A study on the career decision of preschool education majors in Shandong province, China

The changing employment context for graduates and the adjustment of China’s preschool education sector have made future career choices more uncertain for students in this major. Taking students majoring in preschool education in Shandong Province, China, as the research sample, this study analyzed the links among neuroticism, negative coping style, and career decision, and examined whether negative coping style mediated the relationship between neuroticism and career decision. A quantitative research design was used, and data were collected from 312 students majoring in preschool education through structured questionnaires. Reliability and validity tests, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and bootstrap mediation analysis were conducted to examine the relationships among the variables. The results showed that neuroticism had a significant negative effect on career decision (β = −0.589, p < 0.001) and a significant positive effect on negative coping style (β = 0.543, p < 0.001). Negative coping style also had a significant negative effect on career decision (β = −0.594, p < 0.001). The bootstrap results further indicated that negative coping style played a significant partial mediating role between neuroticism and career decision-making. These findings suggest that students with higher levels of neuroticism are more likely to adopt negative coping responses, which may reduce their career certainty and satisfaction. Universities should identify and support students with emotional distress and negative coping tendencies at an earlier stage and provide targeted career guidance and psychological support to improve students’ career decisions.