Digital Self-Efficacy and Interests: Postsecondary Student Pathways to a Digital Career

Abstract

Global digital advancements provide postsecondary students with ample digital job opportunities. Thus, it is crucial to understand the psychological determinants that affect postsecondary students’ choices of a digital career. Self-efficacy and interest are two widely used psychological determinants in the choice behavior of individuals. However, they are insufficiently studied within the digital realm. This paper uses survey data to investigate the associations between postsecondary students’ digital career choices and their digital self-efficacy and interest. The results show that digital self-efficacy and interest significantly predict students’ digital career choices, with digital interest being a better predictor. By further looking at institutional type and students’ preferred orientations of digital fields, students from four-year universities are more likely to choose a digital career compared with their peers from higher vocational colleges. Notably, the increase in digital self-efficacy of higher vocational students contributes to a significant decrease in the likelihood to prefer the digital agriculture field; however, it significantly increases the likelihood to prefer the digital social undertakings field. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and postsecondary administrators and practitioners to make informed decisions in order to facilitate student success in the digital landscape.