The relationship between career aspirations, self-efficacy, and subjective career success in Sarawak public service department
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/jcshd.8808.2025Keywords:
career aspirations, self-efficacy, subjective career success, public serviceAbstract
Despite the growing interest in career development within public service sectors, the interactions between career aspirations, self-efficacy, and subjective career success remain underexplored. This descriptive-correlational study aimed to examine the relationship between career aspirations, self-efficacy, and subjective career success within the Sarawak Public Service Department. A total of 191 employees, from grade N27 and above, were selected using a non-probability convenience sampling method. The survey instrument was adapted from the Career Aspirations Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Career Satisfaction Scale. The reliability of the scales was confirmed, with Cronbach's alpha values exceeding 0.7 for all variables. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between career aspirations and self-efficacy with subjective career success. Notably, self-efficacy has a dominant influence on subjective career success, surpassing the impact of career aspirations. These findings provide valuable insights into the factors influencing employee motivation and career development within public sector organisations, offering a foundation for enhancing career success strategies.
References
Abele, A. E., & Spurk, D. (2009). The longitudinal impact of self-efficacy and career goals on objective and subjective career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(1), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.10.005
Ahmed, W., & Mudrey, R. R. (2018). The role of motivational factors in predicting STEM career aspirations. International Journal of School and Educational Psychology, 7(3), 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2017.1401499
Al-Bahrani, M. A., Allawati, S. M., Abu Shindi, Y. A., & Bakkar, B. S. (2020). Career aspiration and related contextual variables. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 703–711. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2020.1730201
Aloysius, S. M., & Velnampy, T. (2020). Protean career orientation and career success: Does career planning mediate the relationship? Study of the employees in HEIs in Jaffna district, Sri Lanka. Kelaniya Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(2), 96–107. https://doi.org/10.4038/kjhrm.v15i2.80
Arthur, M. B., Khapova, S. N., & Wilderom, C. P. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 177–202. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.290
Audenaert, M., Decramer, A., & George, B. (2021). How to foster employee quality of life: The role of employee performance management and authentic leadership. Evaluation and Program Planning, 85, 101909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.101909
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W H Freeman/Times Books/ Henry Holt & Co.
Benson, G. S., McIntosh, C. K., Salazar, M., & Vaziri, H. (2020). Cultural values and definitions of career success. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(3), 392–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12266
Bozkurt, A., Jung, I., Xiao, J., Vladimirschi, V., Schuwer, R., Egorov, G., Lambert, S., Al-Freih, M., Pete, J., Don Olcott, J., Rodes, V., Aranciaga, I., Bali, M., Alvarez, A. J., Roberts, J., Pazurek, A., Raffaghelli, J. E., Panagiotou, N., de Coëtlogon, P…. & Shahadu, S. (2020). A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 1–126. http://www.asianjde.com/ojs/index.php/AsianJDE/article/view/462
Carter, A. K., Breen, L. J., & Beilby, J. M. (2019). Self-efficacy beliefs: Experiences of adults who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 60, 11–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2019.03.002
Chang, H.-Y., Friesner, D., Chu, T.-L., Huang, T.-L., Liao, Y.-N., & Teng, C.-I. (2018). The impact of burnout on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, career interest and nurse turnover. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 74(11), 2555–2565. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13776
Chen, G., Gully, S. M., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a New General Self-Efficacy Scale. Organizational Research Methods, 4(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810141004
Dan, X., Xu, S., Liu, J., Hou, R., Liu, Y., & Ma, H. (2018). Innovative behaviour and career success: Mediating roles of self-efficacy and colleague solidarity of nurses. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 5(3), 275–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2018.07.003
Datta, S., & Agarwal, U. A. (2017). Factors effecting career advancement of Indian women managers. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 6(3), 314–336. https://doi.org/10.1108/sajbs-07-2016-0062
Dries, N., Pepermans, R., & Carlier, O. (2008). Career success: Constructing a multidimensional model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(2), 254–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.05.005
Evetts, J. (1992). Dimensions of career: Avoiding reification in the analysis of change. Sociology, 26(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038592026001002
Farmer, H., Xu, H., & Dupre, M. E. (2021). Self-efficacy. In D. Gu., & D. E. Dupre (Eds.), Encyclopedia of gerontology and population aging (pp. 4410–4413). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22009-9_1092
Feldman, D. C., & Bolino, M. C. (1996). Careers within careers: Reconceptualizing the nature of career anchors and their consequences. Human Resource Management Review, 6(2), 89–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1053-4822(96)90014-5
