Tacit knowledge mediates the effect of family socioeconomic status on career adaptability

We explored the indirect effect of family socioeconomic status on career adaptability within the framework of career capital theory, by investigating the mediating role of human capital. We distributed the Family Socioeconomic Status Scale, Tacit Knowledge Inventory for College Students, and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale to 1,692 college students in China. SPSS 21.0 and Mplus 7.0 were used for data analysis. Results show that family socioeconomic status had a direct predictive effect on participants’ career adaptability. Mediation model results show that this direct effect was fully mediated by tacit knowledge. Critically, the mediation model results differed between urban and rural college student participants, such that the tacit knowledge of urban (vs. rural) participants had a more positive predictive effect on their career adaptability. Results are discussed within the framework of career capital theory.