This research explores character strengths in relation to the vocational aspirations of college students with regard to their biological cell engineering excellence aspirations. With a sample of 55,028 undergraduate students across 14 universities in China, this study analyses the influence of gender, parental styles, and survival contexts on character strengths and career aspirations. Results showed that 14 character strengths have a distinct predictive value on students’ craftsmanship inclinations, with predictive values being stronger for females than for males. Furthermore, authoritative and permissive parenting positively impacts craftsman-related character strengths, while learners from challenging survival contexts demonstrate greater levels of resilience and determination. In addition, pronounced moderating effects are documented for gender with parenting styles, gender with survival contexts, and parenting styles with survival contexts. The results underpin strategies for biological cell engineering talent development, highlighting the importance of psychological factors in highly specialised occupations.