Fink, A. (2011). How to sample in surveys (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Gaile, A., Baumane-Vītoliņa, I., Kivipõld, K., & Stibe, A. (2022). Examining subjective career success of knowledge workers. Review of Managerial Science, 16, 2135–2160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00523-x
Gerber, J. P., Wheeler, L., & Suls, J. (2018). A social comparison theory meta-analysis 60+ years on. Psychological Bulletin, 144(2), 177–197. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000127
Girouard, S., & Forest, J. (2018). A career path leading to well‐being and success. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences de L’Administration, 36(2), 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1488
Gorbatov, S., Khapova, S. N., & Lysova, E. I. (2019). Get noticed to get ahead: The impact of personal branding on career success. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02662
Gray, M. P., & O’Brien, K. M. (2007). Advancing the assessment of women's career choices: The Career Aspiration Scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 15(3), 317–337. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072707301211
Greenhaus, J. H., Parasuraman, S., & Wormley, W. M. (1990). Effects of race on organizational experiences, job performance evaluations, and career outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 33(1), 64–86. https://doi.org/10.2307/256352
Gregor, M., O’Brien, K. M., & Sauber, E. (2017). Understanding career aspirations among young men. Journal of Career Assessment, 27(2), 262–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717748957
Guan, Y., Jiang, P., Wang, Z., Mo, Z., & Zhu, F. (2016). Self-referent and other-referent career successes, career satisfaction, and turnover intention among Chinese employees: The role of achievement motivation. Journal of Career Development, 44(5), 379–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845316657181
Guillén, L. (2020). When (and why) job self-efficacy does not promote career success: The roles of resilience and organisational prototypicality. Human Relations, 74(8), 1267–1295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726720912309
Gunz, H. P., & Heslin, P. A. (2005). Reconceptualizing career success. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 105–111. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4093973
Hamzah, S. R., Musa, S. N. S., & Mohamad, N. (2022). The mediating effect of self-efficacy on career aspiration and organizational support with subjective career success among Malaysian women managers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Sociology, 7, 802090. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.802090
Hartman, R. L., & Barber, E. G. (2020). Women in the workforce: The effect of gender on occupational self-efficacy, work engagement and career aspirations. Gender in Management, 35(1), 92–118. https://doi.org/10.1108/gm-04-2019-0062
Heslin, P. A. (2003). Self- and other-referent criteria of career success. Journal of Career Assessment, 11(3), 262–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072703254500
Hirschi, A., & Spurk, D. (2021). Striving for success: Towards a refined understanding and measurement of ambition. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 127, 103577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103577
Honicke, T., Broadbent, J., & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. (2023). The self-efficacy and academic performance reciprocal relationship: The influence of task difficulty and baseline achievement on learner trajectory. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(8), 1936–1953. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2197194
Hupkens, L., Akkermans, J., Solinger, O., & Khapova, S. (2021). The dynamics of subjective career success: A qualitative inquiry. Sustainability, 13(14), 7638. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147638
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
Lange, M., & Kayser, I. (2022). The role of self-efficacy, work-related autonomy and work-family conflict on employee’s stress level during home-based remote work in Germany. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 4955. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094955
Lin, W., Shao, Y., Li, G., Guo, Y., & Zhan, X. (2021). The psychological implications of COVID-19 on employee job insecurity and its consequences: The mitigating role of organization adaptive practices. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(3), 317–329. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000896
Linge, A. D., Bjørkly, S. K., Jensen, C., & Hasle, B. (2021). Bandura’s self-efficacy model used to explore participants’ experiences of health, lifestyle, and work after attending a vocational rehabilitation program with lifestyle intervention – A focus group study. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 14, 3533–3548. https://doi.org/10.2147/jmdh.s334620
Madera, J. M., Ng, L., Sundermann, J. M., & Hebl, M. (2019). Top management gender diversity and organisational attraction: When and why it matters. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 7(1), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/arc0000060
Matthews, J., Love, P. E. D., Mewburn, J., Stobaus, C., & Ramanayaka, C. (2017). Building information modelling in construction: Insights from collaboration and change management perspectives. Production Planning and Control, 29(3), 202–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2017.1407005
Maurer, T. J., & Chapman, E. F. (2013). Ten years of career success in relation to individual and situational variables from the employee development literature. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), 450–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.07.002
Mohamad Hajari, F. H. (2020). Job performance in the Malaysian public service: The roles of job demands-resources and subjective wellbeing [Doctoral dissertation, University of Nottingham]. Nottingham eTheses.
