Striving for Career Establishment: Young Adults’ Proactive Development Under Career Identity and Passion Dynamics

This study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of career striving by exploring the trajectory of career identity and passion, particularly focusing on the evolution of young people’s self-direction and energy while establishing their vocational careers. Utilizing the interpretive phenomenology paradigm, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 university graduates who had been employed for approximately three years since entering the workforce. Data were analyzed using a modified form of interpretative phenomenological analysis, combining idiographic depth with cross-case thematic synthesis. The analysis identified 20 experiential themes that captured critical aspects of career striving, including the career growth model, stress-coping model, and associated mechanisms. The conceptualization of career striving established in this study provides a theoretical framework for the development of career striving theory and implications for further research.