Impact of University Students’ Empowerment on Career Preparation Behavior: Mediating Effects of Field Training Satisfaction and Career Aspiration and a Mediation Analysis

This study investigates the impact of university students’ empowerment on career preparation behavior, with a particular focus on the mediating effects of field training satisfaction and career aspiration. Data were collected from university students who had participated in field training programs, and the proposed research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the measurement model. To rigorously examine the mediating effects, the phantom variable approach combined with bootstrapping was employed. The results reveal that empowerment exerts a significant indirect effect on career preparation behavior through field training satisfaction. Career aspiration was also found to have a mediating effect, showing marginal significance when examined independently. Furthermore, the sequential mediation of field training satisfaction and career aspiration indicates that empowerment influences career preparation behavior through a stepwise process involving experiential evaluation and future-oriented career cognition. These findings extend empowerment research by demonstrating its relevance to career preparation behavior and by highlighting the importance of experiential and cognitive mechanisms in this process.