Welcome to work in Taiwan! Investigation of international students' employment opportunities

Abstract

Introduction. Employment plays an important role in vocational development. However, not many studies of job search among international students have been reported.Aim. The current study aims to examine the relationship between self-efficacy, behavioural intentions, and perceived discrimination in the field of job search (JS).Methodology and research methods. The authors used Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-management (CSM) as the theoretical background to explain the relationships among the constructs of self-efficacy, behavioural intentions and perceived discrimination in JS. The study was conducted in a Chinese cultural context (Taiwan) with a sample of 301 international students from Southeast Asian countries. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the model about the relationships between the three variables in the study.Results and scientific novelty. The research findings show that self-efficacy strongly predicts behavioural intentions. Besides, self-efficacy partly mediates the influence of perceived discrimination on behavioural intentions. A quantitative research method was applied to investigate the population of international students, which has not been much reported in previous studies. This indicates that the influence of a contextual factor (e.g. perceived discrimination) on behavioural intentions is direct and indirect through self-efficacy.Practical significance. The research findings can be used by practitioners for enhancing self-efficacy and behavioural intentions as well as helping international students to cope with discrimination in the JS process.