Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was used as a basis for investigating the factors influencing the career intentions of Taiwanese sports management students. Participants (N = 696) completed measures gauging social support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, career interests, and career intentions. The results of a path analysis supported SCCT, indicating that self-efficacy contributed to career interests, outcome expectations, and career intentions. Social support was related to self-efficacy, and outcome expectations were related to career interests. However, the results did not support the hypotheses that social support and outcome expectations contribute to career intentions. The practical implications of these findings for counseling Taiwanese sports management students are presented.
Career paths are no longer linear or predictable due to the instability and dynamic changes occurring in the work environment. Career researchers have acknowledged this trend and emphasized the significance of individuals’ actual behaviors in career development. Occupational engagement is an essential behavior that leads to successful and satisfactory career development in college students. The current study examined the mediating and moderating roles of work volition in the relationship between social support and occupational engagement. A total of 233 (80 males, 153 females) Korean undergraduates participated in the survey. The results were as follows: Work volition partially mediated the positive relationship between social support and occupational engagement. That is, people who felt they had higher social support reported more work volition, which in turn resulted in more active participation in occupational engagement. Also, the moderation effect of work volition was found between social support and occupational engagement. Thus, the influence of social support on occupational engagement was greater for those with an average or above level of work volition. The results showed that environmental social support and individual work volition are vital factors in improving occupational engagement. The implications and suggestions for practical uses and future research were suggested.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relationships between planned happenstance skills (PHS) and life adjustment and to examine whether this relationship was moderated by the degree of career barriers. The participants were 307 Korean college students going through a school-to-work transition. The results showed that PHS preceded and were positively associated with life adjustment. Additionally, the association between PHS and life adjustment differed by the levels of career barriers; individuals with greater PHS were more likely to adjust well in life even when they perceived high career barriers. The findings suggest empirical support for planned happenstance theory. Implications regarding career counseling interventions for college students in a school-to-work transition are discussed.
Currently, the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs are expanding faster than the U.S. labor market; yet many individuals with STEM degrees choose to work in other fields. The present study uses social cognitive career theory as a framework for researching the impact of several variables on future expectations to continue in STEM. We measured math self-efficacy with the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales and impostorism from the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale. New measures of interest and future intentions were created. One hundred twenty-one undergraduates (47.1% women; median age = 21.00) enrolled in STEM majors completed an online survey. We hypothesized that math self-efficacy and interest would significantly predict future expectations and that impostorism would significantly add to this prediction. This theory was analyzed with a hierarchical multiple regression, and the hypothesis was supported by data from men. In the women’s model, only interest emerged as a significant predictor. Implications are discussed.
The relationship between team temporal leadership and performance has attracted the attention of both academics and practitioners. Theories and studies of team temporal leadership have generally focused on Western teams, and there is a noticeable dearth of empirical verifications focusing on Taiwanese sales marketing teams and the relationship between team temporal leadership and performance in Taiwanese pharmaceutical companies. However, Taiwan has a unique pharmaceutical sales marketing model involving diversified competency, apprenticeship, teamwork, and time management. Thus, this study examined the relationship among team temporal leadership, competency, followership, and performance using linear structured equation modeling. Results from the 360 leader–employee dyads of the sales marketing team revealed that team temporal leadership, competency, and followership are positively related to performance and that team temporal leadership is positively related to competency and followership. According to the results of the research, suggestions for future-related studies are proposed.
Various factors have shown to relate to different forms of career commitment (i.e., affective, continuance, and normative commitment). Commitment has been associated with intent to remain within a profession or organization, suggesting that commitment is an important component of career retention. Correspondingly, commitment to one’s academic major may also provide information about university retention. The current study examined fit (e.g., objective and subjective), attitudes (e.g., organizational commitment, satisfaction, involvement, and intention to quit), and demographic (e.g., semesters in major) factors that have been previously related to career commitment to investigate the construct of major commitment of undergraduate students (N = 303). Using canonical correlation analysis, several significant relationships were found with approximately 69% and 67% of the shared variance between the three forms of major commitment and other variables for Black and White students, respectively, being explained.
Drawing from self-determination theory, this study examines how does perceived parenting and psychological needs relate to identity development and psychosocial adjustment in Portuguese 12th-grade students (N = 462) who prepare the transition to higher education or to the job market. Path model results revealed two distinct pathways: a "growth-oriented pathway" from need-supporting parenting to integrated career exploration, commitment-making and well-being via need satisfaction and a "vulnerability" pathway from need-thwarting parenting to both diminished well-being and ill-being through need frustration. Findings suggest that perceived parental support is a protective factor, and parental thwarting a risk factor for career decision-making, but this relation is mediated by the adolescents’ subjective feelings of psychological need satisfaction and frustration. Altogether, they suggest the need to customize interventions with adolescents to address "bright" and "dark" trajectories of identity development and establish a supportive counseling climate that facilitates the exploration of different aspects of self-environment in career transition periods.
The purposes of this study are to (1) examine the factorial validity of Schein’s career anchors orientation inventory (COI), comparing the original eight-factor model with an alternative nine-factor model, (2) examine the cross-cultural invariance of the COI and its factor structure across two countries, (3) investigate whether core self-evaluations (CSE) is associated with career anchors, and (4) determine whether the relationship between CSE and career anchors varies by country. Survey data were collected from 469 participants (230 from the United States and 239 from Turkey). Based on multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, the results indicated that the alternative nine-factor career anchor model of the COI has better factorial validity and configural invariance than Schein’s eight-factor model. The findings showed support for the association between CSE and the pure challenge anchor and a moderating effect of culture on the relationship between CSE and two other anchors.
We investigated whether a set of indicators of the employability dimensions proposed by Fugate, Kinicki, and Asforth (i.e., career identity, personal adaptability, and human and social capital) are related to university graduates’ employment status and five indicators of the quality of their jobs (pay, hierarchical level, vertical and horizontal match, and job satisfaction). We analyzed a representative sample of university graduates (N = 7,881) from the population of graduates who obtained their degree from the University of Valencia in the period 2006–2010. The results showed that indicators of human and social capital were related to employment status, whereas indicators of human and social capital and career identity were related to distinct job quality indicators. These results support the validity of the conceptual model proposed by Fugate et al. to investigate employability in samples of university graduates.
The present study examined the prevalence and role of career-related support in 100 Israeli emerging adults who were followed from ages 22 to 29. At the age of 29, participants were asked to name any significant persons who had impacted their career history. Both parents and nonfamily other adults were most frequently cited to provide career-related support. While both parents provided both emotional and professional career-related support, other adults tended to provide mainly professional support. Availability of career-related support was associated with greater occupational adequacy and higher psychosocial functioning. Parental career-related support was mainly predicted by parental support 7 years earlier. The likelihood of citing a nonparental career-related supportive relationship was predicted by increased personal efficacy and maternal support 7 years earlier. Findings of this study shed light on the role of parental and nonparental career-related support in navigating successfully the transition to adulthood.
The purpose of this research was to examine how the relation between an individual’s calling and his or her job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and career success is affected by two dimensions of organizational context, procedural justice and psychological safety. Data were obtained from 526 employees of a law enforcement agency in the Midwest United States. Our results indicate that calling is important to both employees and employers since individuals with higher sense of calling are more satisfied with their jobs, less likely to turn over, and are more content with their careers. Moreover, this study provides evidence that under poor contextual conditions, the relation between calling and job satisfaction is stronger than in good contextual conditions (i.e., procedurally just or psychologically safe contexts). Our findings also suggest that a psychologically safe organizational environment is of some importance to experiencing a feeling of career success for those with a higher sense of calling.
The present study investigated developmental differences and stability in possible selves within the educational and occupational domain among a diverse sample of urban youth (N = 319). A secondary aim was to test the "aspiration–expectation gap" while exploring the role of subjective social class and gender differences. Results did not indicate any significant differences among possible selves between different grades in high school. Seniors evidenced the lowest levels of subjective social class, whereas freshmen had the highest levels. Subjective social class was significantly associated with the expected levels of education. In addition, girls aspired toward significantly higher levels of prestige than boys in terms of occupations they hoped to attain, while a substantial gap was found between hoped-for and expected education. Implications for practice, limitations, and directions for research are discussed.
This study examined the role culture and college environment had on the perception of ethnic and gender career barriers of 138 Latino/a college students. Specifically, background characteristics (i.e., parent education, immigration status, and sex), acculturation, enculturation, and college environment on perceived ethnic/gender barriers were examined. Results showed 18% of the variance in perceived ethnic and gender career barriers were predicted by sex, acculturation, and college environment. As expected, sex, acculturation, and college environment negatively predicted perceived ethnic and gender career barriers. Latinas anticipated discrimination in future worksites more than Latino males. Acculturation and a welcoming college environment that supported diverse students predicted lower perceived ethnic and gender career barriers. Enculturation did not significantly predict perceived career barriers. Supporting the hypothesis, an interaction effect between sex and college environment predicted perceived career barriers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Identity formation is considered as a key factor in the conceptualization of life satisfaction (LS). Recent volatility in labor markets has negatively influenced college students’ LS and attending to the relationship between their career identity (CI) and LS has become important for career researchers and counselors. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effects of tolerance for uncertainty (TU) and emotions (positive affect [PA] and negative affect [NA]) in the relationship between CI development and LS. The hypotheses were tested among 199 college students in a prestigious South Korean university. The results indicate that TU and emotions mediate the effects of CI on LS. Based on these findings, career counselors are encouraged to help college students understand the synergy of TU and development of CI, which may increase their sense of LS.
Based on goal-setting theory, this study examined the relationship between negative career goal feedback and career-related stress, tested whether career goal–performance discrepancy operated as a mediator in this relationship, and assessed whether career goal importance strengthened the indirect effect of negative feedback on stress via discrepancy. Using a sample of 317 health profession university students (mean age = 19.5 years), we found that negative feedback was associated positively with stress and that discrepancy mediated this relationship. Consistent with goal-setting theory, we also found that discrepancy was higher at higher levels of negative feedback for those with higher goal importance, and the indirect effect of negative feedback on stress through discrepancy increased with increasing goal importance. These findings highlight important roles for career goal feedback and career goal importance in young peoples’ career goal pursuit.
Cultural orientation and perceived career congruence with parents are potentially important influences on adolescent career development in collectivist contexts, but few studies have integrated these variables in a social cognitive-based model. We surveyed 337 Grade 10 students (53% girls, mean age = 15.9 years) from Central Java, Indonesia, and examined a model that consisted of vertical collectivism (VC) and horizontal collectivism (HC), perceived congruence with parents, self-efficacy, and career aspirations. After controlling for socioeconomic status and school achievement, HC was more strongly associated with perceived congruence with parents than VC, and VC and HC were indirectly associated with aspirations via congruence and self-efficacy. These two patterns of collectivism were directly and indirectly associated with self-efficacy via congruence, and perceived congruence was indirectly associated with aspirations via self-efficacy. This study underlined the effects of VC, HC, and perceived adolescent–parent career congruence on career decision-making self-efficacy and aspirations of adolescents from a collectivistic country.
