as career competencies, individuals may enhance their well-being and cope with career challenges (Akkermans et al., 2013). As the school-to-work transition is often associated with stress (Pinquart et al., 2003), the COR theory and the concept of personal resources may be highly relevant for international students dealing with the school-to-work transition abroad.

1.3.2. The mediating role of career competencies

Career competencies can positively relate to the PCO and perceived employability. The PCO positively influences individuals’ career attitudes and behaviour, which may enhance career competencies (Baruch et al., 2019). For instance, the PCO may positively relate to clarifying career-related interests (Hirschi et al., 2017), which is connected with reflective career competencies (Akkermans et al., 2013). Therefore, higher PCO among international students may positively relate to career competencies. Subsequently, career competencies may positively relate to perceived employability (Blokker et al., 2019) because students who are better able to effectively reflect on, communicate about, and act on their career desires, will likely realize more opportunities to find employment fitting their prior education.

These arguments are in line with the COR theory. Specifically, being self-directed (i.e., high PCO) enables international students to develop their career competencies, which enhances their resource pool. Subsequently, those career resources can be leveraged to invest in future employment opportunities, hence increasing employability. Stated differently, we expect that a PCO can trigger resource gain by allowing the development of career competencies and, ultimately, enhancing students’ employability perceptions.

H2. International university students’ career competencies mediate the relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability.

1.4. Cultural orientations

In this part, we turn to a discussion of the role of a cultural orientation in the PCO – career competencies – perceived employability relationship. Contextual factors, such as culture, may play an important role in shaping individuals’ actions and behaviours (Delva et al., 2021). As students have various national backgrounds, they may differ in cultural values (Hofstede, 1980) and adopt distinct cultural orientations during their studies abroad.

1.4.1. The moderating role of individualism/collectivism cultural orientation

Culture is collective mental programming that separates members of one group from another (Hofstede, 2011, 3). People unconsciously assimilate culture from childhood, and it roots in their cultural values, which are ‘broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others’ (Hofstede, 2001, 5). The most comprehensive and renowned cultural values framework was proposed by Hofstede (1980, 2001). Among the six cultural dimensions of this framework, the individualism/collectivism dimension has received the greatest attention in cross-cultural management and psychology (Minkov et al., 2017). Although researchers have come up with various approaches to compare cultures, individualism and collectivism form the ‘deep structure’ of cultural differences (Greenfield, 2000) and differentiate cultures most significantly (Triandis, 2001). Therefore, we focus specifically on this cultural dimension in the current study. Moreover, because individualism and collectivism may differently impact various career-related behaviours, such as career decision-making (Hartung et al., 2010), individuals with orientations towards individualism or collectivism likely differ in how they approach their careers. Yet, in career research, the role of individualism/collectivism is underexplored (Sawitri & Creed, 2017).

The original Hofstede’s framework analysed individualism/collectivism on the country level, making meaningful comparisons between individuals from one country impossible (Kirkman et al., 2006). Since globalization increases intercultural exchange (Kim & Bhawuk, 2008) and modern populations are becoming more diverse, projecting the same cultural values to individuals with similar backgrounds may be unrealistic and lead to stereotyping (Yoo et al., 2011). Therefore, recent studies (Luksyte et al., 2022) have started to consider an individual-level perspective on cultural values, and some adaptations of Hofstede’s (1980) framework to the individual level have emerged (e.g., Yoo et al., 2011). Following their approach, this paper will focus on individual-level individualism/collectivism cultural orientation.

Individualism, as opposed to collectivism, is the extent to which individuals are focused on themselves rather than integrating into the group (Hofstede, 2001). People with an individualism orientation tend to develop according to their needs (Gelfand et al., 2002). They may prefer independence (Rubino et al., 2020), achievement (Sagie et al. 1996), self-fulfilment (House et al., 2004), and the development of positive personal traits (Gelfand et al., 2002). Unlike individuals with individualistic values, those with a collectivism orientation often refer to external obligations (e.g., maintaining family status) in their professional development (Sinha & Sinha, 1990). Moreover, individuals with a higher collectivism orientation are more likely to prioritize collective interests and good relationships with the collective over their personal interests and goals (Chen et al., 1998). Therefore, students with high individualism orientation may focus more on themselves and their career interests, showing more autonomy in their career development. This is in line with the dominant focus on individual agency in modern career research, emphasizing that individuals need to take charge of and self-manage their careers (Akkermans et al., 2013; Spurk et al., 2019), which fits the individualism orientation. Moreover, such behaviour might receive greater support in the context of the Netherlands, since this country is considered relatively high on individualism (Hofstede, 2015).

