Understanding the relationship between individual characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs and career aspirations of generation Z in tourism and hospitality: can gender and major make difference?

This study aims at investigating generation Z career aspirations process by applying the self-efficacy theory and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) to examine the relationship among individual characteristics, career self-efficacy, gender, university major, and career aspiration in tourism and hospitality. The participants sample for this study was drawn from students enrolled in eight national Jordanian universities from different majors (tourism and hospitality and non-tourism and hospitality) PLS-SEM was employed for hypotheses testing. The study findings indicate that consciousness and openness are positively associated with self-efficacy, which in turn is directly related to career aspirations among Generation Z. In addition, the study demonstrates that the influence of self-efficacy on career aspirations is moderated by demographic variables such as gender and major. Specifically, the results suggest that gender and major act as moderating factors in the relationship between Generation Z career aspirations and the antecedents (Self-Efficacy Theory and consciousness and openness).