To promote our theoretical understanding regarding the exploration process during adulthood, the current study focusses on this process as it relates to work and family life roles and the relations between them, during the transition to motherhood. Two instruments assessing vocational and maternal exploration, relating to self and environment dimensions, were developed. Validation was conducted through two independent studies of two groups of Israeli Jewish women during their transition to motherhood: exploratory factor analysis (N = 125) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 232). Results demonstrated good fit of the model to the data, and reveal statistically significant estimates for each of the measurements. Positive, significant correlations between the two exploration processes were found. The findings support the life-long and holistic approach of career development that exploration is an ongoing process, which occur in different life domains simultaneously. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
We surveyed Australian adolescents and parents to test differences and congruence in perceptions of adolescent career development tasks (career planning, exploration, certainty, and world-of-work knowledge) and vocational identity. We found that, for adolescents (N = 415), career development tasks (not career exploration) explained 48% of the variance in vocational identity; for parents (N = 415), this was 38% (not world-of-work knowledge). Parent perceptions of career development tasks did not explain additional variance in adolescent vocational identity. There were moderate correlations between adolescent and parent perceptions of career development tasks and vocational identity, suggesting meaningful, but not substantial, congruence of perceptions. The findings provide useful insights into the understanding of, and relationship between, parent and adolescent perceptions of adolescent career development tasks and vocational identity, which suggest avenues for interventions with adolescents and parents.
Assessing the value of meaningful work among undergraduate students is important for guiding career counseling, especially because today’s students are often stereotyped as entitled and uninterested in prosocial or meaningful work. Additionally, understanding the value of meaningful work from the perspectives of career counselors would clarify if services are meeting students’ needs. In the current research, we addressed these issues with two studies. In Study 1, a sample of undergraduate students overwhelmingly indicated that they wanted meaningful work, that they thought finding meaningful work was an important goal of career counseling, and that they wanted career counseling to help them find meaningful work. In Study 2, a sample of career counselors reported that they viewed meaningful work as an important goal of career counseling and that meaningful work is something their clients desire. They also reported helping students find work or majors that are meaningful. Implications for practice are discussed.
Latina/os are members of the largest and also one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. However, they are disproportionately underrepresented in more highly compensated professional and leadership roles across corporate America. Recognizing the importance of cultural variables in their career development, this article advances a theoretical framework of how outcomes associated with the Latina/o acculturation–enculturation process may factor into different aspects of their career success. While Latina/os may encounter acculturative stressors in their careers as a result of their experiences with this process, many are well adapted and thrive due to the positive influence of bicultural supports, which can serve as a protective factor and provide positive career-related resources that facilitate Latina/o professionals’ objective and subjective career success. Through this lens, we offer important insight on how these cultural factors can help Latina/o professionals bridge the cultural divide of their corporate American workplaces.
The current study examined whether a work–family culture measure can be used across diverse income groups. We compared measure structure and criterion-related validity for low-income (n = 327) and high-income (n = 400) samples. Differences in measurement structure between the two groups were examined using measurement invariance, and differences in prediction were examined using multiple regression. Results indicate work-family culture facets are not equivalent across groups, and some relationships are weaker for low-income workers compared to high-income workers. Findings suggest that research using work–family culture measures developed on high-income populations may not generalize to low-income populations. New or revised measures are needed. This study contributes to our understanding of work–family measurement, work–family culture in low-income contexts, and the generalizability of measures and results using high-income samples to lower income counterparts. The results have clear implications for questioning equivalence of commonly used measures across income levels.
This study used a hierarchical regression model to investigate the mediating effect of career decision self-efficacy on the relationship between parental support and career indecision and indecisiveness. The participants of this study were 633 university students in Taiwan. The results revealed that only accurate self-appraisal significantly mediated the relationship between parental emotional support and career indecision regarding unreliable information. The career decision self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between parental support and career indecision and indecisiveness in most cases.
The present research investigated which strategies Israeli young adults (N = 254) use to cope with their career indecision and the perceived effectiveness of these strategies. Their perceptions of the effectiveness of coping strategies were compared to the respective judgments of career counselors (N = 36). The similarity between the young adults’ and the career counselors’ perceptions (r = .98) suggests that young adults have a fairly accurate judgment of the effectiveness of various coping strategies. However, career counselors perceived emotional help-seeking as a more effective strategy and helplessness and submission as less effective strategies than did young adults (|d| > 0.89). The results also show that Productive coping strategies, although perceived as effective by the young adults, were actually used less by them, whereas Nonproductive coping strategies, although perceived as ineffective, were used more. The counseling implications of the finding that the Nonproductive coping strategies but not the productive ones predict career decision-making difficulties are discussed.
This study investigated trait anxiety, career exploration behaviors, and career indecision. Using longitudinal data, career exploration behavior was examined as a mediator in the relationship between trait anxiety and career indecision. Five hundred and one Korean college students completed online questionnaires at three different time points with a 6-month interval. Results showed significant mediation effects of career exploration behaviors. Specifically, a higher level of trait anxiety was associated with a lower level of initial career exploration, yet anxiety increased career exploration behaviors over time. Additionally, an increase in career exploration behaviors predicted a decrease in career indecision. The results suggest that the role of trait anxiety in career exploration and decision-making may change over time. While trait anxiety is related to less exploration and more difficulty in decision-making from a cross-sectional perspective, it may facilitate career exploration and, ultimately, career decision-making from a longitudinal perspective.
This study explores the relationships between vocational interests and career maturity in the context of China. We tentatively hypothesize that realistic, conventional, and artistic interests have negative linear relationships with career maturity, whereas investigative, social, and enterprising interests have positive but curvilinear relationships with career maturity. Analyses of the data collected from 5,474 participants provide support for most of the hypotheses. Specifically, the results demonstrate negative relationships of realistic and conventional interests with career maturity, a U-shaped relationship of artistic interest with career maturity, and concave upward curve relationships of investigative, social, and enterprising interests with career maturity. These findings add to the literature on vocational interests and provide practical suggestions for individuals and career counseling practitioners.
Framed by social cognitive career theory, this study identified college students’ perceptions of the most influential sources and content of encouraging/discouraging career messages (vocational anticipatory socialization [VAS]). A survey of 873 university students found that mothers, followed by teachers/professors, friends, and fathers, were perceived to be the most influential encouraging VAS sources. However, first-generation college students were more likely to identify teachers/professors as their most influential VAS source. Friends were identified as most influential source of discouraging messages. The most frequently identified VAS messages gave career details. Mothers were most often described as conveying messages telling their children to pursue a passion for their career, while teachers/professors were frequently reported as providing career detail messages. Based on the VAS messages reported, we speculate that some VAS messages help students overcome perceived barriers by boosting self-efficacy and outcome expectations, confirming students’ individual skills and helping students envision themselves in particular career settings.
The research addresses the impact of long-term reward patterns on contents of personal work goals among young Finnish managers (N = 747). Reward patterns were formed on the basis of perceived and objective career rewards (i.e., career stability and promotions) across four measurements (years 2006–2012). Goals were measured in 2012 and classified into categories of competence, progression, well-being, job change, job security, organization, and financial goals. The factor mixture analysis identified a three-class solution as the best model of reward patterns: high rewards (77%), increasing rewards (17%), and reducing rewards (7%). Participants with reducing rewards reported more progression, well-being, job change, and financial goals than participants with high rewards as well as fewer competence and organizational goals than participants with increasing rewards. Workplace resources can be a key role in facilitating goals toward building competence and organizational performance.
Based on the social comparison theory, this research examined how self-referent and other-referent career successes predict career satisfaction and turnover intention among a sample of Chinese employees (N = 299). It was found that both self-referent and other-referent career successes played unique roles in predicting career satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted turnover intention. In addition, this research examined the role of achievement motivation in this process and revealed a moderated mediation model for the relations among these variables. Specifically, the indirect effect of self-referent career success on turnover intention through career satisfaction was stronger among employees with a higher level of individual-orientated achievement motivation, and the indirect effect of other-referent career success on turnover intention through career satisfaction was stronger among employees with a lower level of individual-orientated achievement motivation. These findings carry implications for research on career success and turnover intention.
There is an increasing concern that the demand for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers in the United States will exceed the supply. In the United States, very few students, and underrepresented students in particular, are pursuing STEM educational and occupational goals that underscores the need for school counselors to understand how to maximize opportunities for student success in STEM. Understanding the factors that influence students’ academic and career choices early on is necessary in order to provide effective interventions and responsive services that will have a positive impact on students’ future STEM career outcomes. Using social-cognitive career theory as a framework, this article synthesizes pertinent research on student STEM engagement, so that school counselors will be better able to support STEM career development for all students, especially those from historically underrepresented groups. Implications for school counseling practice are discussed.
This study is a response to the call to examine motivational mechanisms linking proactive personality and outcomes. We examined proactive personality as a dispositional antecedent of work and life satisfaction, asserting that work engagement mediates the proactive personality—satisfaction relationships. With data collected from 365 employees from diverse backgrounds, we found support for our research model. Results of structural equation modeling indicate that proactive personality serves as a dispositional antecedent of work engagement, and work engagement fully mediated proactive personality’s relationship with job satisfaction and partially mediated its relationship with career satisfaction and life satisfaction. We discuss implications of results for theory and practice and offer suggestions for future research.
The present research examines the effects of contract breach on retirement satisfaction. We specifically tested the moderating role of retirement self-efficacy and the mediating role that negative affect may play in influencing the relationships between contract breach and retirement satisfaction, either anticipated or actual. Two empirical studies have been conducted by self-reported questionnaires, with older workers of Spanish descent from Spain—one sample being comprised of workers still in the workforce (Study 1; N = 160) and the other being comprised of recent retirees (Study 2; N = 215). We found that contract breach was positively related to negative affect and negatively related to both anticipated (Study 1) and actual retirement satisfaction (Study 2). Moreover, moderation analyses showed that these effects are strong for participants with low rather than high retirement self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the cross-cultural validity of the effects of attachment, career-choice pessimism, and intrinsic motivation on career adaptability (CA) in American (n = 198) and Korean (n = 294) college students. We hypothesized that the association between attachment and CA is sequentially mediated by career-choice pessimism and intrinsic motivation in both samples, and the results supported the hypothesized multilevel model. These results have important implications for practice to promote CA for college students across cultures by providing evidence for cross-cultural validation of factors influencing on CA.
The current study examined job content plateaus, which occur when employees perceive a lack of future challenge or responsibility in their jobs. Although previous research has indicated that job content plateaus are related to poor job attitudes and outcomes, few studies have examined mediators of these relationships, a critical step in theory development. In this study, we tested a mediation model to examine the outcomes of job content plateaus among a sample of 118 hospital employees in Kenya. Job content plateaus were negatively related to job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors directed at individuals (OCBIs). Job satisfaction was positively related to OCBIs and organizational citizenship behaviors aimed at organizations (OCBOs) and mediated the relationship between job content plateaus and OCBIs and OCBOs.
