The Impact of Self-Leadership on College Students’ Career Adaptability: An Empirical Analysis Based on Mediating and Moderating Effects

Abstract

With the increasingly prominent phenomenon of employment difficulty, it is of great practical significance to cultivate college students’ career adaptability and support their smooth transition from the campus to the workplace. This study focused on college students and explored the operational mechanisms of self-leadership on career adaptability based on career construction theory, verifying the mediating effect of professional commitment and the moderating effect of social support. The research findings demonstrate that self-leadership exerts a positive impact on career adaptability. Additionally, professional commitment plays a partial mediating role between self leadership and career adaptability, while social support functions as a moderating factor in the correlation between self-leadership and career adaptability. Notably, self-leadership exhibits a stronger positive predictive effect on the career adaptability of individuals with low social support. To enhance the career adaptability of students, it is necessary for higher education institutions (HEIs) to respect their subjectivity, emphasize self management, and cultivate self-leadership. Furthermore, it is suggested that HEIs focus on the professional intention and learning interest of students, improving professional commitment through methods such as increasing the proportion of independent enrollment in the National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) and expanding opportunities for changing majors during their undergraduate studies. Lastly, it is conducive to implementing categorized management and providing social support in a personalized fashion during career guidance to promote college students’ career development, considering both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Keywords

career construction theory / self-leadership / career adaptability / professional commitment / social support

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2025 Higher Education Press