Development and initial validation of the perceived career barrier scale for midwifery undergraduates in China...

Midwifery education in China faces growing retention challenges, yet no validated instrument for assessing perceived career barriers exists for this population. Existing measures, such as the Career Barriers Inventory, were developed for Western adult working populations. They do not capture profession-specific obstacles relevant to Chinese midwifery undergraduates, including concerns about labour market conditions, clinical competence demands, and the influence of family socialisation norms on career decisions. This gap limits the ability to design targeted educational interventions. This study therefore aimed to develop and test a self-report tool measuring perceived career barriers among Chinese midwifery undergraduates, and to examine the impact of family socialisation environment on their perceived career barriers.

A total of 767 midwifery undergraduates from eight universities across five regions of China completed the Perceived Career Barrier Scale for Midwifery Undergraduates (PCBS-MU), a 33-item instrument developed through literature review, expert consultation (content validity index ≥ 0.78), and cognitive interviews. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with parallel analysis, internal consistency, and corrected item-total correlations were computed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with modification indices was conducted to evaluate structural validity. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests, hierarchical linear regression, and Spearman correlations examined demographic associations.

EFA supported a single underlying factor (KMO = 0.962; Bartlett's χ²(528) = 23185.95, p < .001; eigenvalue = 16.59, explaining 50.3% of variance; factor loadings 0.50-0.87). Internal consistency was excellent (α = 0.968; corrected item-total correlations 0.50-0.78). CFA with six pairs of within-domain correlated residuals demonstrated good structural validity (χ²/df = 4.38, CFI = 0.930, TLI = 0.917, RMSEA = 0.074, SRMR = 0.068). Parenting style was the strongest predictor. Compared with authoritative parenting, authoritarian (B = 11.03), permissive (B = 6.24), and uninvolved (B = 12.63) styles were independently associated with higher barrier scores (all p < .001).

The PCBS-MU is a unidimensional measure of perceived career barriers for Chinese midwifery undergraduates with satisfactory initial psychometric properties. In an exploratory secondary analysis, family socialisation environment, particularly parenting style, emerged as the dominant correlate of career barrier perceptions, suggesting that educational interventions targeting psychological resources may help reduce attrition in this workforce-critical group.