ANTECEDENT FACTORS OF VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READINESS FOR SELECTING CAREERS: A CASE IN INDONESIA

Vocational graduates’ readiness for selecting careers is an important topic for vocational education research. Although there have been many studies on vocational student career selection readiness, there are only few studies on the roles of teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital in shaping vocational students’ readiness for selecting careers. This study aims to examine the antecedent factors of high school students’ readiness for career selection which involve teaching quality, psychological capital, and social capital factors. This study employed the quantitative approach with expost facto design. The data were randomly collected from 279 vocational high school students in North Lampung-Indonesia by means of online questionnaires. SEM analysis was carried out in this study to see the effects among variables. The results show that readiness for selecting careers is influenced by teaching quality and psychological capital, as social capital does not directly influence student readiness. Besides, psychological capital is influenced by teaching quality and social capital. Then, social capital is influenced by teaching quality. Social and psychological capitals together mediate the effect of teaching quality on the readiness for selecting careers. The research findings present some implications for vocational education practitioners wishing to make further improvements.


INTRODUCTION
The study of the career choice readiness of graduates of vocational education is essential in vocational psychology research, primarily to analyse the suitability of students' vocational field choices while in school (Indana, 2018;Richardson, 2010;Song & Chathoth, 2011). This is based on a theoretical framework which

Tuatul Mahfud 1 *, Ibnu Siswanto 2 , Danar Susilo Wijayanto 3 , Putu Fajar Puspitasari 4 1 Balikpapan State Polytechnic, Indonesia
states that vocational education prepares and develops individuals' work capacities (Billet, 2011;Wolf, 2011). Therefore, vocational education graduates must have a career choice readiness that is suitable for their vocational academic field. Several experts have discussed studies of career choice readiness (Chan, 2018;Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994;Okayama & Kajii, 2011). Specifically, the Social Cognitive Career Theory/SCCT (Lent & Brown, 2006;Lent et al., 1994) states that career choice can be formed through interactions between learning, person, and contextual experience factors. SCCT is often used as a model approach to determine how to process individuals' intentions to choose their work (Chan, 2018;Cunningham, Bruening, Sartore, & Fink, 2005;Sudiyatno, Wu, Budiman, Purwantoro, Mahfud, & Siswanto, 2019). Many studies have examined the readiness of career choices. However, we still find limited literature that discusses the career choice readiness of vocational students by collaboratively involving the teaching quality, person, and contextual aspects.
There are also many theoretical and practical gaps in vocational education research about student career choice. Theoretically, Billet (2011) stated that vocational education can develop individuals' work capacities according to their interests. However, empirically, many vocational school graduates are not working in the field of their vocational choice. For example, Indana (2018) revealed that most (90%) graduates of the Vocational High School in Trenggalek (Indonesia) did not work in their educational fields. Specifically, graduates of the hospitality school, who should have a career in the hospitality sector, typically sought other types of work (Richardson, 2010;Song & Chathoth, 2011). Richardson (2010) stated that as many as 50% of the students examined in his study had thought about working outside the hospitality industry because of the negative views obtained from previous work experience and distrust toward the career prospects in their various fields (Richardson, 2010). A case study by Masdonati, Fournier, & Lahrizi (2017) showed that one individual changed his career choice after starting work because of a desire to get a better job and in accordance with his needs. These cases show that vocational schools have not been able to develop the students' confidence and readiness of their career choices optimally.
Career choice readiness is considered as readiness to decide on career plan choices (Savickas, 1984). Someone who has career readiness usually has equipped the knowledge and skills related to their career preferences (Levinson, Ohlers, Caswell, & Kiewra, 2011). Based on this understanding, students tend to approach the task of making a career choice through their future expectations and their sensitive career preference plans (Savickas, 2005). Savickas & Porfeli (2011) claimed that personal career choice readiness could be explained through several attributes: concern, curiosity, confidence, and consultation about career choice. Lent & Brown (2006), in their SCCT, stated that career choices are influenced by two aspects, namely more distal influences and proximal influences. Although proximal sets of influences are stronger predictors than more distal influences (Lent et al., 2001), the role of more distal influences (e.g., learning experience) is also vital for cultivating the career choice readiness for vocational students. According to Lent et al. (1994) , the development of individual career choices needs to consider three important things namely personal, contextual, and experience/learning factors. Hence, separating these three aspects will weaken one's career choice readiness. However, previous studies have not examined the extent of the influence of these three dimensions on the formation of career choices for vocational students. In this study, the three aspects of SCCT are represented by the factors of teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital. These three factors have an essential role in shaping the career choices of vocational students.
Previous studies have revealed the importance of improving the teaching quality to cultivate career choice readiness. According to Spanjaard, Hall, & Stegemann (2018), experiential learning and teaching quality plays a major role in determining student career choice readiness. Teaching quality is an essential component in achieving student learning outcomes, including academic achievement and career preferences (Okayama & Kajii, 2011). Teacher's ability to determine a suitable instructional strategy is crucial and relates significantly to a student's career interests and choices (Mahfud, Indartono, Saputro, & Utari, 2019;Okayama & Kajii, 2011), which indicates that a good instructional will provide a positive student learning experience and thus support a vocational student's career choice readiness. Empirically, student learning experiences affect individuals' beliefs in their career choice readiness (Williams & Subich, 2006).
Other predictors of career choice readiness is contextual factors (for example, social aspects) (Lent & Brown, 2006;Lent et al., 1994). Previous studies have shown that career choices are influenced by social support and psychological capital (Chan, 2018;Lent & Brown, 2006;Lent et al., 1994). Chan (2018), social support has a positive relationship with career choice readiness, while other studies reveal that social support is not related to career choice readiness, and the perception of social support has an insignificant direct relation to career choice readiness (Chan, Chen, Lin, Liao, & Lin, 2016;Suryadi, Sawitri, Hayat, & Putra, 2020). In addition, positive psychological capital will drive increased productivity and ultimately have an impact on individual career success (Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007).
Psychological capital (PsyCap) is often associated with self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience . PsyCap can improve individual performance and career success readiness (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007). The development of psychological capital requires proper education and training intervention, as has been discussed previously. The method of increasing individual psychological capital through focused training and development sessions can encourage individuals to associate themselves with social networks (Jackson, Firtko, & Edenborough, 2007). This intervention serves as a driver for enhancing the career and employment opportunities of individuals, compared to those who have never received the training and development of psychological capital. The role of psychological capital factors from previous studies reinforces the assumption that fostering career choice readiness involves not only external aspects (e.g., social capital), but also internal elements such as students' psychological capital. However, previous studies have not discussed the extent of the role of social capital and psychological capital as mediators on the effect of teaching quality on the career choices of vocational students.
Based on previous study, it can be understood that the teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital plays an important role in the development of vocational students' career choice readiness. This study explores the joint effects of teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital on the career choices readiness for vocational high school students. This study also examines the mediation role of social capital and psychological capital in the relationship between teaching quality and students' career choice readiness. Specifically, this study examines (1) the influence of each antecedent factor consisting of the teaching quality, psychological capital, and social capital on the career choices readiness for vocational students.; (2) the influence of each antecedent factor consisting of the teaching quality and social capital on the psychological capital of vocational school students; (3) the effect of teaching quality on the social capital of vocational school students; and (4) the role of joint mediation (social capital and psychological capital) on the effect of the teaching quality on vocational students' career choice readiness.

