Modern Social Science Research

To accurately understand college students’ intentions regarding applying for postgraduate programs in “dual carbon” economics-related fields and to strengthen the cultivation of highly educated talent in this area, this study constructs a TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior) model to examine factors influencing postgraduate application intentions. Using college students as the research sample, structural equation modeling is employed to analyze the specific impacts of behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived objective difficulty on postgraduate application intentions. The results indicate that behavioral attitude significantly influences intentions to pursue master’ s programs in “dual carbon” economics, with affective attitudes having a stronger impact than instrumental attitudes. Subjective norms and perceived objective difficulty influence intentions indirectly through their effects on behavioral attitudes, with subjective norms exerting a more significant influence on attitudes than perceived difficulty. Finally, the study recommends enhancing promotion of “dual carbon” programs, strengthening discipline development in these fields, and accelerating the growth of the "dual carbon" industry.

Dual Carbon economics programs; Postgraduate application;behavioral intention; Theory of planned behavior