An Empirical Study of Professional License Acquisition:

Theory of Planned Behaviour View

I-Jyh Wen, Chien Wei Liang

Engineering Science and Technology Department, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliu City,

Taiwan(R.O.C)

Keywords: Professional license, Theory of Planned Behaviour View, Trust, Career planning

Abstract: This research was conducted, taking the Theory of Planned Behavior, to identify professional workers’

perspectives on their professional license. According to this research purpose, the research issued survey

questionnaires to 600 manufacturing workers in Yunlin County, located in central Taiwan, as a research

sample. After follow-up, only 510 questionnaires were returned (81.66% of returned rate) including 490

questionnaires with complete and valid information, which were used as the major research data in this study,

and 20 invalid ones. Subsequently, this research employed the SPSS 22 statistical software to analyze data

according to the research purpose and significant questions. The statistical analyses included descriptive

statistics, reliability analysis, validity analysis, exploratory data analysis, correlation analysis, regression

analysis, and structural equation modelling to examine the proposed hypotheses. The research results revealed

that people’s trust significantly affected their attitudes toward professional certification. Their career plan

could also significantly influenced behaviour control while pursuing professional license; their attitudes,

motivation, and behaviour control significantly inspired their behaviour intention to acquire professional

licenses. This study finally suggested that individuals who work in the workplace should devote themselves

to practical learning skills and meet professional requirements through professional training and regular

practices. It was also suggested to keep maintaining and improving their professional competence, work

quality, and consumer services. Based on personal career planning and skill requirements of the future

employment environment, professional workers need to receive further knowledge and skills to ensure the

values of professional licenses.

1 INTRODUCTION

With the transformation of the economic system, the

competition of the overall industrial environment has

also increased. Professional licenses have a

tremendous usage rate in the Japanese labour market,

which is closely related to a labour participation rate

and high salary income (Morikawa, 2018). Education

and licenses should be the basic requirements for the

employment of enterprises. However, under the

decline of education quality, the awareness of

obtaining professional licenses naturally rises.

Generally speaking, academic qualifications only

represent the necessary training process, while

professional licenses can represent professional

competence. In the security industry, the professional

certification has successfully played its own

importance, and obtaining professional certification

is an improvement in personal achievement (Black et

al., 2017). Human resources certification authority

can help employees who do not have a university

degree to benefit and obtain credibility in this field

through certification and licensing (Lengnick-Hall,

2012). Professional licenses establish a threshold in

related industries, which brings high income to the

licensed employee (Kleiner, 2014). Compare

technicians who have been certified by the state and

have not been certified and technicians who have

been certified by the government institution to the

organization and the workplace, and willing to try

different areas of work (Wheeler et al., 2019).

Through the above, we can understand the

increasingly complex and specialized specialization

of modern social division. The professional license

represents the guarantee of quality and the provision

of trustworthy service. The more, the higher the

professional license, the more representative of the

society towards trust and stability, and the

232

Wen, I. and Liang, C.

An Empirical Study of Professional License Acquisition: Theory of Planned Behaviour View.

DOI: 10.5220/0010623100002967

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE 2019) - Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable 4.0 Industry, pages 232-238

ISBN: 978-989-758-530-2; ISSN: 2184-9870

professional license. The system is based on the

control of obtaining a license to practice, affecting

people’s career choices, and inciting the market is

vast, so the definition of professional standards for

professional licenses is important (Albert, 2017).

However, for the reasons why manufacturing

personnel obtain professional licenses, this study

proposes the following hypothetical questions as the

research motivation:

1. Is there a direct relationship between whether

the personnel have a professional license and the

personnel’s willingness to try hard and pay attention

to the evaluation of the behaviour and the impressions

and impressions of talented friends around the

personnel and the professional licenses? Is that one

of the motivations for the formation of this study?

2. In recent years, the domestic economic

downturn has caused companies to reduce their

willingness to recruit talents. In the case of limited job

titles, job seekers have college diplomas. Therefore,

they have their own strengths by having professional

licenses. The benefits are directly related to whether

the Chinese people are willing to try hard to obtain

professional licenses. It is the second motivation for

this study.

3. At present, the needs of many professional

professionals in the domestic workplace, with

professional skills licenses in line with the needs of

business owners, can not only stand out among many

job seekers but also have more contact and learning

opportunities than other colleagues in carrying out

tasks. However, it is directly related to the motivation

of the Chinese people because they have professional

licenses and fully exert their substantive benefits and

the satisfaction they receive when they are expressed.

