Career Adaptability Among Vocational College Students: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Indonesian and Chinese Students

Vocational graduates will enter labor markets that change faster than curricula, which makes the move from school to work less predictable. Career adaptability, the psychosocial resource people draw on to handle career tasks, transitions, and setbacks, can help them manage this move, yet few studies have compared it among vocational college students across countries. This study compared career adaptability between Indonesian and Chinese students enrolled in Diploma III or equivalent three-year vocational programs. Using a comparative cross-sectional design, we surveyed 250 students (125 per country) with the Indonesian and Chinese forms of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance, and the groups were then compared with Welch's t-tests at a Bonferroni-adjusted α of .01. Indonesian students scored higher on overall career adaptability, t(228.03) = 3.28, p = .001, d = 0.42, and on concern (p < .001, d = 0.52), control (p = .005, d = 0.36), and curiosity (p = .006, d = 0.35). The difference in confidence (p = .013, d = 0.32) did not reach the adjusted threshold. The pattern suggests that Indonesian students, whose training is less tightly connected to employment, invest more in planning and exploring their careers. Vocational institutions could pair technical training with career planning, exploration, and decision-making support that fits their own school-to-work system.