Modeling career decision competency for global vocational education: confirmatory factor analysis evidence from Thailand with cross-cultural implications
Chanchai Yothasoot, Surapon BoonluePurpose
This study reframes career decision-making competency in vocational education as a system-embedded capability influenced by institutional supports, opportunity structures, and constraints. Using Thailand as an exemplar VET system, it develops a multidimensional career decision-making competency (CDMC) framework adapted from the CDMI to better capture how career decisions are enacted within education–work environments. It treats career decision-making competency as a system-embedded capability in vocational education and uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to provide evidence for the coherence of the proposed structure.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 508 Thai vocational students across five regions. A second-order CFA was used to provide empirical support for whether the proposed CDMC structure coheres as an integrated, system-embedded competency model.
Findings
Results support a nine-dimensional CDMC structure that integrates individual capabilities (e.g. self-knowledge, occupational knowledge and decision-making skills) with contextual engagement (e.g. support, opportunities, obstacles and broader context). Findings indicate strong internal coherence, suggesting that vocational career decision-making is meaningfully represented as a combined personal–structural competency.
Research limitations/implications
Although robust, this study has several limitations. Dependence on a cross-sectional methodology that compiles data at a singular moment in time inhibits the determination of causal links between the dimensions of the CDMI and career outcomes. The sample, albeit stratified, comprised exclusively vocational students in Thailand, which may constrain the applicability of the results to alternative educational frameworks and cultural environments. Moreover, data collection was conducted through online platforms, which could introduce biases associated with digital accessibility or self-reported information.
Practical implications
Findings suggest CDMC is a system-embedded competency in which individual capabilities co-vary with contextual engagement (support, opportunities, obstacles and broader context). Practical implications for VET providers are to: (1) embed brief, assessed career-decision tasks within technical modules to connect occupational knowledge and decision skills to realistic progression routes (2) use short CDMC check-ins to identify dominant gaps and match supports (e.g. labor-market information scaffolds, pathway planning, employer exposure, mentoring and referral routines) and (3) align guidance with work-integrated learning so workplace experiences translate into feasible pathways.
Social implications
CDMC can help reduce education–work mismatches, strengthen transition readiness and widen participation in decent work, particularly for disadvantaged vocational learners. The framework encourages schools and policymakers to address structural barriers (e.g. limited employer links and uneven guidance provision across regions) rather than placing responsibility solely on individuals. Over time, more coherent guidance systems can contribute to lower youth unemployment and support more inclusive, sustainable workforce development in comparable Asia-Pacific VET contexts.
Originality/value
The study applies a system-embedded lens to CDMI-based work, demonstrating how career decision-making competencies in VET are shaped by both individual capabilities and institutional conditions, thereby supporting more institution- and policy-facing interpretations of career guidance and transition support.