4. In today’s society, professional licenses have

created a trend. Many colleges and universities and

non-government organizations have actively set up

classes to recruit students and even announced that

collective registration has discounts to attract many

people to participate in the curriculum. Some of them

are invited and recommended by relatives and

friends. However, it is impossible to know precisely

the substance of the course content, and after

obtaining the license, it is found that there is no

benefit in the field of the workplace. Therefore,

whether the Chinese have a professional license

awareness should feel the influence of essential

friends and organizations in the vicinity and the

factors to achieve the behaviour. Direct relationship?

It is the fourth motivation to form this research.

5. Many domestic license courses have many

restrictions, such as qualification status, training time,

training cost, course difficulty, and convenience of

transportation. Due to the above factors, some

Chinese people are frustrated during the acquisition

period, resulting in half away due to the situation. So,

when the Chinese people have sufficient ability to

achieve the goal of obtaining a professional license, it

is directly related to the resources and opportunities

needed in the process of acquisition. It is the fifth

motivation for the study.

6. In the course of the personnel’s careers, most

people regard promotion and salary as the top priority

and can push these two factors to the highest peak.

The best medium is a professional license blessing,

and some business owners also have professional

licenses for their staff. Give more resources to help.

Therefore, when the Chinese people obtain the best

career goals through planning professional licenses in

their careers and whether this goal is directly related

to the resources and opportunities required in the

process of acquisition, it is the sixth motivation for

the study.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Trust

From the market of organic milk, trust, and self-

identification help explain the reasons for the

purchase behaviour (Carfora et al., 2019). Consumer

trust in food choices, the Intention to pay for food in

the supply chain is influenced by consumer trust

(Giampietri et al., 2018). In the process of accepting

residents’ acceptance of Green Label Residential

Buildings (GLRB), it is crucial to understand the

subjective knowledge, social trust and environmental

attitudes as significant predictors (Liu et al., 2018).

The key to establishing market goods is the trust of

consumers and the behavioural intentions of

consumers to purchase new green products

(Nuttavuthisit & Thøgersen, 2017).

2.2 Career Planning

Nursing education workers must support students’

thoughts about nursing and the reasons for choosing

a career because it will motivate them and influence

them about knowledge learning, job performance,

and career planning (Yilmaz et al., 2016). The

vocational curriculum of the discipline effectively

reduces the perception of technical barriers and

improves the behaviour of nursing students in career

preparation (Park, 2015). For employees with strong

professional adaptability, the indirect impact of career

An Empirical Study of Professional License Acquisition: Theory of Planned Behaviour View

233

satisfaction and perceived career management on

turnover intention is more substantial (Guan et al.,

2015).

2.3 Theory of Planned Behaviour

Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is an extension

of Rational Behaviour Theory (T.R.A.). It is believed

that individual behavioural decisions are not made

under the control of the will, but also in conjunction

with opportunities to express individual behaviour.

Therefore, from the perspective of attitude and

subjective norms in the rational behaviour theory

framework, the perceptual behaviour control

variables of “personal external environmental control

ability “are added to measure the importance of the

formation of analytical behaviour in three stages.

Through the three factors of Attitude, subjective

norm, and perceived behaviour control, the Intention

to perform different types of behaviour can be

accurately predicted (Ajzen, 1991). Users’ trust

tendencies affect their trust in in-app advertising,

which in turn affects their attitude toward in-app

advertising and their intent to view in-app advertising

(Cheung & To, 2017). In order to encourage

consumers to be interested in potential strategies for

housing sustainability certification, attitudes,

subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control

are all significant predictors of Intention (Judge et al.,

2019). Gain insight into the drivers of N.M.P. intent

and understand how to encourage behavioural

change, so attitudes, perceptional controls, and

subjective norms positively influence intent (Daxini

et al., 2019). In the process of determining the

determinants of consumer safety behaviour in the

automotive repair and service industries, social norms

perceived behavioural control, and safety priorities

are the primary sources of determinants (Abu Bakar

et al., 2017).

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research mainly adopts the questionnaire survey

method. The content is divided into primary data and

research methods, research framework construction,

research hypothesis establishment, questionnaire

design and variable operation definition, research

objects, and data analysis methods. This research is

based on the theory of Planning Behaviour developed

by Ajzen (1985). The proposed “attitude, subjective

norms, behavioural control, behavioural intentions”

as a variable to explore the behaviour of professional

licenses, together with the degree of influence of

“trust” variables on behavioural attitudes, and

whether “career planning” controls behaviour Has an

impact line. According to the research motivation and

purpose, the theoretical model structure is formed to

examine the content of the causal relationship in the

theoretical model of this paper. Can the individual

prove the research hypothesis of this research? The

structure of this research is shown in the following

figure:

Figure 1: Structure of Research.

H1: Trust is positively associated with

behavioural attitude;

H2: Career planning is positively associated with

Perceived behavioural control;

H3: Behavioural Attitude is positively associated

with obtaining Intention;

H4: Subject norms are positively associated with

obtaining Intention;

H5: Perceived behavioural control is positively

associated with obtaining Intention.

