Criteria of Career Success Among Chinese Employees: Developing a Multidimensional Scale With Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

The current research aimed to develop a multidimensional measure on the criteria of career success in a Chinese context. Items on the criteria of career success were obtained using a qualitative approach among 30 Chinese employees; exploratory factor analysis was conducted to select items and determine the factor structure among a new sample of Chinese employees (N = 550); confirmatory factor analysis was conducted among another sample of Chinese employees (N = 199). The results showed that Chinese employees regard intrinsic fulfillment, external compensation, and work-life balance as the major components of career success. The developed scale showed good reliability and structure validity. Implications for future research on career success were discussed.