This study examines how the adoption of proactive socialization behaviors by temporary agency workers is related to contract renewal intention of the supervisor in the client organization in which they are assigned. We propose that the adoption of such behaviors will be associated with a favorable performance evaluation from the supervisor in the client organization, and in turn, to his or her contract renewal intention through two mechanisms, namely, role clarity and leader–member exchange (LMX), which refers to the quality of the relationship between the temporary worker and his or her supervisor. Data were collected from 217 worker–supervisor dyads. Results indicate that information-seeking behavior is related to performance evaluation through role clarity. This indirect relationship is however negative, as greater role clarity relates negatively to performance evaluation. Our results also show that LMX acts as a mediator between feedback seeking, boss-relationship building, and performance. Finally, favorable performance evaluation is positively associated with contract renewal intention.
Religion is a shaping force in the world today, increasingly expressed and integral to the flow and function of the workplace. The relationship between religious identity and work function is clearly present. However, no lines of research have explored how religion explains the variations in vocational interest, despite speculation that it does so. Fundamentalist beliefs provide an opportunity to examine how career interests are related to personal values. This study examined the relationship between fundamentalism and the Artistic and Investigative Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional types, types speculated to be most dissimilar to fundamentalism, by testing the incremental importance of religious fundamentalism beyond personality traits in the shaping of vocational interests. Results suggest that, even after controlling for variation attributed to personality, religious fundamentalism is negatively related to Artistic interests yet has no relationship to Investigative interests. Issues of diversity and implications for career counselors are discussed.
Apparent conflicts between religion and science are often observed in the United States. One consequence of such conflicts might be that religious individuals will be less likely to recommend their children pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We examine this possibility using a nationally representative survey focused on a variety of issues related to religion and science. We find that, compared to religiously unaffiliated individuals, evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are less likely to say that they would recommend a child enter the pure STEM careers of physicist, engineer, or biologist. These differences are weaker or nonexistent for the more applied STEM careers of physician and high school chemistry teacher. The religious tradition effects observed for the pure STEM careers are primarily mediated by lower levels of interest in science and higher levels of creationist views among those groups relative to the religiously unaffiliated.
Mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder were studied with regard to employment status, workplace characteristics, and depressive symptoms. Self-complexity theory proposes that complex self-representations buffer against depression; however, maternal employment may challenge mothers’ ability to attend to the many needs of their children. Findings from our cross-sectional study of 176 mothers revealed that employed mothers reported fewer depressive symptoms than unemployed mothers and those employed part time, providing support for the self-complexity buffering hypothesis. Furthermore, low levels of parenting stress were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Implications are provided for career counseling and future research.
Organizations are increasingly opting to offer alternative career paths to the traditional managerial ladder (particularly, a technical ladder). Although research has mainly focused on differences between the managerial and technical paths with regard to rewards and prestige, our study focuses on gaps between employees’ actual (current) and preferred career paths, that is, being on the technical path while preferring the managerial path and vice versa. We examine how employees experiencing career path gaps compare with employees experiencing career path fit, in terms of self-rated performance and burnout. The results, based on data from 210 professional employees working in four global high-technology companies, suggest that performance levels are lowest among employees who are currently on the technical career path but would prefer the managerial path, whereas burnout levels are lowest among employees experiencing career path fit. Furthermore, among employees experiencing the former, career path gap, performance is lower when supervisor support is high.
Research suggests that career development courses have positive impacts on college students’ career development outputs. What is less established is the impact of these career courses on educational outcomes like retention, graduation rate, and academic performance. This study compared two groups of undergraduate students: one that successfully completed a career development course (n = 3,546) and a matched group of students who did not take the career course (n = 3,510). The groups were compared on graduation rate, time to graduation, course withdrawals, and cumulative grade point averages (GPAs). The career development course was not a significant predictor of graduation within 6 years, the number of semesters to graduate, or the number of withdrawals incurred. However, the career development course did significantly predict the total number of credits (participants graduated with about five more credits) and cumulative GPA at graduation (participants graduated with higher GPAs).
To determine the importance of career management behavior (CMB) for organizational outcomes, this study investigated the impact of CMB and organizational support for career development (OSCD) on subjective career success (SCS) and eventually on organizational commitment. Based on survey data from 355 employees of large Korean manufacturing firms, we found that both CMB and OSCD were positively associated with SCS. The results show that SCS positively affects organizational commitment and positively mediates both the relationship between CMB and organizational commitment and the relationship between OSCD and organizational commitment. Our findings imply that employee career success, which is affected by individual and organizational efforts, contributes to the outcomes of the organization in which employees are embedded.
Males continue to dominate mathematics-related areas in graduate school and employment, possibly due to the differential guidance that they receive as students. In the present study, 180 undergraduates completed an online survey on the career and graduate school guidance they received from mathematics professors. Student sex, professor sex, and help-seeking behaviors were considered as possible correlates of career guidance. Students of both sexes reported similar help-seeking behaviors, but males received more career guidance from professors. Help-seeking levels along with an interaction term of student sex and professor sex significantly predicted career guidance. The influence of student sex on career guidance depended on professor sex. Male students with male professors received the greatest amount of career guidance. The differential career guidance may contribute to the pervasive sex gap within the mathematics field.
This study investigated evaluations and advice communicated to male and female technology interns experiencing work difficulties, using a 2 (workplace issue: ability or interpersonal) x2 (intern gender: male vs. female) between-subjects experimental design. Technology professionals rated hypothetical interns on competence, qualifications, intelligence, and potential field issues. Results suggest that female interns with ability issues are viewed as having lower field aptitude than male interns with ability issues, when judged by individuals holding both hostile and benevolent sexist beliefs. Rater gender was not a significant predictor of aptitude rating. Aptitude assessments of male and female interns with interpersonal issues did not differ; however, open-ended analyses revealed that male interns were expected to be agentic and dissuaded from help seeking when facing interpersonal issues, while female interns were expected to find mentors and control their emotions. Findings show how sexist beliefs, workplace issues, and intern gender can affect responses and assessments by potential mentors.
According to Bandura’s social cognitive theory, emotions constitute important sources of information for people to judge own efficacy to accomplish specific tasks. The present research employed a laboratory task to assess career starters’ anticipatory emotions and associations with chronic self-construal and emotion regulation strategies. The intensity of facial emotional expressions was assessed while participants were responding to scenarios regarding envisaged business start-up activities. Results from Bayesian path analysis found that independent self-construal was associated with lower intensity of facial expressions of fear; interdependence was associated with higher intensity of anger and disgust. Emotion suppression was associated with lower intensity of happiness and higher intensity of anger. Emotion reappraisal fully mediated relationships between independent self-construal and intensity of expressions of fear in women but not in men. Results add to an emerging literature that highlights the significance of emotions and cultural orientation in the entrepreneurial process.
This study examined the career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and career maturity of 268 first-generation baccalaureate and community college student participants. Three independent variables were analyzed, including generational status (first generation and nonfirst generation), college type (baccalaureate, community college), and socioeconomic status (SES; low, medium, and high). The analysis indicated a significant interaction effect for generation by college type, with both first-generation and nonfirst-generation baccalaureate students reporting lower mean scores than community college students. This analysis also revealed an interaction effect for generation by SES, with first-generation students from high-SES backgrounds reporting the lowest levels of CDSE. A separate analysis using career maturity as the dependent variable indicated a main effect for generation, with first-generation students reporting a lower level of career maturity than nonfirst-generation students. The analysis also revealed a robust main effect for college type, with community college students reporting higher levels of career maturity than baccalaureate students.
Undocumented student immigrants in the United States face substantial challenges in higher education including systemic, institutional, and cultural barriers that often impede access to and success in higher education. These barriers directly influence academic and work opportunities. The purpose of this article is to discuss the myriad of factors that affect the academic, career, and work development of undocumented college students. The three main objectives of this article are to (1) examine legislation that directly impacts access to higher education, (2) explore common barriers and systemic challenges undocumented college students face, and (3) review culturally sensitive interventions and resources for working with undocumented college students. Vocational psychologists and career counselors employed in higher education are in a unique position to provide culturally sensitive counseling services to undocumented students as well as to advocate for their academic and work-related needs.
The purpose of this research was to develop a typology of career-defining moments in order to better understand the nature of this phenomenon. A career-defining moment is a point in time that substantially alters the trajectory of one’s career. We conducted interviews with a diverse group of 18 executives to learn about their career-defining moments. A typology of five distinct categories of career-defining moments and their respective subthemes emerged from the interviews. The five major types of career-defining moments are as follows: (a) anticipated transition events, (b) unanticipated transition events, (c) insight experiences, (d) relationship experiences, and (e) spiritual experiences. This study adds to the theoretical understanding of career experiences and provides a foundation for a largely untapped stream of inquiry for future researchers. Career-defining moments are important as they influence future career decisions and have a tremendous impact on the individuals making those decisions and their organizations.
This article accounts for a renovation by enriching the existent literature regarding two major nowadays phenomena and their labor implications, which might require a rethinking regarding new career-development approaches: the overeducation phenomenon (academic graduates whose educational level exceeds the educational level required in their jobs) and the horizontal-mismatch phenomenon (the individuals’ fit between their educational and occupational fields). The article clarifies the difference between those two phenomena’s career repercussions—on three major individuals’ career outcomes: wage gaps, job mobility, and demand for further higher education. Two hundred and twenty-one participants took part to reveal that the more the individuals experience horizontal mismatch throughout their career, the less their earning level is, and the horizontally mismatched individuals have lower probability for pursuing further higher education compared to the horizontally matched individuals. These findings’ implications suggest individuals to try and modify their career planning, based on the ongoing technological and structural changes in Western-developed countries labor market.
The aim of this study was to evaluate senior athletic administrators’ expectations and intentions of becoming National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic directors (ADs) and explore women and racial minority senior athletic administrators’ athletic workplace experience. To serve the purpose, two studies using social cognitive career theory (SCCT) were employed. First, demographic (i.e., gender and race) differences by SCCT variables were assessed through survey collection and multivariate analysis of variance. Second, content analysis of interviews was used to assess the experiences of athletic administrators. Results revealed women and racial minority senior athletic administrators’ had similar self-efficacy compared to White men, but they encountered more barriers, unfavorable outcome expectations, and lower choice goals associated with becoming an NCAA Division I AD. Further, findings show women and racial minority senior athletic administrators felt occupational segregation limited their access and opportunities for career advancement to a Division I AD position.
Conflict occurring between the roles of work and family has been heavily researched. Recently, however, research has been branching out to study roles beyond work and family. For example, a few researchers have investigated conflict that occurs between the roles of work and school. However, these studies have focused mainly on school and personal outcomes. As such, the present study seeks to contribute to the literature on work–school conflict in two main ways. First, we investigate the relationship between work–school conflict and job outcome variables. Next, we seek to understand the mediating mechanism through which work–school conflict affects job outcomes. Participants in this study were 304 students who completed a survey regarding their attitudes toward work and school. Results were largely supportive of the hypotheses predicting that work–school conflict predicted work outcomes and that burnout mediated these outcomes. Implications for organizations and universities are discussed.