METHODS
This type of research uses a quantitative approach. This study does not control or treat the independent variables directly because the event has occurred, so this research is an ex-post facto study (Ary, Jacobs, & Razavieh, 1985).

Participants
This study targeted vocational high school students, especially those following the culinary arts, hospitality, accounting, and computer engineering study programs. The sampling method was a simple random sampling technique using an online questionnaire, which was distributed to 925 students of Public Vocational Schools in North Lampung, Indonesia. The sample of 279 students (100 males and 179 females) was considered acceptable (Yamane, 1967). The respondents consisted of 79 culinary arts students, 49 hospitality students, 27 accounting students, and 124 technical computer students (see Table 1).

Career Choice Readiness
The career choice readiness of students in vocational school is measured using the Career Maturity Inventory (Savickas & Porfeli, 2011). The original scale of career comprises four constructs: concern, curiosity, confidence, and consultation. The internal consistency of the four sub-scales was .62, .74, .78 and .69, respectively. This study selected two of the four constructs that relate highly to the research purpose: concern (6 items; e.g., "There is no point in deciding on a job when it is uncertain") and confidence (6 items, e.g., "Choosing a job is something that you do on your own"). This study uses a 5 Likert scale (strongly disagree -strongly agree).

Teaching Quality
Instructional Quality Questionnaire (Wagner, Göllner, Helmke, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2013) was used to measure students' perceptions of the teaching quality of the teacher. This questionnaire consists of five indicators: motivation (two items, e.g., "Sometimes my teacher makes me very enthusiastic about the topic of the lesson"); understandable (four items, e.g., "Students are clear and understandable to me"); student involvement (five items, e.g., "The teacher responds to our suggestions"); structure (3 items, e.g., "At the beginning of the lesson, my teacher outlines what will be discussed"); and class management (two items, e.g., "My teacher makes students pay attention to the whole lesson"). We use five Likert scales (1 = strongly disagree -5 = strongly agree). This questionnaire has a Cronbach alpha value for the quality of the teaching subscale from .77 to .89.

