The relationship between socioeconomic status and the career calling of medical students: the chain mediation effect of social support and subjective social status

To improve the career calling of medical students and cultivate high-quality medical workers, this study aimed to investigate the role of socioeconomic status in the career calling of medical students. The questionnaire method was used to distribute the Socioeconomic Status Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, Subjective Social Status Scale, and Career Calling Scale to 1428 medical students, and the relationship between the variables was analyzed using structural equation modeling. (1) Socioeconomic status significantly and positively predicts career calling among medical students, but its direct predictive effect on career calling is not significant. (2) Social support and subjective social status each played a fully mediating role between socioeconomic status and career calling. (3) Social support and subjective social rank serve as statistically significant chain mediators between socioeconomic status and career calling, though the actual effect size of this pathway remains modest. A strong correlation exists between medical students’ career calling and socioeconomic status, social support, and subjective social status. Socioeconomic status indirectly influences career calling through the independent mediation and chain mediation of social support and subjective social status. This provides a new way to improve the career calling of medical students.