Research Study (MSc Dissertation)

Job-Search Self-Efficacy in University-to-Work Transition

This MSc dissertation investigates how confidence, resilience, and background (domicile status) in final‑year students’ job‑search self‑efficacy.

Using online survey, alongside with cross-sectional correlation design with multiple regression methods, the project uncovers psychological factors and resources that influence students’ confidence in approach the transition into graduate work.

Purpose

This project showcases my MSc research on psychological determinants of job‑search self‑efficacy among final‑year university students, combining consumer behaviour insights and applied social psychology to illuminate how young adults navigate labour‑market uncertainty.

The purpose was not only to explore a topic, but to show how a complex psychological or behavioural issue can be transformed into a focused research question, grounded in theory, examined through evidence, and discussed with appropriate limitations.

It also demonstrates my ability to design, structure, and communicate an academic research project: identifying a research problem, reviewing literature, developing a coherent argument, evaluating evidence, and presenting findings with clarity and critical awareness.

Background

Final-year students’ job search is a complex and demanding transition requiring self-regulation, goal clarity, and multiple behavioural processes (van Hooft et al., 2021)

Job-search self-efficacy (JSSE) is strongly associated with job-search behaviour and employment outcomes (Saks et al., 2015; van Hooft et al., 2021).

Career pathway clarity (CPC) may enhance JSSE, as greater awareness of career options and possible routes can strengthen confidence and goal‑directed self‑regulation (Bandura, 1997; Lent et al., 1994).

Resilience may be linked to JSSE as it reflects students’ ability to recover and persist when facing uncertainty, rejection, and setbacks (Smith et al., 2008).

Domicile status could potentially shape JSSE, as international graduates may encounter additional challenges (visa‑related uncertainty, employers’ barriers) (Atkinson et al., 2023).

Research Gaps & Research Questions

Research Gap

Uncertainty on which factors are most strongly associated with JSSE

Underdevelopment of measurements
Limited research on background and domicile variables

Project Aim

The study aimed to examine which factor among resilience, career pathway clarity (CPC), and domicile status was most strongly associated with job-search self-efficacy among final-year undergraduate students at Queen Mary University of London.

Hypothesis

Resilience, career pathway clarity, and domicile status will collectively explain a significant proportion of the variance in job-search self-efficacy.

Theoretical Foundation

The dissertation was grounded in Self-Efficacy Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), and Career Construction Theory.

Career Construction Theory supported the role of career pathway clarity, where students’ sense of direction, future planning, and career meaning may help them navigate the university-to-work transition.
Self-Efficacy Theory helped explain why students’ beliefs about their own capability may influence job-search behaviour and persistence.
SCCT provided a framework for understanding career confidence as shaped by self-efficacy, goals, outcome expectations, and contextual supports or barriers.

Three key theoretical constructs informed the study’s framework: resilience (the capacity to adapt under adversity), career pathway clarity (the degree to which individuals have a clear sense of vocational direction), and domicile status (home vs. international classification)

Methods

Participants

A total of [N] final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students were recruited from UK universities via purposive and snowball sampling. Participants completed an anonymous online survey.

Materials

Validated psychometric scales were used to measure job-search self-efficacy, resilience, career pathway clarity, and academic confidence. Each scale had established reliability and validity in prior research.

Analysis

A cross-sectional correlational design with multiple regression

Dependent variable was JSSE. Examined predictors: resilience, CPC, and domicile
Composite mean scores were calculated for JSSE, CPC, and resilience
Domicile was entered as a coded categorical predictor
Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess internal consistency
Pearson correlations examined associations between the main variables
Multiple linear regression tested whether resilience, CPC, and domicile collectively predicted JSSE
Regression assumptions were checked, including normality of residuals and homoscedasticity

Resuts

The measures showed acceptable to excellent reliability

JSSE: excellent reliability (alpha = .934)

Resilience: good reliability (alpha = .833)

Career Pathway Clarity: acceptable reliability (alpha = .792)

Multiple linear regression model

The multiple linear regression model was significant (F(3, 37) = 16.39, p < .001), explaining 57.1% of the variance in JSSE. This supported the overall hypothesis that the predictors collectively explained a significant proportion of students’ job-search self-efficacy.

The Pattern of Predictors

Career Pathway Clarity was strongly and positively correlated with JSSE, r(39) = .751, p < .001

CPC was the strongest and only significant predictor in the regression model. A one-point increase in CPC was associated with an estimated 0.82-point increase in predicted JSSE on the 5-point Likert scale.

Resilience showed a small, non-significant association with JSSE, r(39) = .197, p = .218.

Domicile showed a negligible, non-significant association with JSSE, r(39) = .057, p = .724

Discussion

Workspace with coffee cup, notebook, pen, and laptop

Student’s job-search confidence may depend more their sense of career direction and possible pathways rather than coping capacity and background.

This is consistent with SCCT emphasising that self-efficacy is shaped by goal-directed thinking (Lent et al., 1994) and literature showing that job-search clarity are linked to stronger JSSE (Zikic & Saks, 2009).

Resilience may not be a direct predictor of JSSE but more mediate factor through career adaptability and career decision-making (Alkal, 2025).

The non-significant infuence of domicile does not explain that home and international students faced the same experiences in job-search process. Limitation may lie in the small sample within QMUL and uneven group distribution between male and female, home and international students.

Critical Evaluation

Strength

Reliable measures with acceptable to excellence reliability scores

Significant regression model

Limitations

Small sample size and uneven group distribution between male and female, home and international students

Self-report reliance and cross-sectional design

Future research suggestions

Larger and more diverse sample size

Longitudinal studies to test CPC as a job-search behaviour predictor

Qualitative research to explore international students’ challenges through language barriers, cultural adjustment, and labour-market’s constrainst. (Zheng, 2026)