A Systematic Review and Integrated Model of Educational Satisfaction Formation among Adult Learners in Cosmetology Education

This study systematically reviews empirical research on educational satisfaction in adult beauty education and reconstructs an integrated conceptual model explaining its structural formation. As lifelong learning expands and career transitions increase, adult participation in beauty education has grown substantially. In this context, educational satisfaction functions as a process-oriented variable extending to learning persistence, performance outcomes, and professional development. However, prior research has primarily focused on general lifelong or vocational education, with limited consideration of the practice-based and skill-oriented characteristics inherent in beauty education. Following systematic review procedures, 20 empirical studies published between 2011 and 2025 were analyzed. Research characteristics, variable mapping structures, and frequency patterns were examined, and recurring relationships among key constructs were reorganized into an integrated structural pathway model. The findings indicate that educational satisfaction is formed through a multi-stage structural pathway, beginning with learning motivation and participation, facilitated by self-directed learning, progressing through learning immersion and self-efficacy, and extending to continuance intention and learning outcomes. In particular, instructor interaction and practice environment function as critical contextual factors that reinforce the structural linkage between immersion and self-efficacy within practice-based learning contexts. The proposed model reconceptualizes educational satisfaction not as a simple outcome variable but as a structurally constructed process embedded in adult beauty education. This study provides a theoretically grounded framework and practical implications for the design of adult-centered, practice-based beauty education programs.