<![CDATA[Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is one of the most consistent predictors of entrepreneurial intention, yet career guidance practice has rarely translated the symbolic-modeling mechanism of social cognitive theory into a structured digital intervention. Video-based, virtual-reality (VR), and narrative role-model studies have each examined this mechanism in isolation from formal career-guidance delivery, leaving practitioners without an integrated model for using digital media as a vicarious source of self-efficacy in entrepreneurship career guidance. This article addresses that gap by systematically reviewing and bibliometrically mapping the literature connecting digital symbolic modeling, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurship career guidance. A systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 protocol was combined with a bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) from 2021 to 2026. Thematic synthesis identified five dominant themes: digital symbolic modeling, career guidance, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, educational technology, and future research directions. Findings show that vicarious modeling, artificial-intelligence-based career matching, and simulation/VR training remain parallel rather than integrated strands, and that no existing study embeds a theory-faithful symbolic-modeling mechanism inside a structured entrepreneurship career-guidance process. Based on these findings, this article proposes the Digital Symbolic Modeling-Based Entrepreneurship Career Guidance (DSM-ECG) framework, linking digital symbolic modeling, observational learning, the career-guidance process, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial career development. The framework offers testable propositions and a future research agenda to guide empirical validation of digital symbolic-modeling interventions in entrepreneurship career guidance.]]>
