The Relationship among Chinese Teachers’ Organizational Support, Career Adaptability and Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Decent Work

Background: As an important indicator of subjective well-being (SWB), decent work is a key guarantee for the sustainable development of teachers and their psychological health and work quality. Faced with the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the global labor market, vocational college teachers are facing challenges such as workload pressure and limited career development, which may harm their well-being. This study aims to localize the measurement method of decent work in Chinese vocational education based on the theory of the Psychology of Working Theory, and explore the relationship mechanism between organizational support, career adaptability, decent work, and job satisfaction among vocational college teachers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 422 HVCU teachers in China (202 male, 220 female) using the localized Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Career Adaptability Scale, Decent Work Scale, and Job Satisfaction Scale. Results: The overall level of HVCU teachers’ decent work was above the median (Mean = 4.09, SD = 0.69), laying a foundation for their SWB. Decent work significantly and positively predicted job satisfaction (β = 0.620, p < 0.001). Organizational support (r = 0.58, p < 0.001) and career adaptability (r = 0.82, p < 0.001) can positively affect decent work, and further improve job satisfaction (collective R2 rising from 38.3% to 41.1%). Bootstrap analysis confirmed these mediating effects were robust. Conclusions: This study confirms that the combined effects of organizational support and career adaptability can enhance decent work, further improving teachers’ job satisfaction and subsequent subjective well-being. Besides, this study provides an empirical basis for improving the well-being of higher vocational teachers and the sustainable development of vocational education, and has practical significance for improving the teacher incentive policy.