Character strengths are hypothesized to contribute to human thriving. However, the effects of their use on individuals’ behaviors and attitudes at work, an important domain of modern life, have rarely been studied. In the present study, we examined associations of employees’ use of character strengths at work with productivity, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and job satisfaction. Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, we suggested a multiple mediation model demonstrating how these associations are mediated by positive affect and engagement. Participants (N = 1,095) completed measures of strengths use, work productivity, OCB, job satisfaction, positive affect, and work engagement. As hypothesized, using strengths at work was associated with productivity, OCB, and job satisfaction, and these associations were mediated by higher positive emotions and engagement. The findings highlight the potential benefits of encouraging employees to use their strengths and point to positive affect and work engagement as mediating these effects.
This study tested a social cognitive model of math/science career goals in a sample (N = 258) of Mexican American high school students. Familism and proximal family supports for math/science careers were examined as predictors of math/science: performance accomplishments, self-efficacy, interests, and goals. Results showed that the hypothesized model provided an adequate fit to the data. Familism predicted performance accomplishments and perceived family supports while perceived family supports predicted self-efficacy and goals. The final model explained 63% of the variance in interests and 53% of the variance in goals. Mediation tests showed that person-cognitive variables explained the relationships between contextual variables and goals. Contrary to hypotheses, interests did not predict goals and proximal family supports did not moderate the relationship between interests and goals. Results are discussed in terms of incorporating culture-specific values into interventions aimed at enhancing the math/science career interests and goals of Mexican American high school students.
The consequences of economic crisis are different from one European context to the other. Based on life design (LD) approach, the present study focused on two variables—career adaptability and a positive orientation toward future (hope and optimism)—relevant to coping with the current work context and their role in affecting life satisfaction. A partial mediational model between career adaptability and life satisfaction, through a positive orientation toward future (hope and optimism), was tested across Italian and Swiss countries. Seven hundred twenty-six Italian and 533 Swiss young people between the ages of 12 and 16 years were involved. Results provided support for the model in the Italian group and a full mediation model for the Swiss one. The data suggest that the context may have an effect on how career adaptability has an impact on general life satisfaction. These results have important implications for practice and underscore the need to support adolescents in their LD process.
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between the self-regulatory variable of goal orientation and the extent to which job seekers reach out to and use weak ties in their job search. Weak ties, as defined by Granovettor, are connections to densely knit networks outside the individual’s direct contacts who could provide nonredundant information. The study builds on the previous conceptual work that discussed how learning and performance goal orientation, as a part of a larger system of self-regulatory variables, may affect the extent to which individuals seek feedback and network during job search. Using a sample of Canadian job seekers, this study examines whether learning goal-oriented individuals contact weak ties more often than performance goal-oriented individuals. The results indicate that both performance and learning goal orientation are significant predictors of weak tie counts.
A transition from elementary to high school represents a very profound change and a potential source of stress, as it often requires young adolescents to make significant professional decisions. This topic was the focus of the present study in which 303 Croatian students attending their final year of elementary school completed measures of career decision self-efficacy, emotional stability, emotional competence, and concerns regarding the upcoming transition. The results indicated emotional competence as a statistically significant predictor of career decision self-efficacy, whereas emotional stability was revealed as a significant predictor of career concerns. Furthermore, a moderating effect of gender and a mediating role of career decision self-efficacy were revealed in this context. These findings provide novel evidence regarding the complex relationship between individuals’ vocational self-beliefs and emotional processing and may be informative for vocational guidance interventions targeted at young adolescents undergoing similar educational transitions.
Family of origin relationships are an important influence on career decision-making. The current study investigates the relationship between family cohesion, expressiveness and conflict and dysfunctional career thoughts. The Family Environment Scale - Form R (Moos & Moos, 2009) measured the family environment and the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996) measured dysfunctional career thoughts. Participants were undergraduate students at a large Southern University. The results found that higher levels of family conflict and lower levels of family expressiveness were associated with higher levels of decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, and external conflict. Implications for career counselors are discussed.
Data from a national survey are used to examine how individual characteristics and social structural factors may influence college graduates choosing an occupation that is congruent with their undergraduate field of study. Analysis is conducted separately for males and females and for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM majors. Comparisons between the subgroups help to identify factors that may contribute to improving career outcomes and, in particular, lowering the attrition rates in STEM at transition from college to employment. The results suggest that positive career outcomes, such as better earnings and greater job satisfaction, are associated with individuals having an occupation congruent with their college major. STEM graduates have a lower unemployment rate than non-STEM graduates, but female presence in STEM majors remains low; and gender inequality (salary and employment status) in STEM occupations is significant from the very beginning of postbaccalaureate employment.
This study examined the role of acculturation to the host culture, acculturation to the home culture, and dispositional hope in career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) in a sample of 213 Korean international undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. universities. The findings revealed that hope and acculturation to the host culture uniquely and positively predicted CDSE. Acculturation to the home culture was positively related to CDSE but did not account for unique variance in CDSE beyond that accounted for by hope. Hope was the strongest predictor of CDSE. As expected, acculturation to the host culture and acculturation to the home culture were not significantly related, suggesting that one does not necessarily require sacrifice of the other. No interaction effects were found between hope and acculturation variables on CDSE. Limitations of this study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Despite the emerging interest in the job crafting construct, researchers know little about its dimensions and their potential benefits for organizations. In a quantitative investigation, using a self-report questionnaire among a group of 189 Portuguese nurses and nursing assistants, we analyze how job crafting can be strongly related to workers’ sense of calling and turnover intention. The results indicate that sense of calling totally mediated the negative relation between the increase in challenging job demands and turnover intention. Although traditional assumption is that a sense of calling leads workers to craft their jobs, we theorize about the potential reverse path, given that our results support the possibility that sense of calling may be triggered when workers increase their own challenging job demands. We recommend further research to provide additional insight into job crafting formation mechanism.
Although extroversion and proactive personality are related to career success, the mechanisms through which the relationships occur are unclear. Based on the contest- and sponsored-mobility processes, we examine a model linking extroversion and proactive personality to career success through the mediating effects of mentoring received and organizational knowledge. We also theorize that mentoring provides learning opportunities, which result in greater organizational knowledge, that contribute to career success. Results, from a sample of 333 employees with a diverse set of occupations, indicated that the relationships of proactive personality and extroversion with objective and subjective measures of career success were mediated by mentoring received and organizational knowledge. Additionally, mentoring received influenced organizational knowledge, and both were related to objective and subjective measures of career success. Our study provides insight into how personality influences career success and provides support for both contest- and sponsored-mobility models of career success.
Reflecting the need for a better and broader understanding of the factors influencing the choices to enter into or exit an entrepreneurial career, this article applies a structured, normative model of career management to the career decision-making of entrepreneurs. The application of a structured model can assist career counselors, college career centers, outplacement firms, and other vocational advisors in properly guiding students and working adults in deciding on an entrepreneurial career. The career decision-making needs of entrepreneurs are examined at two different phases—the choice to become an entrepreneur and the potential to stay in or exit from the business. By summarizing existing research, the article examines key developmental and exploration tasks at each phase. The article concludes with an overview of areas for future research on the career decision-making of entrepreneurs.
A teacher-training program was introduced in Southern Alberta, Canada, to enable intern teachers to integrate career education projects into their mainstream elementary school courses. This non-experimental, descriptive evaluation used content analysis to examine the effectiveness of 25 career education projects and their corresponding 56 types of career education interventions that were implemented by intern teachers. Twenty-five project reports and 555 student evaluation surveys were examined to determine trends in project strengths, challenges, and recommendations for career education. Students benefited from engaging in a variety of developmentally appropriate learning experiences that allowed them to engage in self-exploration and identify potential careers of interest. Implications for future research and practice are provided.
This article introduces the reader to the articles contained in this special issue. It outlines how these studies contribute to our understanding of career development in light of the protean and boundaryless career era in which we now live. The articles contained in this special issue also raise questions that serve as a road map for future research. As a result of working on this special issue, we urge researchers to better clarify and differentiate among overlapping career-related concepts and to move career development research from a context-free approach to context-dependent one. Career development research that attempts to examine the connections between development in one’s organization, career, and life and the role played by career transitions would go a long way toward answering these questions raised.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether students’ perceptions in a first-year university engineering course affected their engineering identification, motivational beliefs, and engineering major and career goals. Based on current motivation models and theories, we hypothesized that students’ perceptions of the components of the MUSIC Model of Motivation (the MUSIC model) in one of their first university engineering courses would predict their engineering identification, which would predict their major and career goals. We conducted exploratory factor analyses on an estimation sample of 110 students and used a two-step structural equation modeling approach with a validation sample of 333 first-year engineering undergraduates. The measurement and structural model fit indices demonstrated that the hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data, indicating that students’ perceptions of four of the five MUSIC model components were statistically related to students’ engineering identification, which then predicted their major and career goals.
The focus of much career choice research is framed around a unidimensional conceptualization of motivation in which the tendency to approach a career assumes a proportionately equal and opposite willingness to avoid it. Drawing upon regulatory focus theory, we advance a dual-channel model of career choice, which allows us to capture the competing goal orientations leading individuals to approach and avoid any given career choice decision. Our results support our main hypothesis that both promotion and prevention career goal orientations mediate the relationship between individual differences, situational characteristics, and career choices in either paid employment or entrepreneurship.
The dual-process framework proposes that there are two main orientations that affect goal development and management. We examined this framework as an explanatory model for the development of career calling, using a sample of young adults (N = 213, M age 19.9 years). The model included goal orientation (assimilation and accommodation) as distal, trait-based characteristics influencing goal approach (engagement and disengagement), which, in turn, influences the development of a calling (an important domain-specific goal) and calling-related strategies (goal-implementation actions). The model was largely supported: Assimilation related positively to engagement and negatively to disengagement. Engagement related positively to calling and strategies, and engagement and disengagement mediated between assimilation and calling, explaining 45% of the variance in calling. Few studies have tested antecedents to career calling, meaning little research has focused on its development. This study illustrates a potential explanation for the development of a calling based on goal-setting and self-regulation approaches.
This study examined how college women’s instrumentality and expectations about combining work and family predicted early career development variables. Specifically, 177 undergraduate women completed measures of instrumentality (i.e., traits such as ambition, assertiveness, and risk taking), willingness to compromise career for family, anticipated work–family conflict, traditionality of career choice, leadership aspirations, and occupational engagement. High levels of instrumentality were associated with strong leadership aspirations and occupational engagement. An inverse relationship emerged between the selection of a more traditional career and less anticipation that work would interfere with time spent with family, and a positive relationship emerged between high leadership aspirations and more anticipation that family would be a strain on work. Additionally, anticipating that work would interfere with time spent with family had a positive relationship with occupational engagement. Findings are discussed, and recommendations for career counseling for young women are provided.
