Pursuing Education Among Healthcare Workers Explained by Social Cognitive Career Theory: A Mixed-methods Approach

Healthcare professionals are expected to engage in training and/or education throughout their career paths. This two-part study aimed to investigate the experience of pursuing education among healthcare workers. Study One measured stress among 70 healthcare professionals enrolled in graduate studies; 83% of them were highly stressed and reported stressors that drew the researchers’ attention, such as uncertainty about the future and lack of job security. Study Two was then designed to explore graduate students’ orientation towards continuing education and explain it within social cognitive career theory. Students’ choice to continue in health administration rather than in their own professions was not informed, and their decisions were not oriented towards competence. Neither managerial self-efficacy nor interest in management was evident in most of the responses. The absence of orientation among most of the 11 interviewees in Study Two justified the above-average stress that has been reported in Study One. The study recommends considering interest enhancement initiatives and career counselling for higher education students.