Social Capital
We use the Social Capital Questionnaire to measure social capital (Paiva et al., 2014), which comprises four constructs: school cohesion (four items, e.g., "My school stays together"); friendship school (three items, e.g., "Students in my school have fun together"); neighborhood social cohesion (two items, e.g., "I trust my neighbors"); and school/neighborhood trust (three items, e.g., "The teachers in my school are sympathetic and give us support"). This questionnaire uses a 5 Likert scale (strongly disagree -strongly agree). This questionnaire has a Cronbach alpha value of .71.

Psychological Capital
We use The Psychological Capital (PsyCap) Questionnaire  to measure students' psychological capital. The PCQ measures self-efficacy (6 items, e.g., "I feel confident in analyzing a long-term problem to find a solution"); optimism (6 items, e.g., "If I find myself in a clock, I could think of many ways to get out of it"); resilience (6 items, e.g., "I usually manage one way or another during training"); and hope (6 items, e.g., "When things are uncertain for me in class, I usually expect the best"). The items were measured using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (agree strongly), and the internal consistency of self-efficacy, optimism, resilience, and hope were .75, .79, .72, and .76, respectively.

Data Analysis
Data analysis uses structural equation modelling (SEM), which allows the relationship between variable constructsboth exogenous and endogenous variables-to be tested while taking into consideration the account measurement errors (Bollen, 1989). In this study, the teaching quality factor is an exogenous variable. Meanwhile, social capital, psychological capital, and career choice readiness factors are endogenous variables. Data analysis in this study uses Amos 18 software support. In addition, the bootstrapping confidence interval was estimated to analyze the mediation significance in this study model. We used 2,000 bootstrap samples, with a confidence level of 90%.

Mean, Validities, and Reliabilities Instruments in This Study
Before testing the SEM analysis, a Pearson correlation and Cronbach alpha test were conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the instruments of teaching quality, social capital, psychological capital, and career maturity utilized in this study. One item of psychological capital was eliminated because it has an insignificant value of validity (-.162). Finally, the instruments to measure the four variables were valid (.343** ~ .790**) and reliable (.742 ~ .925) (see Table 2). It indicated that the four measurement tools are accurate enough to measure students' perceptions of the vocational teachers' teaching quality, social capital, psychological capital, and their readiness to choose a preferable career as well. And overall, the perceptions of vocational students towards teaching quality and psychological capital showed good results (mean = 4). Meanwhile, the social capital factors and career choice readiness showed moderate results (mean = 3). Note. ** = significant (p = .01)

The Systematic Structure of Variables Influencing Career Choice Readiness
The results of the first model test show that the fit model value of the conceptual model cannot be assessed because the model is identified as a "just identified" model, thus hypothesis 5 is not supported. SEM requires an "over-identified" model to assess the model fit. Thus, we modified the model by eliminating the path that has the largest p-value, namely the social capital path on the career choice readiness (p = .228). The modified model test results showed that the structural model has a good fit (Chi-square = 1.451; GFI = .997; AGFI = .974; RMSEA = .040), which supported the hypothesized model (Byrne & Campbell, 1999) see Figure 1.

Figure 1. SEM Analysis Results
Before testing the model, testing the effect of teaching quality on career choice readiness showed a significant impact (.476***; see Table  3). However, after the two mediators-social and psychological capital-were presented in the model, the standardized estimate value declined (.209**); however, this pathway remained significant at the .01 level, and thus supported hypothesis 1. Similarly, teaching quality shows a significant direct effect (.534***) on social capital (hypothesis 2 was supported), which simultaneously affects the psychological capital (.302***; hypothesis 4 was supported). Finally, the teaching quality has a direct influence on the psychological capital of vocational students (.477***; hypothesis 3 was supported), which simultaneously affects career choice readiness (.420***; hypothesis 6 was supported).  Table 4 shows the mediation role test. The findings reveal that social capital and psychological capital jointly mediate significantly in the relationship of teaching quality and career choice readiness of vocational students (.268, p = .001, CI = .169 -.395), thus supporting hypothesis 4 (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Additionally, social capital significantly partially mediates the relationship between teaching quality and psychological capital, thus supporting hypothesis 2 (.161, p = .001, CI = .101 -.239). Partial mediation means that there is not only a significant relationship between the mediator variable and the dependent variable but also that there is a direct relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable (Baron & Kenny, 1986).
Other findings, social capital has an indirect effect on career choice readiness through the psychological capital of vocational students, thus supporting hypothesis 3 (.127, p = .001, CI = .073~.193). A full mediation implies that the direct effect of the independent variable (social capital) on the dependent variable (career choice readiness) is not significant and is only significant through the indirect effect of psychological capital (Baron & Kenny, 1986). This finding highlights that the development of social capital and psychological capital is significant in schools. Both of these mediators also play a role in maximizing the learning process in the classroom to improve the career choices of vocational students. Additionally, teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital are essential antecedents of vocational students' inclinations toward their future careers.