The current study investigated how the five components of planned happenstance skills are related to vocational identity statuses. For determination of relationships, cluster and discriminant analyses were conducted sequentially on a sample of 515 university students in South Korea. Cluster analysis revealed vocational identity statuses to be divided into six meaningful groups, as the six-cluster model originally proposed by Porfeli, Lee, Vondracek, and Weigold: achieved, searching moratorium, moratorium, foreclosed, diffused, and undifferentiated. Moreover, discriminant analysis indicated that planned happenstance skills differentially discriminated the six vocational identity statuses. The more advanced vocational identity statuses (i.e., achieved and searching moratorium) had higher scores on the assessment of planned happenstance skills than their counterpart, the less advanced group (i.e., diffused and undifferentiated). Implications of the findings were discussed in the context of career counseling intervention (133 words).
The authors have examined the relative contribution of personal (emotional state, gender-role attitudes), contextual (perceived social supports and barriers), and cognitive (self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations) variables to technological interests in a sample (N = 2,364) of 10th-grade Spanish students. The results of path analysis supported social cognitive career theory (SCCT), indicating that technological self-efficacy contributed to technological interests and technological outcome expectations. Perceived social support and perceived social barriers were related to technological self-efficacy, technological outcome expectations, and technological interests. However, the results did not support the hypothesis that outcome expectations contribute to interests. Contrary to expectations, there was no influence of gender-role attitudes on technological self-efficacy, but gender-role attitudes did determine technological interests. Finally, our study demonstrated that emotional state influenced technological self-efficacy beliefs, technological outcome expectations, and technological interests. This research extends previous work in this area by examining an understudied group, Spanish teenage students.
Building upon previous research that focused on the relationships between job demands, job resources, and employee psychological well-being, this longitudinal research makes a unique contribution by relating job demands and job resources to teachers’ professional development (TPD) at work and flexible competence, the latter being a key factor in teachers’ career development. This study was carried out among 211 teachers working in primary and secondary education in the Netherlands. TPD at work appeared to be related to flexible competence and proved to be a mediator between job resources, on the one hand, and flexible competence, on the other hand. Job resources positively enhanced TPD at work and in turn were related to flexible competence. Moreover, a direct negative relationship between job demands and flexible competence was found.
John Holland’s RIASEC theory of workplace personality posits that most people resemble a combination of six personality types. The Self-Directed Search® provides the user with a Summary Code that represents the three personality types to which they are most similar. The Leisure Activities Finder™ (LAF) includes a listing of leisure activities, with corresponding codes, which allows users to search for activities that match their Summary Code. During a recent revision of the LAF, the authors developed a list of new activities to be included and assigned codes to them. In a validation study, participants rated activities corresponding to their Summary Code and corresponding to their opposite code. Overall, they rated activities corresponding to their code to be relatable and interesting. Implications for career counseling are discussed, as well as the potential for use of the LAF across the life span.
Despite Singapore’s huge effort to promote entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial spirit is still lacking. Entrepreneurial intent is especially low among Singaporean young adults who prefer a traditional career path. A psychological barrier, fear of failure (FoF), has been proposed as an explanation. In the entrepreneurship context, FoF is generally assumed to be a unidimensional construct. Although FoF has been examined in relation to the processes of established entrepreneurs, it has not been explored in relation to entrepreneurial intent, and no studies have examined its dimensionality in this context. We explored this possibility using a qualitative approach and the cognitive–motivation–relational theory of emotion. Inductive thematic analysis of 35 semi-structured interviews revealed three main concerns about business failure: financial, psychological, and career. The analysis challenged the prevailing view by supporting the multidimensionality of FoF in entrepreneurship, established its relevance as a barrier to entrepreneurial intent, and highlighted potential cross-cultural variation in FoF.
Higher education career development professionals are charged with more than understanding the challenges and needs of a diverse student body, and they must also prepare students for career fields in life after higher education. This empirical study explored the graduate degree choices and career aspirations of 14 college athletes who competed in football at large, highly selective Division I/Research I universities. This study aimed to further understand how life experiences influence graduate degree choice and the subsequent alignment of chosen degree path and future career aspirations. Findings of this study were guided by Savickas’ career construction theory. Personal narratives were collected in semi-structured individual interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative method. This study presents implications and recommendations for contemporary career development practitioners who work with college athletes as they engage in processes of career exploration, choice, and preparation.
Using a large sample of employed adults (N = 1,714) living in Switzerland, this study investigates the relationship between the five-factor model of personality dimensions and job satisfaction, considering the role of job strain as defined by Karasek’s job demand–control model and occupational self-efficacy. These relationships were assessed both within the overall sample of employed and specific occupational groups. The analyses on the overall sample show an effect of neuroticism and extraversion on job satisfaction. Furthermore, job strain and occupational self-efficacy are related to job satisfaction. The effect of neuroticism is partly mediated by job strain and occupational self-efficacy, while extraversion and conscientiousness have an indirect effect through occupational self-efficacy. When we consider the occupational groups, the results highlight differences between the groups showing variability in the relationship between personality, job strain and occupational self-efficacy, and their effects on job satisfaction.
The purpose of the current research was to examine the reciprocal relationship among early adolescents between self-esteem and career maturity from the developmental/longitudinal perspective. Data from 1 to 4 (Grades 4–7) survey waves of the Korea Youth Panel Study, a longitudinal study of Korean youth organized by the National Youth Policy Institute and funded by the government of South Korea, were analyzed using autoregressive cross-lagged (ARCL) modeling. The results indicated (a) a positive autoregressive longitudinal relationship between career maturity and self-esteem over time, (b) no cross-lagged longitudinal relationship from career maturity to self-esteem over time, but a cross-lagged longitudinal relationship from self-esteem to career maturity over time, and (c) no gender difference in the ARCL model with self-esteem and career maturity. Findings hold implications for research and practice.
We examined entrepreneurial role-model exposure (operationalized in terms of both the number of role models known and the intensity of interactions with one’s most influential role model) and self-efficacy as predictors of women’s entrepreneurial intentions. Among 620 female college students, self-efficacy and number of entrepreneurial role models were both associated with stronger entrepreneurial intentions. Among the 105 women who had at least one entrepreneurial role model, the intensity of interactions with the most influential of those role models was also associated with entrepreneurial intentions. Consistent with Social Cognitive Career Theory, self-efficacy mediated the relationships between both forms of role-model exposure and entrepreneurial intentions. Contrary to Bandura’s similarity hypothesis, the association between role-model exposure and self-efficacy was not stronger when access to female entrepreneurs was present. We discuss implications for future research and for career intervention.
Graduate higher education has done little to assess and understand graduate students’ needs and experiences beyond the classroom. Therefore, we conducted a phenomenological study using multiple data collection tools, including survey and focus groups from two different time periods to implement a multiphase needs assessment. The goal of the evaluation was to better understand graduate students’ overall needs and experiences related to professional development at a public Carnegie classified Doctoral Research University in the Rocky Mountain Region. Results revealed the following themes: perceptions of professional development in graduate school, finding balance is never ending, experiences of personal and professional barriers, and the importance of faculty and peer relationships. Discussion, implications, limitations, and a conclusion are provided.
The present study examined the relative influence of aspects of internalized racism on the career aspirations of a sample of African American adults. Participants (N = 315), ranging in age from 18 to 62 years, completed measures of internalized racism and career aspirations online. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the relative influence of internalized racism. Regression results indicated that participants who devalued and dismissed an African worldview and its themes had lower career aspirations.
Work volition refers to the perceived ability of an individual to choose work under constraints. As they age, older workers often face declines in cognitive functioning and adaptability, as well as age discrimination in organizations. Our goal was to examine the relation between the mentioned constraints and work volition for aging workers, and whether general self-efficacy moderated the associations between constraints and work volition. A total of 350 working Chinese (aged over 45 years) in Hong Kong were recruited. Structural equation modeling (SEM) result showed that perceived age discrimination and cognitive constraint (planning and organization) were salient correlations of work volition. Multi-sample SEM analysis verified that general self-efficacy moderated the association between the cognitive constraints as well as perceived age discrimination in the workplace and work volition. Limitations and recommendations, including assessment of work volition, strengthening of general self-efficacy, and elimination of age discrimination, were discussed.
This study examined how the perception of a linkage between organizational ethical behavior and career success, representing ethical orientation of the organization, influences employees’ perceptions of organizational politics and their subsequent career motivation, that is, career commitment, motivation to participate in training, and turnover intentions. The results obtained using data collected from 389 employees in Korea indicate that career commitment fully mediated the relationship between the ethical behavior–career success association and both outcome variables (motivation to participate in training and turnover intentions) as well as the relationship between the perception of organizational politics and motivation to participate in training. However, the relationship between the perception of organizational politics and turnover intentions was only partially mediated by career commitment. These findings suggest that managers cope with employees’ careerist orientation by developing a sound perceptual set for career progress.
The present research focused on the various types of support young adults consider using when making career decisions and located factors that affect their intentions to seek help. Career decision-making difficulties (assessed by the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire), self-reported intentions to seek help, and career decision status were elicited from 300 young adults deliberating about their future career. The results show that participants’ intentions to seek help were positively correlated with their career decision-making difficulties and with their career decision status. The results also show discrepancies between the perceived effectiveness of the various types of support (e.g., family and friends, career counselors, and Internet) and the participants’ intentions to use them. Young adults are more inclined to seek help from types of support that are easily accessible to them (e.g., family and friends, and the Internet), and less from those that have been proven to be beneficial (e.g., career counselors, online questionnaires).
Staying satisfied and healthy in the face of a complex and uncertain professional world is a priority for individuals. This article examines the contribution of personality traits, career adaptability, and prior well-being as predictors of well-being over 1 year in four different professional trajectory groups: those who remained employed, those who experienced a professional change, those who moved from unemployment to employment, and those who remained unemployed. Results show meaningful differences between these groups in terms of well-being over 1 year. Employed individuals have higher life satisfaction and self-rated health than unemployed individuals. Regaining employment contributes to improved well-being. Different professional situations correspond to varying levels of career adaptability, suggesting it may be a precursor for career changes. Personality traits and career adaptability predict well-being over time, but the strongest predictor of future well-being is prior well-being. Results are discussed in light of career development, personality, and well-being theory.
Women are strongly underrepresented at top positions in research, with some research suggesting the postdoctoral career stage is a critical stage for female researchers. Drawing on role congruity theory and social cognitive career theory, we tested the gender-differential impact of work values (extrinsic rewards–oriented work values and work–life balance values) on subjective career success and supports from supervisors (leader–member exchange) and team members. We conducted an online survey with male and female postdoctoral scientists (N = 258). As hypothesized, the positive relationship between extrinsic rewards–oriented work values and subjective career success and supports was stronger for male researchers than for female researchers. Results on work–life balance values were less conclusive. These findings support the idea that gendered appraisal processes may affect career-relevant outcomes.