A protean career orientation and, in particular, the self-directed dimension, assumes that individuals take ownership of their careers and engage in career development more actively, hence increasing career competencies (Baruch et al., 2019). This effect may be even more pronounced among individuals with high individualism orientation because they tend to look after themselves (Hofstede, 2001) and show greater autonomy in career development. Consequently, they are more likely to acquire resources necessary for career development, especially in the context of the Netherlands, which is relatively high on individualism, than those with low individualism orientation. Thus, we propose that a high level of individualism orientation interacts with being highly self-directed (i.e., PCO) to enhance career competencies. Following COR theory (Hobfoll, 2001), we would argue that being oriented towards self-direction and individualism should be an especially strong trigger for international students to acquire personal resources, in this case, career competencies.

H3. International university students’ individualism/collectivism cultural orientation moderates the relationship between the PCO and career competencies, such that the relationship is stronger for students with higher individualism cultural orientation.

1.4.2. The moderating role of home and host country acculturation orientations

Acculturation is the dual process of cultural and psychological change resulting from contact between at least two cultural groups and their members (Berry, 2005). There are two acculturation orientations: one is directed towards maintaining the home country’s culture, and the other is directed towards integrating into a host country’s culture (Berry, 2005). More specifically, researchers recommend focusing on two distinct acculturation orientations: home and host culture orientations (Demes & Geeraert, 2014). Thus, this study will focus on these two distinct acculturation orientations.

Acculturation may affect diverse career-related aspects, such as career choice, interests, and aspirations, although findings are mixed (Miller & Kerlow-Myers, 2009). Furthermore, the role of two acculturation orientations in the PCO – career competencies relationship is unclear. Based on existing research (e.g., Demes & Geeraert, 2014; Guan et al., 2018), host culture orientation likely positively affects this relationship, while the effects of home culture orientation are unclear.

On the one hand, both orientations may have positive effects. To illustrate, high home culture orientation may lead to more networking with home culture members (Smith & Khawaja, 2011), helping individuals preserve cultural identity and psychological well-being (Berry, 1997). Meanwhile, host culture orientation may lead to the successful building of local networks (Sam and Berry, 2010) and learning culture-relevant skills (Demes & Geeraert, 2014), increasing career chances in the host country (Guan et al., 2018). Thus, both orientations may help individuals to develop career resources abroad.

On the other hand, there is some evidence that different acculturation orientations may lead to different levels of adaptation to the host country (e.g., Demes & Geeraert, 2014). Specifically, individuals with a home culture orientation may be resistant to the host country’s values, perceiving them as a threat to identity, which complicates adaptation in the host country (Berry, 2005; Samnani et al., 2013). For instance, Demes and Geeraert (2014) illustrated that home culture orientation negatively related to adaptation to a new culture, while host culture orientation positively related to adaptation. From this perspective, host culture orientation could be more helpful for one’s overseas career than home culture orientation.

In sum, both home and host culture orientations may affect the relationship between the PCO and career competencies. Given the evidence above, the positive relationship between the PCO and career competencies may be even stronger for individuals with higher host culture orientation, as they are more likely to communicate effectively with locals and increase awareness of the local labour market opportunities. Following the COR theory (Hobfoll, 2001), we argue that being oriented towards self-direction and host’s culture may prompt an even stronger accumulation of personal resources in the form of career competencies among international students. Therefore, high host culture orientation may interact with the PCO, enhancing career competencies.

H4. International university students’ host culture acculturation orientation moderates the relationship between the PCO and career competencies, such that the relationship is stronger for students with higher host culture orientation.

However, it is unclear how exactly home culture orientation is related to the relationship between the PCO and personal resources, such as career competencies, since, according to research, the effect of home culture orientation may be both positive and negative. Therefore, this paper will not formulate a specific hypothesis but, instead, attempt to answer the following research question:

RQ2. To what extent is home culture acculturation orientation of international university students related to the relationship between the PCO and career competencies?

1.5. An integrated moderated mediation model

1.5.1. Individualism/collectivism cultural orientation as a moderator

Individualism of international students may interact with a protean career orientation (PCO) and enhance career competencies, contributing to a strengthened positive relationship between the PCO and perceived employability. For example, students who take an agentic career approach and who also care more about their professional development are more likely to engage in networking, which could contribute to even higher employability perceptions.

H5. The indirect positive relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability via career competencies is moderated by the individualism/collectivism cultural orientation such that this indirect relationship is stronger for higher levels of individualism.

1.5.2. Acculturation orientations as moderators

Higher host culture orientation of international students may interact with the PCO and enhance career competencies, which may strengthen the positive relationship between the PCO and perceived employability. For example, students who take career ownership and are more oriented towards learning the host culture’s skills and building relations with locals are likely to learn more about the local labour market, contributing to higher perceived employability.

H6. The indirect positive relationship between the PCO and perceived employability via career competencies is moderated by the host culture acculturation orientation, such that this indirect relationship is stronger for higher levels of host culture orientation.

Higher home culture orientation of international students may, on the one hand, connect them with individuals with the same background and improve their well-being in a new culture. On the other hand, students with high home culture orientation may also perceive host culture as a threat to their identity and experience problems with adaptation to a new environment. Therefore, it is unclear how high home culture orientation may affect the indirect relationship between the PCO and career competencies. Based on the conflicting findings, we formulate a research question:

RQ3. To what extent is home culture acculturation orientation of international university students related to the indirect relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability via career competencies?