Discussion
Previous studies highlighted that an individual's readiness to decide on a suitable career for their future is influenced by their educational experiences and surrounding environment. Thus, this study assessed the role of teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital on the career choice readiness of vocational students. Besides, we also examine the mediating role of social capital and psychological capital in the relationship between teaching quality and career choices for vocational students.

Antecedent Factors of Career Choice Readiness for Vocational Students: Teaching Quality, Social Capital, and Psychological Capital
The findings of this study broadly support the hypothesis that teaching quality plays a crucial role as an antecedent of an individual's career choice readiness. This finding reinforces the survey conducted by Okayama & Kajii (2011), which revealed that teaching quality significantly influences individuals' career interests and choices. Therefore, students' career goals need to be supported by school learning and teaching interactions that relate to their career goals. The teacher must understand the students' career interests when developing learning activities in the classroom. Learning in various work situations will provide students with learning experiences that relate to their future career choices. This finding is similar to the general thinking that education facilitates individuals to achieve more knowledge and skills and subsequently affects the development of their career path. Theoretically, students' knowledge and skills can encourage increased vocational student career choice readiness (Levinson et al., 2011). Besides, involving students in tasks related to their careers will strengthen their career goals (Rogers, Creed, & Praskova, 2016).
Students "learning experiences with industry also shape students" career choice readiness, especially when they are industry interns. However, a unique finding of this study is that third-grade students who have participated in industry internships tend to have a negative perception of career choices, especially in the academic vocational field. It can be seen from the different perceptions of career choice readiness at each grade level. When referring to theory, the longer students spend on their learning experience, the more mature are their career choices. However, there is a decrease in career choice readiness in the third grade, which could be caused by the negative views obtained by students when doing their industry internships. This reasoning follows Richardson's (2010) statement that previous work experience can have a negative impact on the distrust of career prospects in their various fields. Additionally, students' perceptions of the teaching quality are different at each grade level. For example, at the third-grade level, students have a lower perception of the teaching quality of teachers compared to those in earlier grades; this drop in perception typically occurs because students have high expectations of the teaching quality after returning from their industry internships. However, the teaching quality in schools is not in accordance with their expectations. Vocational students feel that the teaching they receive in schools is not in line with the needs of the workforce.
Besides, this study also shows that social capital does not influence the career choices of vocational students. This is because aspects of school cohesion, friendship in the school environment, cohesion in the social environment, and trust in the social environment, which means that teachers, friends, and neighbors have not demonstrated adequate positive support for students' career choices readiness. These findings are similar to studies conducted by Chan et al. (2016), who claimed that social capital does not correlate with career choice readiness. Most vocational students receive their social capital from friends, teachers, family, and neighbors who offer little career support. However, the relationship of the social environment, such as support and perceptions of career development of parents, is important for defining a student's career goals (Lim & You, 2017;Rogers et al., 2016).
Other findings show that psychological capital has a direct influence on the career choice readiness of vocational students. This means that strengthening students' psychological capital will influence their career choice readiness. Psychological capital is a personal factor that can strengthen the formation of individual behavior. This finding is following previous studies (Bandura, 1986;Savickas, 2005;Seligman, 1998;Snyder, 2000) which state that individuals who have good self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience will integrate motivation, cognition, and action to achieve their career success. In other words, forming career choice readiness for students needs to pay attention to strengthening their psychological capital.

The Effect of Teaching Quality and Social Capital on Psychological Capital
The results of this study explain that teaching quality has a significant influence on the formation of the psychological capital of students. Instilling psychological capital strengthening through learning patterns is considered very appropriate. Because basically, training and development interventions are believed to shape individuals' psychological capital (Luthans, Avey, & Patera, 2008). The aim of teaching is to not only focus on student learning achievement in the form of good test scores but also consider other achievements such as the formation of students' social and psychological capital. Teachers must understand the right teaching strategies to instill good self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience in vocational students. These four aspects are needed when students will enter the workforce.
Similar findings are also shown on the effect of social capital on psychological capital. This study revealed that students' social capital was able to strengthen their psychological capital. The results of this study also reveal that the formation of psychological capital is not only influenced by teaching quality, but also by social capital. Positive student perceptions about school cohesion, school friendships, neighborhood social cohesion, and school/neighborhood trust can encourage the strengthening of self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience.

