A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis on Practicum Satisfaction of the Vietnamese Business Students

Practicum in a given host company provides an opportunity for Business students to practice and enhance their knowledge and skills that can likely promote their motivation and later marketability. In doing the practicum, students are not only considered as learners, but they are also regarded as workers in the job force. Many students might need support from their universities as well as from the supporting system in the host companies. The purpose of this research was to investigate the students' satisfaction with their practicum programs and the individual and organizational factors that would affect it. Participants were 269 (68 males and 201 females) sophomore and junior undergraduate Business students from a university of southern Vietnam. Each completed a survey collected after they finished their practicum which consists of demographic information, questions about the organizational factors (19 items), individual factors (20 items), and overall practicum satisfaction (4 items). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and deleted 6 items to achieve convergent and discriminant validity. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the potential mediating effects of organizational factors on the relationship between individual factors and Practicum satisfaction. Results showed the direct effect between individual factors and Practicum satisfaction. A further multi-group analysis found a similar pattern of the path on females and males. The results suggest the student's knowledge and skills are crucial factors which related to their practicum satisfaction, organizational factors, on the other hand, are positively correlated with individual factors, however, do not affect their practicum satisfaction.