2. Methods

2.1. Sample and procedure

During this study, an English-language questionnaire was developed and distributed via LinkedIn among international Master’s students in the Netherlands. Participation in the study was voluntary. All participants were informed about the study’s purposes and assured of confidentiality. The study’s compliance with ethical guidelines was confirmed by the SBE Research Ethical Review Board of VU Amsterdam (reference number SBE/4/10/2022/mta246). To ensure the study’s relevance for participants, only students without permanent full-time jobs were invited to participate.

In total, 440 students responded to the invitations, of which 329 (74.7%) finished the questionnaire. As the study focuses on young adults, participants older than 35 years (n = 4) were excluded (Blokker et al., 2019). Also, potentially invalid cases with participants aged less than 21 (n = 3) were excluded to preserve data quality. Additionally, to increase the data validity (Oppenheimer et al., 2009), participants who failed an attentiveness check were excluded (n = 20). There were only a few missing values and outliers in the data, and they were substituted with the mean (Aguinis et al., 2013; Schlomer et al., 2010).

The final sample (n = 302) included 60.3% female students, 38.4% male students, and .7% students of other genders. The mean age of students was 24.59 years (SD = 2.03). 48.3% of students were not employed, while 51.7% had an internship or a side job as part of their studies. On average, students worked 13.3 hours (SD = 15.80) per week and had two years of working experience (SD = 1.90). The average GPA of students was 7.59 (SD =.62). More than half of the students (53.3%) had Bachelor’s degrees, although many participants (46.7%) already had Master’s degrees.

Although we did not collect specific data on the participants’ study context (e.g., in terms of how international it was) and career intentions (e.g., whether they planned to stay in the Netherlands), general statistics signal that conducting our research in the Netherlands seems appropriate, as it is a highly internationalized economy where many multinational corporations base their headquarters (Baaij, 2015) and where international students could likely feel comfortable relatively quickly. The degree of internationalization of the Netherlands could also be seen in the diversity of national backgrounds of the participants of our study, who represented 59 countries. Most participants (11.3%) were Italian. Germany (9.3%), Russia (7.6%), India (6.6%), Greece (6.3%), China (6.0%), and the USA (5.3%) were the most common countries among other participants. Moreover, the Netherlands is stably ranked as the country with the highest English proficiency among non-native English speakers in Europe (EF, 2022). Thus, the context of the Netherlands might allow skilled migrants to live in a country and find jobs without any knowledge of the local language. Therefore, international Master’s students, who have typically come to the Netherlands not a long time ago, may not know the Dutch language at the level possible for work and communication. For instance, our study showed that most participants (79.1%) had little to no knowledge of Dutch, 13.9% of participants had elementary proficiency, 3.6% – intermediate, 1.7% – upper-intermediate, and 1.7% – advanced or native speaker proficiency.

At the time of the data collection, 32% of international students were enrolled in Master’s programmes in Dutch universities and were participating in the educational programme in one of the ten fields: Interdisciplinary programmes, Agricultural (life) sciences, Humanities and Linguistics, Economics, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Behavioural and Social Sciences, Law, Medical Sciences and Education Sciences (Universities of the Netherlands, 2023). The proportions of international students were close to 30% or higher for the majority of Master’s programmes: Interdisciplinary programmes (50%), Agricultural (life) sciences (41%), Humanities and Linguistics (34%), Economics (36%), Engineering (36%), Natural Sciences (33%), Behavioural and Social Sciences (30%), Law (27%) (Universities of the Netherlands, 2023). The lowest proportions of international students were registered in the fields of Medical Sciences (17%) and Education Sciences (4%) (Universities of the Netherlands, 2023).

According to the most recent statistics on international student stay rates (Statistics Netherlands, 2023), on average, every third international Master’s degree graduate stays and works in the Netherlands a year after graduation. In some study fields, such as engineering, the proportion of international Master’s graduates who stay and work in the Netherlands may be even higher and reach more than 60% (Statistics Netherlands, 2023). These relatively high numbers indicate that many international Master-level students may intend to stay and look for a job in the Netherlands as skilled migrants.

2.2. Measures

The reliability and validity of the perceived employability, protean career orientation (PCO), career competencies, individualism/collectivism, and acculturation orientation scales were demonstrated by recent research (e.g., (Blokker et al., 2019; Hui et al., 2019; Luksyte et al., 2022; Serrano-Sánchez et al., 2021). Unless indicated otherwise, all measures were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

External perceived employability was measured with the adjusted English version of the 4-item scale (α =.83, e.g., ‘I would easily find a job after I graduate’; De Cuyper & De Witte, 2008). Since this study was about international students navigating the labour market of the Netherlands, respondents were specifically asked to reflect on their employment chances in the Netherlands: ‘Please reflect on your employment chances in the Netherlands by indicating your agreement with the following statements.’ Thus, this study ensured that students consider their employability only in the host country.