The Mediation Role of Social Capital and Psychological Capital
This study also found that teaching quality has a higher indirect impact on vocational students' career choice readiness via social and psychological capital. Our study revealed that social capital and psychological capital partially mediates the effect of teaching quality on career choice readiness, which means that teaching quality has both a direct and indirect influence on the career choice readiness of vocational students. This finding highlights the importance of social and psychological capital in determining individuals' career inclinations. Individuals who have excellent social capital will be better able to build networks and develop the social resources needed for developing their career interests (Granovetter, 1973). Social support, which includes school friendships, school cohesion, social trust, and neighborhood social cohesion, will develop their social capital and enable them to develop careers after graduation. The stronger their social capital, the more likely they will be to get a job in line with their interests. By contrast, psychological capital is students' internal capital, which is formed during the learning process and includes optimism, self-efficacy, resilienc, and hope. The findings of the mediating role of PsyCap also support previous studies, which state that PsyCap can predict the abilities and interests of individuals associated with proactive behavior and career goals (Carless & Bernath, 2007).
Although social capital and psychological capital act as partial mediators in the relationship of teaching quality and career choice readiness, this study finds that social capital also significantly mediates the effects of teaching quality on psychological capital. This finding means that building career support from the school environment, friends, and neighbors in the learning process is significant for cultivating the psychological capital of students when developing their career choice readiness. Finally, this study also reveals that psychological capital significantly mediates the relationship between social capital and career choice readiness, which indicates that building students' psychological capital will strengthen the influence of social capital on the career choice readiness. This finding followed the findings of previous studies (Bandura, 1986;Savickas, 2005;Seligman, 1998), which states that individuals who have good psychological capital will integrate cognition, motivation, and action to achieve their career success. In other words, to develop students' career choice, it is necessary for the teacher to focus on the social and psychological capital of each student.
This finding confirms that aspects of quality teaching are essential aspects of preparing vocational students to be skilled and ready in their career choices. Improving the teaching quality can be provided through the teacher professional development program (Abdella, Reddy, & Carl, 2018). Although the quality of teaching is an essential factor in shaping the career choice readiness of vocational students, it is not the only important aspect of preparing a student for their career. The teaching process needs to collaboratively integrate other vital elements such as the support of teachers, friends, neighbors, and student psychology. In the learning process, teachers also need to understand students' career needs and preferences. This is needed to match students' learning assignments to their career choices. This is consistent with William (2013), who stated that the learning process needs to focus on what the learner needs and identifying how to achieve it. Teachers therefore need to optimize and enhance the role of students' social and psychological capital in the teaching process to develop their career choice readiness. Finally, the findings of this study support the SCCT, which states that educational, personal, and contextual factors are essential in shaping individuals' career choice readiness.

CONCLUSION
This study confirms that teaching quality, social capital, and psychological capital are essential antecedents to instill career choices readiness for vocational students. Teaching in schools must pay attention to the planting of social capital and psychological capital to maximize the strengthening of students' career choice readiness. But directly, social capital does not influence the career choices of readiness for vocational students. Besides, this study reveals that psychological capital is influenced by teaching quality and social capital. We also found that teaching quality has a positive influence on the social of vocational students.
Finally, social capital and psychological capital significantly mediate the effect of teaching quality on the career choices of vocational students. These findings reinforce the theory that successful learning and teaching must focus on the characteristics and needs of students. Finally, vocational education practitioners should improve the teaching and learning quality by optimizing the social and psychological capital of students to achieve good learning outcomes and develop their career choice readiness.

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This study used self-reported data so there is potential for bias (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003); therefore, subsequent research needs to involve other respondents such as teachers or peers to obtain more objective results. This study also examined the role of mediation using the same model so that the role of each mediator has unclearly influenced the relationship of teaching quality to career choice readiness. Therefore, future studies could compare the role of each mediator of social and psychological capital using a separate model. Thus, the role of the mediator is most significant and influential. The study of career exploration is an essential agenda in future research because the dynamic needs of the workforce affect the changes made to the structuring of work. Workers therefore need to obtain suitable qualifications and have the ability to adapt to changes in the world of work.