Psychological mechanisms underlying employability among Chinese university students: a sequential mediation model and...

Addressing intensified labor market competition, this study validates the multidimensional structure of future employability and examines its underlying sequential capital conversion process-a critical objective for higher education-within a non-Western cultural context.

Data from 1,304 Chinese undergraduates were analyzed using a rigorous structural modeling approach: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Multi-Group CFA (MG-CFA) to establish Measurement Invariance (MI) across gender, and Sequential Structural Equation Modeling (Sequential SEM). The validated four-factor model comprises Human Capital, Psychological Capital, Social Capital, and Career Development. The successful MI test permitted robust latent mean comparisons.

Multi-group analyses revealed significant gender differences in resource possession: males excelled in Human Capital, while females reported significantly higher latent means in Psychological Capital. The sequential mediation analysis demonstrated that Human Capital significantly influenced Career Development through the sequential mediating roles of Psychological Capital and Social Capital. Crucially, Psychological Capital was identified as the pivotal psychological engine in this conversion process, serving as the foundational resource that facilitates the mobilization of social capital and subsequent career development.

This research provides robust empirical support for a dynamic, integrated capital conversion model. Theoretically, it advances capital theory by demonstrating the sequential interplay between cognitive, personality, and social factors, underscoring Psychological Capital as the pivotal engine that facilitates this conversion process. Practically, the findings suggest that higher education interventions should prioritize psychological resilience and self-efficacy alongside traditional skill-building to design gender-sensitive programs that optimize resource transformation for sustainable employability.