PCO was measured with 8-item self-directed career management (α =.75, e.g., ‘I am responsible for my success or failure in my career’) scale by Briscoe, Hall and Frautschy Demuth (2006).

Career competencies were measured with the 21-item CCQ (α =.91); (Akkermans et al., 2013), including 7-item reflective career competencies (e.g., ‘I know my strengths in my work’), 7-item communicative career competencies (e.g., ‘I am able to approach the right persons to help me with my career’), and 7-item behavioural career competencies (e.g., ‘I know how to search for developments in my area of work for becoming further educated’).

Individualism cultural orientation was measured with the reverse-coded 6-item collectivism scale (α =.81, e.g., ‘Group welfare is more important than individual rewards’; (Yoo et al., 2011).

Acculturation orientations were measured with the bi-dimensional 8-item scale (Demes & Geeraert, 2014). The home culture orientation subscale contained items measuring the importance of cultural friendship, traditions, characteristics, and actions relevant to individuals’ home culture (four items, α =.82, e.g., ‘Have friends with my home country’s background’). The host culture orientation subscale contained similar items about the host culture, i.e., the Netherlands (four items, α =.79, e.g., ‘Have Dutch friends’).

Control variables. We included age, working hours, working experience, level of education, Dutch language level, and academic performance as control variables (Blokker et al., 2019; Ng & Feldman, 2014; Pham, 2021; Rothwell et al., 2008). Moreover, since we focused on individual-level individualism, country-level individualism, measured with Hofstede’s scores (on a scale from 1 to 100; Hofstede 2015), was included as a control variable.

2.3. Data analysis

Before testing the hypotheses, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis with the R extension for SPSS 28.0 to evaluate the fit of the measurement model. Following recent career studies (e.g., Blokker et al., 2019; Grosemans & De Cuyper, 2021; Plomp et al., 2016) that operationalize career competencies as an overarching construct that illustrates individuals’ knowledge, skills, and abilities central to career development (Akkermans et al., 2013), we modelled this construct as one latent construct consisting of three indicators based on scale means (reflective, communicative, and behavioural career competencies). For other scales, i.e., external perceived employability, PCO, individualism, home, and host culture orientations, scale items were modelled as indicators of their respective latent constructs. The model fit was assessed based on conventional cut-off values of fit indices (Marsh et al., 2004): Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) and comparative fit index (CFI) >.90; root mean square error of approximation (RSMEA) <.06; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) <.08. To exclude the major influence of common method bias on our results (Podsakoff et al., 2003), we also conducted Harman’s single-factor test. In addition, we analysed descriptive statistics and correlations.

We used linear regression and Hayes (2017) PROCESS macro v4.0 to test the research hypotheses. The indirect effects and their significance were assessed with the percentile bootstrap 95% confidence intervals (n = 5,000)(Hayes, 2017).

3. Results

3.1. Confirmatory factor analyses

CFA was conducted for the overall measurement model and each measure individually. First, we conducted the CFA for each measure individually. The CFA for individualism cultural orientation demonstrated an adequate fit for one-factor model: χ² = 32.95, df = 9, CFI =.95, TLI =.92, RMSEA =.09, SRMR =.05. The CFA for the host culture orientation scale showed an acceptable fit for the one-factor model: χ² = 11.80, df = 2, CFI =.97, TLI =.92, RMSEA =.12, SRMR =.04. The CFA for the home culture orientation scale also showed an acceptable fit for the one-factor model: χ² = 18.98, df = 2, CFI =.96, TLI =.89, RMSEA =.17, SRMR =.04. Consistent with prior research (e.g., Holtschlag et al., 2020; Waters et al., 2014), the CFA for the PCO scale demonstrated a poor fit for one-factor model: χ² = 73.01, df = 20, CFI =.89, TLI =.84, RMSEA =.9, SRMR =.06. However, since all item loadings were significant (p <.001), we preserved the original scale structure. Career competencies were modelled as a one-factor model with three indicators, which could be classified as a just-identified model (Brown, 2015). Since a just-identified model may lead to a perfect model fit regardless of factor loadings (Brown, 2015), it was impossible to obtain fit indices for the career competencies measure.

The CFA for external perceived employability initially indicated a poor model fit, although all item loadings were significant (p <.001): χ² = 65.42, df = 2, CFI =.87, TLI =.61, RMSEA =.32, SRMR =.08. Also, strong correlations were revealed between items one and two (r =.61, p <.001) and items three and four (r =.71, p <.001) measuring external perceived employability. Although these items correlated strongly, they were not linearly dependent, and they differed in meaning. Therefore, we decided to retain all four items while correlating the first two items and the second two items with each other, which resulted in a just-identified model. Based on the CFA results, the overall study model was tested with all constructs. The CFA demonstrated a good fit for six-factor model: χ² = 584.22, df = 360, CFI =.92, TLI =.91, RMSEA =.05, SRMR =.05.

