Career Anxiety and Career Decision-Making Difficulties Among Female Undergraduates in Four Non-Elite Chinese Universities: A Mixed-Methods Study

Career decision-making difficulties (CDDs) among female undergraduates are associated with both individual psychological processes and culturally embedded social contexts. This study examined the associations among career anxiety, career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE), perceived frequency of parental career support, and CDD among female undergraduates from four purposively selected non-elite universities in Jiangsu Province, China. Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data from 407 participants were analyzed using SPSS 27.0, AMOS 26.0, and PROCESS macro 4.1, including confirmatory factor analysis and conditional process analysis with 5000 bootstrap samples, followed by thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 participants using NVivo 12. Career anxiety was positively associated with CDD and negatively associated with CDSE, with CDSE partially accounting for the association between anxiety and decision difficulties. The anxiety–CDD association was stronger among students reporting higher frequencies of parental career support behaviors. Qualitative findings suggested that perceived support quality, autonomy support, and contextual fit shaped how parental involvement was experienced. These findings suggest that parental career support should be understood not only in terms of behavioral frequency but also in relation to how involvement is experienced under conditions of heightened career anxiety. Longitudinal, dyadic, and culturally diverse research is needed.