Mohd Rasdi, R., Ismail, M., Uli, J., & Mohd Noah, S. (2009). Career aspirations and career success among managers in the Malaysian public sector. Research Journal of International Studies, 9(3), 21–35.
Murwani, I. A., & Caesar, L. A. Y. (2016). Academic achievement, self-efficacy, and career aspirations as the predictors of career success for a first job. Pertanika Journal Social Science and Humanities, 24, 163–176.
Ng, T. W. H., Eby, L. T., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: A meta‐analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 367–408. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00515.x
Ngo, H.-Y., & Hui, L. (2017). Individual orientations and career satisfaction: The mediating roles of work engagement and self-efficacy. Journal of Career Development, 45(5), 425–439. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845317706759
Qamar, F., Soomro, S. A., & Kundi, Y. M. (2023). Linking high-performance work systems and happiness at work: Role of career aspiration and thriving. Career Development International, 28(5), 536–553. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-02-2023-0047
Rigotti, T., Korek, S., & Otto, K. (2018). Career-related self-efficacy, its antecedents and relationship to subjective career success in a cross-lagged panel study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(20), 2645–2572. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1460858
Runcan, P. L., & Goian, C. (2013). Career aspirations of social work students from Romania. Revista De Asistenta Sociala, 1, 103–112.
Schultheiss, A. J., Koekemoer, E., & Masenge, A. (2023). Career commitment and subjective career success: Considering the role of career resilience and self-efficacy. Australian Journal of Career Development, 32(2), 135–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/10384162231172560
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101832
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Liden, R. C. (2001). A social capital theory of career success. The Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 219–237. https://doi.org/10.2307/3069452
Sharma, L., & Srivastava, M. (2020). A scale to measure organisational stress among women workers in the garment industry. European Journal of Training and Development, 46(9), 820–846. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejtd-04-2019-0060
Sharma, S. K., & Akram, U. (2023). Assessing subjective career success: The role of career commitment, career resilience and self-efficacy: A evidence from hospitality industry. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 16(1), 44–62. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijqss-02-2023-0022
Singh, S. K., Pradhan, R. K., Panigrahy, N. P., & Jena, L. K. (2019). Self-efficacy and workplace well-being: Moderating role of sustainability practices. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 26(6), 1692–1708. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij-07-2018-0219
Smale, A., Bagdadli, S., Cotton, R., Dello Russo, S., Dickmann, M., Dysvik, A., Gianecchini, M., Kaše, R., Lazarova, M., Reichel, A., Rozo, P., & Verbruggen, M. (2019). Proactive career behaviors and subjective career success: The moderating role of national culture. Journal of Organisational Behavior, 40(1), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2316
Smidt, W., Kammermeyer, G., Roux, S., Theisen, C., & Weber, C. (2017). Career success of preschool teachers in Germany – the significance of the Big Five personality traits, locus of control, and occupational self-efficacy. Early Child Development and Care, 188(10), 1340–1353. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2017.1314275
Spurk, D., Hirschi, A., & Dries, N. (2018). Antecedents and outcomes of objective versus subjective career success: Competing perspectives and future directions. Journal of Management, 45(1), 35–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318786563
Strauss, K., Griffin, M. A., & Parker, S. K. (2012). Future work selves: How salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 580–598. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026423
Wicht, A., Miyamoto, A., & Lechner, C. M. (2021). Are girls more ambitious than boys? Vocational interests partly explain gender differences in occupational aspirations. Journal of Career Development, 49(3), 551–568. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321991665
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 UNIMAS Publisher
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
4) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
5) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