Harman’s single-factor test showed that the total variance extracted by one factor is only 16%. Although this method does not guarantee the absence of the common method bias (Podsakoff et al., 2003), it allowed us to exclude the major influence of common method bias in this research.

3.2. Descriptive statistics

Table 1 shows the study variables’ means, standard deviations, and correlations. External perceived employability correlated positively with a protean career orientation (PCO) (r =.20, p <.001) and career competencies (r =.30, p <.001), but not with any control variables. However, a significant correlation was detected between the control variable working hours and career competencies (r =.16, p <.001), which served as a dependent variable in the moderation hypotheses (H3, H4, RQ2) and were also a mediator in the research model. For this study, we decided to keep only those control variables that significantly correlate with dependent variables (Becker, 2005). Therefore, we used working hours as a control variable, while the other control variables were excluded from the further analyses.

Table 1. Means (M), Standard Deviations (SD), and Correlations among Study Variables (N = 302).

	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1. Age	24.59	2.03
2. Gender^a.	0.61	0.49	−0.01
3. Education^b.	0.47	0.5	.13*	−0.04
4. GPA	7.59	0.62	−0.05	0.05	0.01
5. Working hours (per week)	13.29	15.77	0.01	−0.03	0.08	−0.03
6. Working experience (in months)	23.46	22.49	.43***	0.03	−.12*	0.07	0.03
7. Dutch level^c.	1.33	0.81	0	0	0.04	0.10	−0.04	0.01
8. External perceived employability	3.54	0.82	0.02	−0.09	−0.04	0.07	0.05	0.04	0.05
9. PCO	4.06	0.52	0	−0.09	0.02	−0.09	0.04	0.07	0.01	.20***
10. Career competencies	3.71	0.58	0.06	−0.1	0.1	−0.09	.16**	0.06	−0.07	.30***	.45***
11. Individualism (country-level)	50.77	21.9	−.17**	−0.03	−.15**	0.1	−0.08	0.01	0	0.05	−0.02	−.14*
12. Individualism (individual-level)	2.87	0.73	−0.02	.21***	0.02	0.07	0.05	0.06	0.1	−0.07	0	−0.09	−0.1
13. Home culture orientation	3.11	1.01	−0.07	.13*	0.03	−0.11	0.03	0	−.17**	0.02	0.08	0.06	−0.1	−0.09
14. Host culture orientation	3.29	0.86	0.06	0.07	−0.01	−.12*	−0.02	0.07	−0.01	−0.06	0.04	−0.04	−0.05	−0.09	.23***

Note. *p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p <.001. a. Gender was dummy-coded (male = 0, female = 1). N = 298, as some participants preferred not to say their gender or indicated their gender as other; b. Education categories include: 0 = Bachelor’s degree, 1 = Master’s degree; c. Dutch level includes: 1 = beginner, 2 = elementary, 3 = intermediate, 4 = upper-intermediate, 5 = advanced, 6 = native speaker.

No significant correlation was detected between individual- and country-level individualism (r = −.10, p =.075). As country-level individualism was not related to individual-level individualism and to the main study variables, it was excluded from further analysis. Additionally, the study results showed a significant positive correlation between home and host culture orientations (r =.23, p <.001), although the correlation was weak. Therefore, we considered the two acculturation orientations as independent variables.

3.3. Hypotheses testing

In line with H1, the PCO was positively associated (β =.20, p <.001) with external perceived employability, R² =.04, F(2, 299) = 6.38, p =.002 (see Table 2). In addition, in line with H2, career competencies mediated the relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability, β =.12, 95% CI = [.085.315] (see Table 3).

Table 2. Results of Linear Regression Analysis (N = 302).

			95% CI
	B	SE B	LL	UL	β	p
Constant	2.25***	.37	1.528	2.975		<.001
PCO	.31***	.09	.133	.486	.20***	<.001
Working hours (per week)	.00	.00	−.003	.008	.05	.430

Note. Dependent variable: external perceived employability. ***p <.001. CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit; UL = upper limit.

Table 3. Results of the Mediation Analysis (N = 302).

			95% CI
	B	SE B	LL	UL	β	p
Direct effect DV: CC
Constant	3.65***	.04	1.195	2. 109		<.001
PCO	.49***	.06	.381	.605	.44***	<.001
Working hours (per week)	.01**	.00	.001	.009	.14**	.007
Direct effect DV: External PE
Constant	2.12***	.33	.863	2.384		<.001
PCO	.12	.10	−.070	.315	.08	.212
CC	.38***	.09	.205	.555	.27***	<.001
Working hours (per week)	.00	.00	−.005	.006	.01	.891
Indirect effect
PCO – CC – External PE	.19	.06 (BootSE)	.085 (BootLL)	.315 (BootUL)	.12	——
Total effect
PCO – External PE	.31***	.09	.133	.486	.20***	<.001

Note. **p <.01; ***p <.001. The number of bootstrap samples = 5,000. CC = career competencies, PE = perceived employability. DV = dependent variable, CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit; UL = upper limit.

