Internship satisfaction among university students in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic: Does career decision self-efficacy mediate the relationship between internship satisfaction and career optimism?

Employing the framework of the social cognitive career theory, this study investigated the relationship between internship satisfaction and career optimism, as well as the mediating impact of career decision self-efficacy, considering two covariates: support from the workplace and university. Using data collected from a sample of engineering undergraduates at a university in Hong Kong (N = 140), the following two hypotheses were tested: 1) Internship satisfaction positively correlates with career optimism (H1), and 2) career decision self-efficacy mediates the positive relationship between internship satisfaction and career optimism (H2). The results revealed that career decision self-efficacy completely mediated the association between internship satisfaction and career optimism, with internship satisfaction alone significantly predicting career optimism. However, the covariates exerted only minimal impacts on career optimism. These results are important as they can provide human-resource and educational professionals, as well as other relevant stakeholders, with valuable insights into the relationship between internship satisfaction and its reported determinants.