Table 1: Construct and definition.

Construct Operational definition

Number of

measurement

items

Trust

The attitude of professional

licenses has a positive impact

on future outcomes.

Career

planning

Act of obtaining a professional

license will be influenced by

the development of the

individual plan and the degree

of the steps.

Attitude

How to feel positive about

rofessional certification

Subjective

norm

For professional licenses, it

will be affected by society and

positively given to colleagues,

family, and friends.

Degree of support or negative

opposition。

Behavioural

control

The master who judges how

much he can control the

rofessional license Review.

Behavioural

Intention

Subjective judgments of

individuals’ will obtain a

professional license in the

future.

ICVHE 2019 - The International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE) “Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable

4.0 Industry”

234

4 RESULTS

4.1 Sample Characteristics Analysis

According to the demographic variable analysis of the

sample of this study (Table 2), the respondents were

in the gender section, with 81.8% males and 18.2%

females. Based on age group, 31.0% were mainly at

41 to 50 years old, followed by 27.1% at 31 to 40

years old, and followed by 23.3% of the under 30

years old group and 18.6% over the age of 51. In the

education level, the number is below the specialities

(including), accounting for 44.9%, followed by

universities and research institutes, which are 31.6%

and 23.5% respectively. Based on the seniority, the

number of years has been five to less than ten years,

accounting for 38.6%, followed by ten years or more,

accounting for 33.7%, followed by 2 to less than five

years, accounting for 21.8% and less than 2 The year

accounts for 2.9%. In the marriage part, the married

majority accounted for 62.0%, followed by unmarried

38.0%.

Table 2: Demography of the respondents.

Variables Items N

Percent

(%)

Gender

Male 401 81.8

Female 89 18.2

Age

<30 114 23.3

31-40 133 27.1

41-50 152 31.0

>51 91 18.6

Education

College 220 44.9

Bachelo

155 31.6

Maste

115 23.5

Job tenure

< 2 29 2.9

2-5 107 21.8

5-10 189 38.6

>10 165 33.7

Marital

status

Sin

le 186 38.0

Marrie

304 62.0

Note: valid samples = 490.

4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis

Based on the comprehensive analysis of the data, the

combined reliability (C.R. value) of each facet in this

study is between 0.865 and 0.906, both of which are

greater than 0.7 in accordance with the test

requirements of the combination reliability. On the

other hand, Cronbach`s α represents the reliability of

the measured structure: Trust is 0.804, Career

planning is 0.855, attitude is 0.838, Subjective norm

is 0.868, Perceived behavioural control is 0.837,

Behavioral Intention is 0.869, all in accordance with

the relevant scholars Recommended standard. The

compositional reliability of each facet of the research

model, AVE, and Cronbach`s alpha are detailed

(Table 3).

4.3 Pearson Correlation Analysis

In order to understand the relationship between

variables, Pearson correlation analysis can be used to

know the degree of correlation between variables, and

trust has a significant positive correlation with the

attitude of obtaining professional licenses (r = 0.851,

p < 0.01); career planning for perceived behavior

control ( r = 0.858, p < 0.01) had a significant positive

correlation; attitude (r = 0.796, p < 0.01), subjective

norm (r = 0.705, p < 0.01), behavioral control for

behavioral intent (r = 0.818, p < 0.01) There is a

significant positive correlation (Table 4).

4.4 Structural Pattern Analysis

The ratio of Chi-Square to Degree of Freedom (df) is

2.919, and the value is close to the standard

recommended by the scholars. (G.F.I.) is 0.892, (CFI)

is 0.813, (RFI) is 0.848, (IFI) is 0.814, (RMR) is

0.037, (NFI) is 0.801; PNFI and PGFI are both >0.5,

and (RMR) is 0.037, (RMSEA) is 0.077 and meets the

criteria of less than .08. The values of this study have

met and met the standards. This study shows the

overall fittest index for the S.E.M. model (Table 5).

The results of the path analysis between the various

facets reached a significant level, which confirmed

that the research hypotheses proposed in this study

are all valid. The path between the various facets in

this study: Trust has a positive and significant impact

on attitude, the effect value is 0.851; career planning

has a positive and significant impact on perceived

behaviour control, the effect value is 0.858; Attitude

has positive confidence for behavioural Intention,

The influence value is 0.732; the subjective norm has

a positive and significant influence on the behaviour

intention, and its value is 0.659; the perceptual

behaviour control has a positive and significant

influence on the behaviour intention, and its value is

0.736. As shown in (Figure 2.). This study verified

the results of the empirical study that all five research

hypotheses were established, and the results of the

hypothesis verification results are summarized in

Table 6.