H3 proposed that the relationship between the PCO and career competencies will be stronger with higher individualism, and H4 proposed that the relationship between the PCO and career competencies will be stronger with higher host culture orientation. Finally, RQ2 asked to what extent home culture orientation is related to the direct relationship between the PCO and career competencies. Table 4 addresses H3, H4, and RQ2. In our study, the interaction of the PCO with individualism orientation was nonsignificant (β =.05, p =.366). Yet, individualism was directly negatively related to career competencies (β = –.11, p =.026). The interaction of the PCO and host culture orientation was also nonsignificant (β =.06, p =.203). However, the interaction of PCO and home culture orientations showed a significant positive association with career competencies (β =.15, p =.008).

Table 4. Results of the Moderation Analysis (N = 302).

				95% CI
	B	SE B		LL	UL	β		p
Model 1
Constant	3.65***	.04		3.575	3.726		<.001
PCO	.49***	.06		.382	.605	.44***	<.001
Individualism	−.08*	.04		−.161	−.001	−.10*	.048
Host culture acc.	−.05	.04		−.121	.018	−.08	.143
Home culture acc.	.02	.03		−.041	.077	.03	.545
Working hours (per week)	.01**	.00		.002	.009	.14**	.006
Model 2
Constant	3.64***		.04	3.565	3.714		<.001
PCO	.53***		.06	.421	.648	.48***	<.001
Individualism	−.09*		.04	−.169	−.011	−.11*	.026
Host culture acc.	−.05		.04	−.122	.015	−.08	.125
Home culture acc.	.01		.03	−.048	.069	.02	.729
Working hours (per week)	.01**		.00	.002	.009	.15**	.003
Individualism × PCO	.07		.07	−.076	.206	.05	.366
Host culture acc. × PCO	.08		.06	−.044	.205	.06	.203
Home culture acc. × PCO	.15**		.06	.040	.267	.15**	.008

Note. *p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001. Dependent variable: career competencies. Acc. is acculturation. Individualism, host and home culture acc. are mean-centred centered.

The insignificant relationship of the interactions between the PCO with individualism and host culture orientations indicated that H3 and H4 were not supported. However, as the interaction of PCO and home culture orientations was significant, we found support for the moderating role of home culture orientation in the PCO – career competencies relationship. Therefore, this study continued to explore RQ2 and examined the effects of the PCO on career competencies at different levels (−1SD, Mean, +1SD) of home culture orientation (see Table 5). This study also explored the Johnson-Neyman (Johnson & Neyman, 1936) interval to understand the zone of moderation significance.

Table 5. Conditional Effects of the PCO on Career Competencies at Different Values of Home Culture Acculturation Orientation.

			95% CI
Moderator Levels	Effect	SE	LL	UL	p
−1.01	.38***	.07	.240	.519	<.001
.00	.53***	.06	.420	.648	<.001
1.01	.69***	.09	.509	.869	<.001

Note. ***p < .001.

Table 5 shows that the association of the PCO with career competencies becomes stronger with increasing levels of the home culture orientation (p <.001). Johnson-Neyman significance region indicated that the moderation is significant from the moderator’s value of −2.00 (p =.05) and above (all ps <.05). As 96.69% of moderator values lie within this interval, the moderation effect is significant for almost all moderator values. In sum, these results address RQ2 and show that home culture orientation moderates the relationship between the PCO and career competencies, such that the relationship between the PCO and career competencies is stronger with higher home culture orientation.

H5 and H6 proposed that the indirect relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability via career competencies is moderated by individualism and host culture orientations, respectively. RQ3 focused on the role of home culture orientation in the indirect relationship between the PCO and external perceived employability via career competencies. As we did not find any interactions when testing H3 and H4, H5 and H6 were also not supported. However, as home culture orientation significantly moderated the relationship between the PCO and career competencies, we explored the RQ3 and tested the moderated mediation model with one moderator. Among moderator variables proposed by H5 and H6, individualism was significantly related to career competencies. Therefore, this variable was included in the final model as a control variable together with the working hours per week. The moderated mediation model was significant, as indicated by the index of moderated mediation =.064, SE =.03, 95% CI = [.009.132].

To sum up, the results of the data analysis provide partial support for the hypothesized moderated mediation model. Figure 1 summarizes all the findings.

Figure 1. Results of Hypotheses Testing.

Note. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. In parentheses, the indirect effect of the PCO on external perceived employability is provided; it is significant based on the bootstrap confidence interval. All coefficients are standardized

4. Discussion

This study aimed to answer the question: to what extent are international students’ individualism/collectivism and acculturation orientations related to the indirect relationship between the protean career orientation (PCO) and perceived employability via career competencies? Our findings supported part of the hypothesized moderated mediation model. As expected, career competencies mediated the PCO – perceived employability relationship. Hence, international students who are more self-directed in their careers tend to develop more career resources and, ultimately, see better opportunities for future employment in the host country. However, against our expectations, individualism orientation did not strengthen the indirect relationship between PCO and perceived employability via career competencies, although it was directly negatively associated with career competencies. Also, not in line with our expectations, host culture orientation did not affect the indirect relationship between the PCO and perceived employability via career competencies. Yet, home culture orientation strengthened this relationship. Overall, our findings indicate that international students who are highly self-directed in their careers and focus on building resources in their home network particularly build their career resources and employability. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed below.