We surveyed 168 young adults (83% male; mean age = 24 years), who worked for a large electronics manufacturing company in Indonesia, on two occasions, six months apart, on measures of protean career orientation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intention-to-quit, and tested the relationships between protean career orientation and the three outcome variables over time. We tested three cross-lagged models (standard causal, reverse causal, and reciprocal causal), and found support for the standard causal model. Higher levels of protean career orientation at T1 were associated with lower levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction and higher levels of intention-to-quit at T2, after the effects of T1 were controlled. Results indicated poorer individual and organizational outcomes after six months for employees with higher levels of protean orientation.
Perceived high-performance work systems (HPWS) have presented mixed results related to subjective well-being. Additionally, there remains a lack of an integrative analysis of the relationship between work–family balance and these practices. To explore this relationship more fully, we developed and tested a model that proposed work–family balance and well-being at work as mediators. Data gathered from 218 participants employed in a city council with different occupations indicated a positive relationship between perceived HPWS and work-to-family enrichment and a negative relationship between perceived HPWS and work-to-family conflict. More interestingly, based on Conservation of Resources theory and on Job-Demands Resources, the results also indicated the presence of a serial mediation model where work–family balance and well-being at work act as mediators of perceived HPWS and subjective well-being.
Drawing on the inducement–contribution employment model, this article examines the mediation of affective commitment on the relationship between hierarchical plateau and turnover intention and how job content plateau moderates the relationship. The hypotheses are tested in a sample consisting of 288 Chinese employees from a variety of industries. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that hierarchical plateau is positively related to turnover intention, and affective commitment fully mediates the relationship. The moderated mediation analysis reveals that the mediation of affective commitment on hierarchical plateau–turnover intention relation is conditional upon job content plateau. Specifically, job content plateau weakens rather than strengthens the effect of hierarchical plateau on affective commitment and the resultant turnover intention. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed.
Sexual minority persons (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer) are likely to encounter minority stress, such as discrimination, concealment, expectation of rejection, and internalized heterosexism. Minority stress occurs alongside one’s lifespan and has considerable implications in the context of the career lifespan trajectory. Using the approach of developmental contextualism as a framework to embed minority stress, this article reviews the existing literature regarding facets of minority stress across the career lifespan trajectory and provides a conceptualization on how to incorporate minority stress into affirmative career appraisal, intervention, and research practices.
This study examines the role of dysfunctional career thoughts between two-wave longitudinal data (Time 1 and Time 2) in career decision-making self-efficacy during school-to-work transition periods. Career decision-making self-efficacy was measured before (Time 1) and after college graduation (Time 2). The results indicated that the growth of dysfunctional career thoughts during school-to-work transition periods negatively mediated the two time points (Time 1 and Time 2) of career decision-making self-efficacy. This study also examines the moderation effect of planned happenstance career skills, which refers the individuals’ skills in generating learning experiences during unexpected events on the relationship between dysfunctional career thoughts and career decision-making self-efficacy. College students’ career decision self-efficacy (Time 1) appeared to weaken individual’s career decision self-efficacy after college graduation (Time 2) via dysfunctional career thoughts when students were less likely to have developed planned happenstance career skills in order to discover unexpected career opportunities during school-to-work transition periods.
The purpose of this study was to examine the main and interactive effects of four dimensions of professional commitment on strain (i.e., depression, anxiety, perceived health status, and job dissatisfaction) for a sample of 176 law professionals. The study utilized a two-wave design in which professional commitment and strain were measured at Time 1 and strain was measured again at Time 2 (T2), 2 months later. A significant two-way interaction indicated that high affective commitment was related to less T2 job dissatisfaction only for lawyers with low accumulated costs. A significant four-way interaction indicated that high affective professional commitment was only related to fewer symptoms of T2 anxiety for lawyers with high normative professional commitment and both low limited alternatives and accumulated costs. A similar pattern of results emerged in regard to T2 perceived health status. The theoretical and practical implications of these results for career counselors are discussed.
In the boundaryless career era, employability is valued by both employees and employers. In this study, we investigated the effects of employability on employees’ strain and turnover intention in the Chinese setting, focusing on the moderating role of perceived career opportunity (PCO). We collected two-wave data from a sample of 214 employees over a three-month period. The results showed that employability was negatively related to emotional exhaustion and nonsignificantly related to turnover intention after controlling for baseline levels. Further, we found that PCO moderated the relationships between employability, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention. Specifically, the negative relationship between employability and emotional exhaustion was strong (weak) when PCO within the organization was high (low). Employability was negatively related to turnover intention only when PCO was high. Our study highlights that PCO should be given more attention in the employability research.
This study aimed to examine the construct validity of the Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS) in Korea. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used for testing the factor structure of the scale. The results supported a two-factor (value and stigma) model, which was theoretically driven from the original study. Results of Study 2 showed that ATCCS-Value and ATCCS-Stigma were differently related to self-disclosure, attitudes toward seeking professional help, self-stigma, public stigma, work-exploration, self-exploration, intention to seeking help, and career decision self-efficacy. Group differences were also examined to demonstrate whether previous experience of counseling was related to current attitudes toward career counseling. Overall, the results indicated that ATCCS would be an adequate assessment of measuring attitudes toward career counseling for Korean college students. The implication of cultural differences and additional limitations were discussed.
Unemployment is associated with increased levels of anxiety, depression, and disconnection among emerging adults. Given the greater risk of unemployment for emerging adults (13.2% in the United States), career adaptability is relevant to understanding how emerging adults survive and thrive in today’s challenging work environment. This study examined the effect of career adaptability on subjective well-being in 184 unemployed diverse emerging adults of age 21–29. Results revealed that emerging adults with higher levels of control and confidence had higher life satisfaction. Control was positively related to positive affect while at the same time negatively related to negative affect. Control was the most consistent informant of subjective well-being (significant on all three subscale measures). The implications of the significant findings, and the caution warranted in relation to these findings, are discussed.
This study addresses the role of career growth in the turnover process among Chinese new employees. Based on reviews of the background of Chinese new employee combined with the Theory of Work Adjustment, we focus on career growth, person–organization fit (P-O fit), and job satisfaction as potential predictors. We examined career growth’s mediating effect between P-O fit and job satisfaction and its role in predicting turnover intention. Questionnaires were sent out through e-mail to Chinese new employees graduated within the past 3 years. Results of 323 valid cases showed that (1) career growth was positively correlated to job satisfaction and negatively correlated to turnover intention, (2) job satisfaction fully mediated career growth’s effect on turnover intention, (3) P-O fit positively predicted career growth, (4) career growth fully mediated P-O fit’s effect on job satisfaction, (5) P-O fit, career growth, and job satisfaction jointly explained 40% of the turnover intention’s total variance. Implications for individuals and organizations are discussed.
This article focuses on the "whole-life" approach to career development. A review of the ways in which career paths have been conceptualized over time demonstrates that increasing consideration has been given to nonwork factors (i.e., personal life and family life) in defining careers. The whole-life perspective on career development acknowledges that employees are striving for opportunities for professional development as well as individualized work–life balance, which changes over the life course. Although the careers literature has emphasized interorganizational mobility as the primary mechanism for achieving these goals, whole-life career development can also be achieved within a single organization when organizational leadership is willing to address employees’ work–family needs. This article addresses how leaders across organizational levels, including executive-level leaders and first-line supervisors, can foster whole-life career development. In addition to beneficial outcomes for employees, potential competitive advantages for organizations implementing the whole-life approach to career development are discussed.
The purpose of this study is to examine the factorial validity of the Career Growth Scale (CGS), which was originally developed by Weng and Hu. Using a sample of 230 South Korean employees, we confirmed that Weng’s four-factor model was appropriate for assessing career growth. When comparing Korean with Chinese employees, Korean employees had relatively higher scores on two CGS subscales, Career Goal Progress and Promotion Speed. Results indicated that the CGS was a valid instrument to measure career growth in Korean employees, suggesting the possibility that the CGS could be used regardless of cultural background. Implications for future research, practice, and limitations are discussed.
Career development at the elementary level is an important developmental function to ensure all students graduate college and career ready. However, the training and continuing education needs of elementary school counselors have been largely ignored in the professional literature and in training programs. This article explores the theoretical and empirical support for career development at the primary level and the challenges in training elementary school counselors. Recommendations for modifications to school counselor educator programs are offered, and future research and continuing education needs for school counselors are explored.
Drawing from career construction and positive youth development perspectives, this study explores, among 254 Italian high school students, the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and support from friends and teachers with indices of adaptive career development. Results from the full canonical correlational model revealed that dimensions of EI and teacher support were positively associated with resilience and self-perceived employability. These results suggest that EI and teacher support warrant further investigation as factors that may contribute to adaptive career progress among youth.
This article investigated the key psychosocial factors that impact upon National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-1 male basketball players, as they transition from college to postcollege athletic or nonathletic careers. Participants (N = 9) were current/former NCAA Division-1 basketball players. Four participants were selected based on their current transition status and five were selected based on their previous transition success. Qualitative semistructured interviews were used to examine participants’ perceptions of current and postcollege transitions for the relevant groups. Interviews were based on the developmental model of Wylleman and Lavallee and the model of human adaptation to transition. Using grounded theory methodology, five categories were identified that relate to the transitioning process as experienced by the research sample. Research limitations and implications arising from this exploratory examination are discussed.
Individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders may have work-related difficulties that impact functioning in all life domains. With limited research on the integration of career and mental health counseling, authors used a discriminant function analysis to assess the predictability of accurately identifying diagnostic categories among 258 adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LDs) through the use of constructs derived from three career development inventories. Results showed that using an appropriate interpretive T-score from individuals with the same diagnosis enhanced the ability to discriminate between diagnoses of LD and ADHD in young adults. Implications for the practice of career counseling and development are provided.
We surveyed 355 junior doctors (first 4 years of post-university training; 69% female, mean age = 28 years) from multiple hospital and practice locations and used an online questionnaire to assess their training-related demands (academic stress, concern about training debt, and hours worked), academic burnout, and personal resources (operationalized as career calling). We tested whether training-related demands were associated with academic burnout and whether career calling moderated the association between the demands and burnout. The demands accounted for approximately one third of the variance in burnout, with all accounting for significant, unique variance. In the context of the demands, career calling was not a significant predictor, but it moderated the association between academic stress and burnout. The study identified additional ways that junior doctors can be assisted to manage these first few years of medical training after graduating from medical school.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of social cognitive career theory (SCCT) in a cross-cultural setting by examining the relationships between the social cognitive variables of South Korean engineering students and their engineering interests and major choice goals across university type and gender. Participants (N = 660) completed measures of academic self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, outcome expectations, engineering interests, contextual supports and barriers, and major choice goals. The results of the study revealed that the SCCT interest and major choice model offered an adequate overall fit to the full sample. The findings also indicated that the SCCT interest and choice model provided an acceptable fit to the data across university type and gender. The implications of the findings on practice for counseling South Korean engineering college students are discussed.
