This study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to explore the relationships between career calling, occupational self-efficacy, vocational outcome expectation, and learning engagement among preservice teachers at a normal university in China. Data from 1,029 preservice teachers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results revealed that career calling was found to be significantly and positively affected on learning engagement; occupational self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectation were identified as key mediators of this relationship. These findings advance our knowledge of how best to promote the learning engagement of preservice teachers and may inform the future design of teacher development programs.

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Achieving many of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals requires the active contribution of skilled engineers. Globally, however, there appears to be a mismatch between the sustainable competencies that engineering graduates possess and those required by industry. Closing this gap requires a reliable and valid means of establishing which competencies are of greatest importance to engineering practitioners. In this research, we developed a model of generic engineering competency and designed a scale comprising 55 skills in total. This instrument was then used to survey two samples of engineering graduates working in the Chinese industry, with 746 in the first round of surveys, and 1183 in the second. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), seven subscales were extracted from the data: (1) leadership, (2) engineering design, (3) professionalism, (4) problem solving, (5) lifelong learning, (6) technical theory, and (7) communication. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) demonstrated that the total number of generic engineering competencies was represented by a second-order, single-factor model that adequately fitted the data. Further, the Cronbach’s alpha values and composite reliability of the scale indicate its reliability. Overall, the evidence shows that the instrument offers a valid and reliable means of researching and assessing engineering education practices.