4.1. Theoretical implications

Our findings supported the proposition that higher PCO is positively associated with employability perceptions (Cortellazzo et al., 2020). However, we extended this knowledge to the context of international students, skilled migrants who are preparing to transition into a permanent job abroad. Thus, we responded to the call to examine the school-to-work transition among non-standard groups (Akkermans et al., 2021). Also, we demonstrated that career competencies mediated the PCO – perceived employability relationship for international students. This finding supports the COR theory (Hobfoll, 2001; Hobfoll et al., 2018) and shows that during the school-to-work transition, more self-directed international students accumulate more career resources and perceive better future employment opportunities in the host country. Since employability is an indicator of early career success (Akkermans & Tims, 2009), our results contribute to career success research by showing the importance of PCO for career success of young skilled migrants who transition into the world of work abroad. Overall, our research shows that self-directed international students develop more career resources which contribute to early career success.

Moreover, our results extended the understanding of the role of individualism/collectivism orientations in international students’ initial career success. Surprisingly, individualism did not impact the relationship between PCO and perceived employability via career competencies. Furthermore, it was negatively related to career competencies. Our findings thus imply two things. First, having an individualistic orientation does not allow self-directed people to accumulate even more career resources. This lack of interaction may mean that self-directed individuals are already strongly focused on themselves, which makes the additional effect of individualism negligible. Another explanation could be that a general individualism orientation might not be specifically oriented to people’s career orientations (which is supported by the nonexistent correlation between PCO and individualism). Second, our results imply that highly individualistic international students possess lower levels of career competencies. This might be because students with an individualistic orientation prefer independence (Rubino et al., 2020) and are less likely to integrate into a group (Hofstede, 2001). Thus, they may be less likely to socialize and ask for help, hindering career competencies development, especially the communicative side.¹ Another potential explanation might be that these students are predominantly focused on their academic performance, i.e., that their individualistic orientation would primarily show in their study program, thus diminishing their focus on more long-term career competencies. More research is needed to understand the role of individualism/collectivism in international graduates’ school-to-work transition. Furthermore, even though individualism/collectivism form the ‘deep structure’ of cultural differences (Greenfield, 2000) and differentiate cultures most significantly (Triandis, 2001), future research may also explore the role of other cultural orientations, such as power distance, in the school-to-work transition process. For instance, people with higher power distance (Hofstede, 1993) orientation may be more inclined to accept inequality in power distribution and access to information (Smale et al., 2019). Thus, they could be less likely to take charge of their careers and acquire resources necessary for career development, such as career competencies, which could be explored by future research.

Although expected to positively impact students’ careers abroad (Guan et al., 2018), host culture orientation did not affect the relationship between the PCO and perceived employability via career competencies, while home culture orientation strengthened this effect. Thus, adopting a home culture orientation was more helpful for students’ employability than host culture orientation in our study. These findings were surprising because prior research (Demes & Geeraert, 2014; Guan et al., 2018) had indicated a favourable effect of host culture orientation but mixed findings about home culture orientation. A possible explanation for our finding is that students with a higher home culture orientation may network more with people of similar backgrounds in the host country (Smith & Khawaja, 2011). This could help them preserve their identity and well-being (Berry, 1997) while enhancing chances for career success via networking.

Host culture orientation surprisingly did not have any effect in this study, which may be due to several reasons. For instance, individuals who integrate into a distinct culture may experience identity changes, becoming more vulnerable to acculturative stress (Behrens et al., 2015; Bhugra & Mastrogianni, 2004). As this paper examined a diverse student population, some students from the sample may be more susceptible to acculturative stress, depending on the difference between their home country and the Netherlands, i.e., cultural distance (Furnham & Bochner, 1982). From a COR perspective (Hobfoll, 2001), this might mean that for those students whose cultural values are more distinct from the rather individualistic culture of the Netherlands, the cultural adaptation process may require more resource investments, cancelling out the potential resource gains from the host country orientation. Moreover, given the relatively high proportions of international students in many Master-level programmes and the relatively short length of these programmes in the Netherlands (i.e., one year), it might be the case that students in our sample did not have enough opportunities and time to interact with host country nationals and develop the host country orientation in the university context. Therefore, although we could not examine it in our current study, there may also be temporal factors at play (Fuligni, 2001). For example, a home culture orientation benefits international students particularly in the short run, because they can remain in a relative comfort zone in the international context of Dutch universities and use their resources to develop career competencies and, ultimately, career success. At the same time, if they would stay in the host culture for extended periods of time, having a host culture orientation may become more useful (Murray et al., 2014), as the initial resource investments in adapting to the new environment would start to pay off, hence resulting in more career success. Future research may take a more long-term perspective on international students’ employability and examine the role of acculturation orientations over time.