According to Kram’s mentor role theory, satisfaction with mentoring and mentorship quality are key indicators of effective and successful mentoring. We contribute to mentoring research by demonstrating the relative importance of mentorship quantity, mentorship quality, and satisfaction with mentoring to the prediction of job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. Survey data from 472 faculty members revealed the importance of that satisfaction with mentoring in that it mediated the effect of mentorship quality on job satisfaction and turnover intentions, and it explained variance in three job attitudes above and beyond mentorship quantity and quality. Implications for organizational mentoring are discussed.
The current research builds on conservation of resources theory as a theoretical framework to examine the relationship between work–family and the three dimensions of job burnout: emotional exhaustion, cynicism (depersonalization), and reduced personal accomplishment. A study involving 292 employed women from multiple organizations assessed cross-domain (CD) compensation—a new component of work–family enhancement (Wiese, Seiger, Schmid, & Freund, 2010)—referring to the focus of one’s attention on positive experiences in the work domain that helps to deal with negative experiences in the family domain. Key findings reveal that CD compensation acts as a resource by reducing each facet of job burnout. Work–family conflict—a demand—contributes to various dimensions of job burnout. The effects of these variables were additive rather than interactive. Theoretical implications as well as applied recommendations for employees, career consultants, and organizations are discussed.
Conflict over career decisions is a main source of intergenerational conflict among Asian American families. This qualitative study explored the topic using consensual qualitative research methodology in a sample of eight Asian Americans. Results indicated that participants experienced feelings of guilt and indebtedness due to conflicting values, traditions, and expectations. Most participants dealt with parental disapproval regarding their career choice by seeking advice from friends and relatives. Participants employed many strategies to earn approval such as educating parents about their chosen career, seeking honors, and compromising between personal desires and parental expectations. Implications for career counseling and research are discussed.
Quantitative methods were used to investigate attributions of importance to work and family roles and anticipated work–family conflict and facilitation among 353 at-risk Israeli male and female adolescents. Qualitative interviews conducted with 26 of the at-risk youth explored future work and family perceptions. Findings indicated that both sexes anticipated greater facilitation than conflict and demonstrated little exploration and unsophisticated understanding of the work domain. However, perceptions of family were very salient. Females' exploration of family roles was widespread. Both genders understood work as a means to financially support the family. At-risk adolescents' work–family thinking differed meaningfully from descriptions of mainstream youngsters. Implications for career interventions and research with at-risk adolescents are considered.
Many countries are exposed to challenges due to demographic change. Keeping employees in the workforce beyond retirement age could help counter these challenges. Thus, extending the knowledge on the process of postretirement career planning is important. Therefore, drawing on social cognitive career theory, we develop and test a model for postretirement career planning in this study. An online survey including measures of occupational self-efficacy, interest in occupation-related activities as well as postretirement career outcome expectations, intention, and planning activity was completed by 124 individuals working in different occupations in Germany. Participants were aged 49–65 years and 54% were male. Findings suggest that self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interest are important factors in postretirement career planning. Altogether the predictors accounted for 37% of variance in postretirement career intention and 9% of variance in planning activity. Based on our findings, we discuss options to foster postretirement career planning.
This qualitative study examined themes in the career development of 1.5-generation Hmong American women. Twenty participants, residing in two Midwestern states, who came to the United States when they were young and who obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher were interviewed. Participants’ responses were analyzed using principles of inductive analysis and modified consensual qualitative research (CQR). Six domains were identified in participants’ narratives that addressed career conceptualization; self and career actualization; family, cultural, and gender expectations; systems of support; barriers; and resilience. Thirty-one themes under the domains are described and discussed, including implications for continued areas of examination. Participants’ narratives provided valuable insight toward community, educational, and career interventions.
An increasing number of students with Asperger’s syndrome are entering college today. Students with Asperger’s syndrome face complex symptomology such as difficulty with social skills, narrowed interests, sensory issues, and lack of self-awareness that may affect their ability to complete college and successfully enter the workforce. Career counselors could apply social cognitive career theory as an effective intervention when working with college students diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. A case illustration is presented as an example.
Due to prior research suggesting that relational variables are related to the career development process, we sought to understand how maternal conflictual independence, paternal conflictual independence, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance influence the career decision status of Asian American undergraduate students (N = 113). The findings of the regression analysis indicated that high levels of attachment anxiety were related to high levels of career indecision. The variables of maternal and paternal conflictual independence as well as attachment avoidance were not significantly associated with participants’ career indecision. Implications for career counseling practice are discussed.
In a climate in which career transitions are increasingly common, chance events may have a greater influence on career development. This article is a review of how well the current theory and research can account for the interaction between chance events and career development. Chance events are characterized as being unpredictable and unplanned to the person who experiences them. However, existing research and theory have largely failed to consider these unique qualities of chance events. Theories based on learning principles such as happenstance learning theory (Krumboltz, 1996, 2009), social cognitive career theory, and cognitive information processing theory of career development provide a framework for understanding the processes that occur when people are affected by or respond to events that are predictable or unplanned. This review considers this potential and concludes with suggestions for possible avenues for future research.
In the current study, we sought to further our understanding of the relations between various types of protégé-reported mentoring functions (psychosocial and career support and role modeling [RM]) by conducting a meta-analysis. We examined the relationships among these functions and investigated their relationships with expected mentorship outcomes. There is still a great deal left for us to understand regarding how these functions relate to outcomes and what these relationships mean. We expanded upon previous meta-analyses in the following ways: We included RM functions in addition to psychosocial and career support functions, corrected for unreliability of the function scales in addition to sampling error, and examined the relations of these functions with one another. Results show that all the mentoring functions were related to outcomes, with RM being the strongest predictor. Finally, we identified and conceptually analyzed numerous moderators of these relations.
Although the skills promoted by career decision-making models based on information processing, social cognition, and person–environment fit are necessary for general career success, they insufficiently meet the demands of a global society and the current economy. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of two holistic approaches to career decision making: existential and the chaos theory of careers. We propose that these models are more suitable for today’s working world insofar as they promote career adaptability, vocation/calling (beyond job), and moral responsibility in work in the postmodern era. However, because their utility has not yet been extensively researched (despite ample theoretical exposure in the career literature), these models remain relatively unfamiliar to most career counselors. For each model, we provide a theoretical overview, review existing research, and propose areas for further study to identify contexts for which each model may be best suited.
Two studies were conducted to validate the Chinese version of the Career Decision-Making Profiles (CDMP) questionnaire, a multidimensional measure of the way individuals make career decisions. Results of Study 1 showed that after dropping 1 item from the original CDMP scale, the 11-factor structure was supported among Chinese college students (N = 334). Results of Study 2 (N =372) replicated this factor structure and revealed that the CDMP accounted for 25% and 32% of the variances in participants’ career decision-making efficacy and career decision-making difficulties, respectively, across a time lag of 2 months. Among the CDMP dimensions, comprehensive information gathering, analytic information processing, greater speed of making the final decision, internal locus of control, and less dependence on others were the most significant predictors of positive career-related outcomes. These findings carry implications for career decision-making research and counseling practices in different cultural groups.
This study examined the contribution of perceptions of discrimination, career planning, and vocational identity to the school engagement experiences of first- and second-generation immigrants among a sample of 125 Cape Verdean high school students. Perceived ethnic discrimination was found to moderate the association between both vocational factors and school engagement. Students who perceived high levels of discrimination and endorsed a strong vocational identity also endorsed high levels of school engagement. When endorsing high levels of career planning, individuals reporting different levels of perceived discrimination did not differ in school engagement. However, large differences in school engagement were noted at low levels of career planning, with individuals reporting low levels of perceived discrimination endorsing higher engagement in school than those who perceived higher levels of discrimination. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of ethnic discrimination as one explores the academic and vocational functioning of immigrant students of color.
This exploratory investigation examined the link between self-reported racial–ethnic socialization experiences and perceived parental career support among African American undergraduate and graduate students. The results of two separate multivariate multiple regression analyses found that messages about coping with racism positively predicted parental career supports involving opportunities to practice career behaviors, modeling of career behaviors, verbal encouragement of career development, and providing emotional support. Messages involving intergroup interactions were positively predictive of emotional support messages and opportunities to practice career development activities. The self-report of exposure to African American cultural artifacts (i.e., nonverbal ethnic socialization) positively predicted parental modeling of career behaviors and verbal encouragement of career development. Messages about African American history positively predicted verbal encouragement of career development and emotional support. Finally, messages about engaging in African American cultural activities negatively predicted verbal encouragement of career development. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.
Outsourced workers in information technologies (IT) generally have high skills and a high value on the job market. Their IT outsourcing organizations are likely to provide them with training, in the first place for skill development, but perhaps also as a way to bind the workers to them. This can be understood along the role of the psychological contract. Outsourced IT workers may see training as a fulfillment of their psychological contract. Accordingly, we hypothesize that psychological contract fulfillment mediates the relationship between training and affective commitment to the IT outsourcer. This was tested in a sample of 158 Portuguese outsourced IT workers. The results showed that employees who considered that they were receiving good training opportunities felt a greater affective commitment to their IT outsourcers. This relationship was mediated by the fulfillment of the relational psychological contract.
While perceived overqualification (POQ) has received increased research attention in recent years, the identification of variables that moderate POQ-outcome relationships is critical to our understanding of how the construct affects career outcomes. This study, involving 170 full-time primary and secondary school educators in a suburban mid-Atlantic school system, found that POQ is negatively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment while positively related to turnover intentions and desire to turnover. While POQ was not significantly related to performance or continuance organizational commitment, the relationships between POQ and both performance and continuance organizational commitment were significantly moderated by the experience of career calling orientation. Generally, the relationship between POQ and performance was stronger, and the relationship between POQ and continuance organizational commitment was weaker, for those with high calling. Additionally, the effects of career calling were considerably stronger than those of POQ for all criteria. The implications surrounding these results, and opportunities for future investigation, are discussed.
Using social cognitive career theory as a theoretical foundation, we examined the relationship between mentor and protégé organizational socialization as well as the mediating role of career, psychosocial, and role-modeling support received by protégés. We also examined the moderating role of mentorship formality in the relationship between mentor socialization and the receipt of career, psychosocial, and role-modeling support. Using survey data collected from 209 ongoing mentoring dyads from five banks in Taiwan, regression results indicated that mentor socialization was positively related to career functions and role modeling that protégés received, as well as protégé socialization. Career support partially mediated the relationship between mentor socialization and protégé socialization. Mentorship formality moderated the relationship between mentor socialization and psychosocial support, suggesting that the positive relationship between mentor socialization and psychosocial functions only bears out in informal mentoring relationships. We offer a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
The authors investigate the role of emotions in the job search and choice process of novice job seekers. Results of qualitative analyses of the first-person accounts of 41 job seekers indicate that participants whose recollections of their job search contained emotional language were more likely to display a haphazard job search strategy than those whose recollections did not. They were also more likely to engage in choice strategies that were not driven by concrete criteria. In comparison, participants whose recollections were not emotion-laden reported more criteria-driven choice strategies, and did not display the tendency to revise or lower their standards or to settle for a less desirable job than they had been seeking. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotions in job search and choice research as well as in terms of job search counseling for novice job seekers.
