The Role of Social Media in Shaping Career Aspirations of College Students in Tiruchirappalli District

Abstract

Social media has emerged as an important source of information, learning, networking and career development among college students. The present study examines the role of social media in shaping the career aspirations of college students in Tiruchirappalli District. The study adopts a descriptive and analytical research design and is based on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire from 1,500 college students selected using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. The study examines social media usage, exposure to career-related content, career awareness and career aspirations. The reliability of the measurement scales was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha, with values ranging from 0.888 to 0.918, indicating good to excellent internal consistency. Percentage analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis were employed for data analysis. The correlation results reveal significant positive relationships between social media usage, career-related content, career awareness and career aspirations. Career awareness demonstrates the strongest relationship with career aspirations (r = 0.599, p < 0.001). The ANOVA results indicate a significant difference in career aspirations across age groups (F = 3.236, p = 0.022). Multiple regression analysis confirms that social media usage, career-related content and career awareness significantly predict career aspirations, jointly explaining 49.4 per cent of the variation in career aspirations. Career awareness emerges as the strongest predictor (β = 0.325), followed by social media usage (β = 0.274) and career-related content (β = 0.273). The study concludes that purposeful and informed use of social media can contribute significantly to students’ career awareness, planning and aspirations.