An Empirical Study of Professional License Acquisition: Theory of Planned Behaviour View

235

Table 3: Model of research construct.

Construct and

observable

variable

Mean

(S.D.)

S.F.L. CR AVE

TR1

4.40

(0.73)

0.813

0.865 0.563 0.804

TR2

4.44

(0.70)

0.793

TR3

4.31

(0.74)

0.736

TR4

4.29

(0.76)

0.716

TR5

4.34

(0.76)

0.688

CP1

4.33

(0.82)

0.860

0.896 0.636 0.855

CP2

4.41

(0.69)

0.830

CP3

4.25

(0.80)

0.788

CP4

4.45

(0.76)

0.752

CP5

4.27

(0.72)

0.751

AT1

4.36(0.7

0.840

0.878 0.612 0.838

AT2

4.39

(0.80)

0.822

AT3

4.40

(0.67)

0.810

AT4

4.29

(0.76)

0.735

AT5

4.38

(0.77)

0.696

SN1

4.34

(0.70)

0.882

0.905 0.658 0.868

SN2

4.35

(0.72)

0.818

SN3

4.26

(0.74)

0.817

SN4

4.38

(0.85)

0.795

SN5

4.21

(0.88)

0.740

PBC1

4.36

(0.72)

0.766

0.886 0.614 0.837

PBC2

4.21

(0.81)

0.775

PBC3

4.33

(0.71)

0.788

PBC4

4.37

(0.69)

0.790

PBC5

4.29

(0.79)

0.786

BI1

4.29

(0.83)

0.830

0.906 0.660 0.869

BI2

4.19

(0.73)

0.782

BI3

4.33

(0.76)

0.777

BI4

4.27

(0.77)

0.794

BI5

4.41

(0.78)

0.875

Table 4: Correlation of research variables.

Construc

TRU CP AT SN PBC BI

TRU 1

CP .823** 1

AT .851** .841** 1

SN .803** .806** .773** 1

PBC .796** .858** .808** .740** 1

BI .723** .813** .796** .705** .818** 1

Table 5: Measurement mode matching index checklist.

Verification

indicator

Verification

standard

Verification

value

Verification

result

CMIN/DF <3 2.919 Close

GFI >0.9 0.892 Close

RMR <0.05 0.037 Goo

RMSEA <0.08 0.077 Goo

NFI >0.9 0.801 Close

CFI >0.9 0.813 Close

RFI >0.9 0.848 Close

IFI >0.9 0.814 Close

PNFI >0.5 0.634 Goo

PGFI >0.5 0.571 Goo

Table 6: Research hypothesis of verification result

summary table.

Hypothesis Path

Path

value

Result

trust →

attitude

0.851 Established

Career

planning →

Behavioural

control

0.858 Established

attitude →

Behavioral

Intention

0.732 Established

Subjective

norm →

Behavioural

intention

0.659 Established

Behavioural

control →

Behavioural

Intention

0.736 Established

Figure 2: Path analysis diagram.

ICVHE 2019 - The International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE) “Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable

4.0 Industry”

236

5 CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Research Restrictions

This research strives to be comprehensive in the

research process, and it is as objective and rigorous as

possible within the controllable range. However,

there are still some restrictions that make this study

not perfect. If there are factors such as limited

resources, time, workforce, cost, and fit which create

imperfections and when designing the questionnaire,

although the purpose and integrity of the questions

and the meaning of the questions are sought, each

respondent may have different cognitions and

standards for the same items, which may result in

errors in the research results.

5.2 Future Research Directions

According to the study was the conclusion of this

study, provide the following four-point proposal, as

academic researchers or those who continue to

explore the practical operation of future reference:

• Since the scope of this study is only for a

single county, the results of the questionnaire may

differ from other regions and values. It is suggested

that questionnaires can be adjusted for other counties

and cities to compare differences in different

environmental backgrounds and concepts.

• It is suggested that researchers in the future

can add environmental culture, values, and other

factors to analyze and discuss, and then understand

other factors that have obtained professional licenses.

If manufacturing workers want to increase their

willingness to obtain professional licenses, this

research proposal must be strengthened for the

following points:

1. Individuals should invest in effective learning

ability and self-requirement in the workplace, and

maintain and enhance the quality of their professional

competence, quality, and service through the

acquisition of professional licenses and regular

training.

2. Individuals should have a clear understanding

of their own career views and needs and plan to obtain

professional licenses. During the process of

communication, analysis, and support with their

loved ones or important others, they must overcome

unnecessary obstacles in order to accomplish the

purpose.

Aiming at the individual’s career planning,

matching the conditions or skills required for the

future employment environment, measuring their

own knowledge of the professional license, and

assessing the knowledge and skills they are currently

learning to achieve their desired goals.

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