First-generation college (FGC) students often encounter a campus environment and set of norms that are substantially different from those they previously experienced. Although the literature exploring the challenges facing these students is growing, less attention has been given to their experiences as they graduate and transition from college to work. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) has been suggested as a useful framework for helping individuals during the early stages of their careers by exploring the individual’s self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals. In addition, SCCT considers the influence of contextual supports and barriers, which may be influencing the ongoing career development of FGC students after they graduate. This article explores the ways SCCT may prove particularly helpful when working with FGC graduates. Several case studies highlighting key challenges facing FGC graduates are also presented.
This study adopted self-identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) to examine the role of affective and cognitive identification and the perception of aging with regard to Chinese employees’ successful aging in the workplace. A total of 242 Chinese workers in Hong Kong aged 45 and above were recruited. Results showed that cognitive identification was significantly related to four successful aging in the workplace dimensions, whereas affective identification was significantly related to all of the five aspects of successful aging in the workplace. Moderated regression analyses suggested that the association between cognitive/affective identification and successful aging in the workplace was moderated by a positive perception of aging. Post hoc analyses indicated successful aging in the workplace was more likely to occur when an individual has identified themselves as aging workers and they had positive perception toward aging. Limitations and practical implications were discussed.
Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000) holds that contextual barriers inhibit self-efficacy and goal choice intentions from points both near and far from the active career development situation. The current study examined the influence of one such proximal barrier, stereotype threat, on attainment of these outcomes among women considering careers in science. Participants were female undergraduate students (N = 439) enrolled in chemistry and physics laboratory classes. As predicted, results indicated that stereotype threat exerted a significant negative indirect effect on women’s science career choice intentions in physics but not chemistry. Single-pathway models positing a chain of effects of stereotype threat via science self-efficacy and intentions to pursue undergraduate research were also shown to fit the data better than multiple-pathway models in both physics and chemistry. Implications for the career development of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are discussed.
Goal instability and its relation to career thoughts, decision state, and performance in an undergraduate career course in a large university were investigated in this study. Participants completed six instruments measuring the nature of goals, career thinking, occupational decision making, satisfaction with career choice, tension associated with career decisions, and a performance contract of course activities to be completed for a grade. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses indicated that the degree of goal instability was directly related to negative career thoughts, dissatisfaction with career choice, career tension, and inversely related to classroom performance. Results of the analyses suggested that goal instability may serve as an initial global screening measure of readiness for career exploration in a classroom environment. The use of supplementary readiness measures is discussed.
This study explores the relationship between parental motivational practices, Children’s mathematics achievement trajectories, and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Nationally representative longitudinal survey data were analyzed using latent growth curve analysis. Findings indicate that parents’ motivational practices influence their children’s mathematics achievement in terms of where the Children start in the 7th grade and how much mathematics achievement grows or changes through the 12th grade. Findings also indicate a positive relationship between mathematics-specific, intrinsically focused parental motivational practices and growth in mathematics achievement and persistence in STEM careers. These findings provide specific information about how different types of parental motivational practices influence long-term mathematics achievement and persistence in STEM careers.
International student research predominantly focuses on the initial and middle stages of their sojourn. Our research, however, specifically addresses how relationships support international students to successfully navigate the late-stage transition from university to work. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 18 international students from diverse cultures, ages, and professions with an emphasis on their last year of university and 3 years post-graduation. We found six major themes: (a) building strong friendships supported the decision to stay, (b) career decision making is a group effort, (c) relationships with supervisors and mentors led to career opportunities, (d) establishing relational networks helped with finding first job, (e) developing connections early in their programs helped in the transition, and (f) mentoring from international alumni would provide role models. We discuss the importance of key relationships for international student success and how relationships are embedded in career decision making. Finally, we provide recommendations for career counselors.
Once associated with lifetime employment, policing and teaching have become increasingly associated with employee attrition. We used a life course research design to explore career turning points and transitions, in the context of preceding and following careers. Former police officers (n = 9) and former teachers (n = 15) from around Australia participated in 30- to 60-min interviews about their careers and career decision making. Transcribed interview responses were analyzed using contextualizing and categorizing methods. Although participants’ experiences of ruptures preceding voluntary career change differed, the theme of feeling undervalued as a result of ruptures was common among participants. Participants felt valued in subsequent careers when prior skills were recognized and opportunities existed to acquire and apply new skills. Practical implications include the need for organizations to offer supportive workplace environments that value individual members and their contributions.
The United States falls short in the diversity of its scientific workforce. While the underrepresentation of minority researchers in the behavioral sciences has been a concern for several decades, policy and training initiatives have been only marginally successful in increasing their number. Diversity plays a critical role in our nation’s capacity for research and innovation, yet current approaches prove inadequate. The current study used a qualitative approach to investigate the institutional, cultural, skills, and personal career barriers faced by minority researchers in the behavioral sciences. Data were collected from a select group of minority researchers (defined for this study as women and/or people of color) who attended a 3-and-one-half-day intensive workshop developed specifically to address career barriers. Seventy-two percent (n = 43) encountered workplace barriers relating to race/ethnicity; 26% reported barriers related to gender. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
This study had three objectives. First, we examined the relationship between careerist orientation and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Second, we investigated the mediating role of life satisfaction in the relationship between careerist orientation and OCB. Third, we examined whether expatriate employees (those sent abroad on full-time company assignment) differed from non-expatriate employees in the strength of the relationship between careerist orientation and OCB. The expatriate sample consisted of 232 U.S. expatriates working in United Kingdom and the non-expatriate sample consisted of 210 full-time employees working in various organizations in the United States. We used hierarchical regression analyses to test the hypotheses. Careerist orientation adversely affected OCB because of lower life satisfaction that the employees experienced. Expatriate employees with a high careerist orientation exhibited lower level of OCB than non-expatriates with a high careerist orientation.
We examined 401 Latina/o high school students’ postsecondary plans and their responses to an open-ended question about how their schools should better help Latina/o students to achieve their plans. The majority of students planned to enroll in postsecondary education or training. Boys and those responding in Spanish were more likely not to plan to continue their education, and those responding in Spanish were more likely to plan to work full time or part time than those responding in English. Themes generated from the open-ended responses include that schools should provide more motivational support, structured programs, and clubs that engage Latina/o students within their schools and communities, academic assistance and support, information related to financial aid, college, and careers, and that schools should eliminate discrimination and racism and increase Latina/o cultural resources. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.
We explored the relationships between the experience of work–family conflict and levels of distress in the family and at work among a sample of 227 Israeli working mothers. We also examined how role set density (RSD, the number of roles they perform) and personal and environmental resources are related to the women's experience of distress. Work–family conflict resulting from interference of work with family roles (WIF) and from interference of family with work roles (FIW) correlated positively with distress in the family and at work. RSD correlated negatively with distress at work but did not correlate with distress in the family. Perceived social support and personal resources correlated negatively with the women's experience of distress. WIF mediated the relationship between social support and women's experience of distress as well as the relationship between RSD and distress.
Participants were 181 university students who completed measures of career development (self-efficacy, perceived barriers, distress, planning, and exploration) and goal adjustment capacity (disengagement and reengagement). We expected (a) that when contemplating unachievable goals, those with a higher capacity to adjust their goals (i.e., to disengage and reengage) would report less distress, more career planning, and more exploration; and expected (b) that the relationships between goal adjustment and the outcome variables (distress, planning, and exploration) would be moderated by self-efficacy and perceptions of barriers. We found that those with a higher capacity to adjust their goals by disengaging and reengaging reported more exploration. Less distress was associated with disengagement, but not reengagement, whereas more planning was associated with reengagement, but not disengagement. Additionally, we found moderating effects for self-efficacy and perceptions of barriers; that is, having higher levels of efficacy and perceiving fewer barriers protected when goal adjustment capacity was lower.
The present study investigated a new model for characterizing the way individuals make career decisions (career decision-making profiles [CDMP]). Using data from 285 students in a preacademic program, the present study assessed the association of the CDMP’s dimensions with the Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties questionnaire, the Career Decision-making Self-Efficacy scale, and the individuals’ decision status. The results suggest that comprehensive Information Gathering, analytic Information Processing, a more internal Locus of Control, much Effort Invested, less Procrastination, greater Speed of Making the Final Decision, less Dependence on Others, and less Desire to Please others were more adaptive in making career decisions. Contrary to our hypotheses, high Aspiration for an ideal occupation, and low Willingness to compromise were more adaptive for the decision-making process; no level of Consulting with others was particularly adaptive.
This investigation employed exploratory methods to examine career aspirations in 141 students in Grades 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 from an international school in Bangkok. Students specified the jobs that they were most likely to pursue as adults, rated the importance of potential influences in making career decisions, and drew a picture of themselves in their future occupations. Students aspired to a range of careers and viewed their own abilities and interests as being of primary importance in choosing a career track. Also important were advice from parents, gender issues, and factors related to globalization, including their proficiency with second languages, experiences with other cultures, and interests in traveling. Students’ drawings revealed knowledge about desired job responsibilities. Developmental differences were present in several features of the data, including increasing attention to advanced technology and a progressively differentiated understanding of job duties.
The goal of this study was to examine the emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties of high school students in Turkish culture, using the model proposed by Saka and Gati. A sample of 523 high school students filled out the Turkish version of the Emotional and Personality-Related Aspects of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (EPCD) questionnaire. Cluster and confirmatory factor analyses supported the ternary classification system of the emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties model and questionnaire, thus providing evidence for the cross-cultural validity of the proposed model. Furthermore, the results demonstrated significant associations between making a decision and the emotional and personality career difficulties: students who were decided reported lower emotional and personality-related career difficulties than did undecided students. Generally, there were no differences in EPCD scores between boys and girls, and no effect of type of school and grade was observed.
This study investigates burnout and work engagement in layoff survivors. Layoff survivors are defined as individuals who remain working at organizations that have recently had layoffs. Job demands (job insecurity and work overload) and job and personal resources (social support, optimism, career adaptability, and career management self-efficacy) are examined as predictors of burnout and engagement. The sample consists of 203 adults currently working at organizations that downsized within the past year. As hypothesized, job demands had positive relationships with burnout, while social support, optimism, and career management self-efficacy had positive relationships with engagement. Contrary to hypotheses, career adaptability was not positively related to engagement. Engagement also mediated the relationships between several resources and burnout. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature, as little research has examined personal strengths of layoff survivors, in addition to job characteristics.
This study asserts a theoretical model of academic and work socialization within the family setting. The presumed associations between parents’ work valences, children’s work valences and valence perceptions, and children’s academic interest and achievement are tested. The results suggest that children’s perceptions of parents mediate the relationship between parents’ and children’s self-reported work valences and children’s work valences are, in turn, associated with academic interest and achievement. The results also demonstrate the moderating role of gender, with an indication of parental socialization to work occurring within same-sex parent–child dyads that is not reflected in cross-sex dyads. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed with a special emphasis on the relatively weak association between parents’ self-reported work valence and their children’s perception of them.