In addition, although supposed to be unrelated or have a very weak negative correlation (Demes & Geeraert, 2014; Guan et al., 2018), in our study, home and host country acculturation orientations had a positive correlation (r =.23, p <.001). One possible explanation for this is that our study focuses on international Master’s students who have been in the Netherlands for a relatively short time and who pursue international study programmes. Such students could still be embedded in their home countries’ cultures, while they also start to learn more about the host country’s culture. Therefore, these international students could be in a transient state between home and host countries’ identities, i.e., a state of liminality (Baillie et al., 2013; Beech, 2011). Thus, the positive correlation between home and host country acculturation orientations might indicate the luminal state students are in. Future research may explore this phenomenon further. Moreover, the positive correlation between home and host country acculturation orientations might indicate the possible presence of interaction effects between two orientations, which could be also addressed by future research.

Overall, our findings suggest that both career and cultural orientations may contribute to resource development and initial career success among international students navigating school-to-work and cross-cultural transitions.

4.2. Practical implications

The findings of this study have practical implications for higher-educational institutions, career counsellors, and HRD professionals. For instance, higher-educational institutions could use the findings of this study to help international students successfully transition from education into work. More specifically, higher-educational institutions may encourage international students to be self-directed and provide students with opportunities to network with their home communities.

Furthermore, HRD professionals and career counsellors may use the findings of our research to help international young professionals develop their overseas employability and build a foundation for career success abroad. Specifically, HRD professionals and career counsellors may develop counselling programmes or career trainings to help international interns and graduates develop self-direction and career competencies. Furthermore, HRD professionals and career counsellors may help this group to connect and build relationships with people from the home culture, for instance, by introducing them to more experienced professionals with similar backgrounds. Thus, they may help this group of international young professionals to enhance their experience and career in a host country.

4.3. Limitations

This study has several limitations, which could be addressed by future research. First, there are several limitations of the research design, which could be addressed by future studies. For instance, the cross-sectional design of this research does not allow for establishing causality. Since reciprocal relationships between the study variables are possible, e.g., the development of career competencies may increase one’s PCO and perceived employability (e.g., Cortellazzo et al., 2020), the longitudinal design would complement the research results.

Second, as all data, except for country-level individualism scores, was collected via self-reports, and common scale formats were used, the relationships between variables in this research could be impacted by common method bias (Podsakoff et al., 2003). To mitigate this risk, an attentiveness check was included in the questionnaire, participants were guaranteed full anonymity (Presser & Krosnick, 2010) and assured of no wrong answers (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Moreover, only reliable, validated scales were used in the research, which helped to avoid item ambiguity (Podsakoff et al., 2003) and misunderstanding of study questions. To exclude the major influence of common method variance on our results (Podsakoff et al., 2003), we also conducted Harman’s single-factor test. To further reduce the risks of common method bias, future research may use temporal separation between the measurements (e.g., measure first career and cultural orientations, then career competencies and perceived employability) or use multisource data, for example, by having peers or supervisors rate people’s employability.

Third, despite the focus on cultural factors, this study adopts an agentic approach to employability (Delva et al., 2021) primarily, as it examines international students’ perceived employability in relation to their individual cultural and career orientations. Although this approach is highly relevant in today’s turbulent labour market (Akkermans & Kubasch, 2017), research (Forrier et al., 2018) has demonstrated the importance of both agency and context in individuals’ careers. Therefore, future research may take a more contextualized approach to the school-to-work transition of international students and examine how contextual factors may relate to the PCO, career competencies, and perceived employability. One of such factors could be career shocks, disruptive and unusual events that occur due to circumstances beyond individuals’ control and that prompt conscious career considerations (Akkermans et al., 2018). Career shocks play a crucial role in young professionals’ career success (Blokker et al., 2019) and may be especially relevant for international students who may face many unexpected situations during their cross-cultural transition abroad.

Finally, this study focuses on international Master’s students in the Netherlands. Since many Master programmes in the Netherlands take only one year, we assumed that international students arrived in the Netherlands not a long time ago and, hence, did not consider the duration of stay in the Netherlands as a control variable. However, we acknowledge that it might still be the case that some students have already been living in the Netherlands for a while; thus, future research that focuses on the school-to-work transition of international Master’s students in the Netherlands may include the duration of stay as a control variable.

5. Conclusion

The present study has extended the school-to-work transition research and analysed the role of diverse cultural orientations of international students in the relationship between a protean career orientation and perceived employability via career competencies. High home culture orientation of international students interacted with a protean career orientation and enhanced career competencies and perceived employability. Higher individualism orientation of international students was negatively associated with career competencies. Together, these findings show that to enhance international students’ school-to-work transition and increase their chances of career success abroad, it is crucial to consider their career and cultural orientations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Since we had a sub-scale on communicative career competencies, we tested their relationship with individualism orientation, which was indeed negative but insignificant (r = −.10, p = .077), suggesting the need for further research in this direction.