Work Values and Career Adjustment During the University-to-Work Transition: A Value-Based Proactive Process

Abstract

This study examined how university graduates’ work values relate to their career adjustment outcomes during the university-to-work transition from a proactive perspective. Using a four-wave time-lagged design that tracked 455 Chinese university graduates from two weeks before graduation to 18 months after entering the workforce, structural equation modeling results showed that the variety dimension of openness-to-change values was positively related to a job-growth mindset, which was in turn associated with subsequent proactive career behaviors and, ultimately, higher person-job fit and job satisfaction. In contrast, the comfort dimension of conservation values showed a negative association with this sequence. By demonstrating a temporally ordered pathway from value orientations to context-specific beliefs, proactive behavior, and adjustment, these findings provide insight into value-based proactive processes underlying career adjustment during the university-to-work transition.