Structural support,networking and individual survival: career changes in Italy and Spain

Southern European countries, like Italy and Spain, have been severely affected by the recent economic crisis. This has affected their labour market in terms of increased unemployment, while many of those in employment feel more insecure. As a consequence, many individuals turn to education as a step to making a career change. The opportunities and hindrances stemming from socio-economic institutions such as vocational education and training (VET) and higher education, labour market regulations and career guidance are highly influential in the ways in which individuals manage their career transitions and engage in lifelong learning. This article outlines the structural conditions in the two countries in respect to career guidance provision and reflects, based on individual accounts of mid-career workers, how individuals negotiate the system.     

Chaotic careers: a narrative analysis of career transition themes and outcomes using chaos theory as a guiding metaphor

ABSTRACT

In a rapidly changing world of work, little research exists on mid-career transitions. We investigated these using the open-systems approach of chaos theory as a guiding metaphor and conducted interviews with seven mid-career individuals chosen for their experience of a significant mid-career transition. Four common themes were identified through narrative analysis, where ‘false starts’ to a career were a common experience prior to finding a career ‘fit’. Career transitions, precipitated by a trigger state and/or event such as a period of disillusionment, were an important part of this ‘finding a fit’ process. Overall, career success outcomes were shaped by a combination of chaos elements: chance, unplanned events, and non-linearity of resultant outcomes. We discuss implications for future research and practice.     

Commitment Shift during Organizational Upheaval: Physicians' Transitions from Private Practitioner to Employee

This longitudinal study examines the individual transition journeys of physicians as their private medical practices are acquired by a large integrated health care system. We test the proposition that transition patterns (trends in an individual's commitments to organization and profession over time) are a function of individual differences in years in profession and perceived organizational enabling characteristics (change involvement, openness to ideas, and work discretion). Three years of survey data were obtained from a panel of 48 physicians who transitioned through an organizational change process. Results challenge traditional assumptions that tenure reinforces commitment and cast doubt on the effectiveness of current medical school curricula in preparing medical graduates to practice in an administrative environment. In addition, results strongly suggest that enabling characteristics of organizational change are critical for compatibility between the organizational and professional attachments of transitioning physicians.     

School-to-work transition: Mentor career support and student career planning,job search intentions,and self-defeating job search behavior

We hypothesized and tested a model where mentor career support predicts college student career planning, job search intentions, and self-defeating job search behavior via student career self-efficacy. Using survey responses collected at two points in time from college students near graduation who were mentored by working business professionals for 8 months in a formal hybrid university-sponsored mentoring program, results showed that mentor career support was positively related to student career planning and job search intentions and negatively related to student self-defeating job search behavior. In addition, results indicated that student career self-efficacy fully mediated the relations between mentor career support and the outcomes. The findings have important implications for future mentoring and job search research. They also provide practical guidance for improving college students' career planning and job searches.     

The role of career values for work engagement during the transition to working life

The present longitudinal study examined the role of career values for work engagement across the transition from university education to working life. Finnish young adults reported on their career values (intrinsic, rewards, and security values) at the age of 23; and the degree of person–organization fit (value congruence, and congruence between one's education and the job), subjective income and economic stress two years later at the age of 25. Work engagement was assessed at both measurement points. Structural equation modeling results showed, first, that intrinsic but not rewards or security career values were related to work engagement. Second, value congruence and having a job which was related to young adults' educational field were positively associated with work engagement. Our findings suggest that along with person–organization fit, intrinsic career values are a significant factor in shaping and facilitating successful transitions from education to work.     

Expatriate career intentions: Links to career adaptability and cultural intelligence

Given the increasing rate of global mobility, it is important to have a greater understanding of the factors that influence intentions for expatriate careers. Guided by the Career Construction Theory and Intelligence Theory, this study takes the view that self-initiated expatriation as a form of global mobility is an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in another country and work to build one's career. This study posits that individuals who want to work overseas rely mainly on their adaptive resources to develop their careers. Additionally, career adaptability, as a self-regulatory competency, is posited to be reinforced by an individual's intercultural capability (i.e., cultural intelligence). To test these assertions, data were collected in a sample of university students (n = 514) in the Philippines, a country reported to have high rates of overseas migration for economic and career-related reasons. Career adaptability was found to be positively and significantly related to overseas career intentions. In addition, cultural intelligence was found to moderate the said relationship. These results offer the groundwork for understanding the earlier stages of expatriate careers and, in particular, how the intention to have a career in another country is developed and influenced by the interaction between the self-regulatory characteristics and intercultural capability of individuals.     

Career optimism: The roles of contextual support and career decision-making self-efficacy

Drawing from the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), we examined the role of parental support, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy as sources of career optimism. We tested our proposed model using 235 computer science majors from a large university in the Philippines. Surveys were conducted over two measurement periods (1 year apart). Results revealed that Time 1 parental and teacher support were positively associated with Time 2 career optimism. Furthermore, we found that these direct relationships were fully mediated by Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy. These results remained significant even after controlling for neuroticism and past performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The mediating roles of career self-efficacy and career decidedness in the relationship between contextual support and persistence

Drawing from Social cognitive career theory, we examined how types of contextual support (e.g., parental support and number of career counseling sessions received) influence persistence. In addition, we test the roles of career self-efficacy and career decidedness as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between these types of contextual support and persistence. One hundred forty-six undergraduate students were surveyed over three measurement periods. Data were collected from multiple sources: surveys from students and parents and students' archival data. Results provided support for our hypothesized mediated model. Time 1 student and parent ratings of support and Time 1 number of counseling sessions received were related to greater Time 2 career self-efficacy and Time 2 career decidedness. This in turn was associated with Time 3 persistence (i.e., reduced academic program turnover). Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

The role of traditionality in the relationships among parental support,career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability

Integrating career construction (Savickas, 2013) and cognitive evaluation (Ryan & Deci, 2002) theories, we examined the moderating role of traditionality beliefs in the indirect relationships among parental support, career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability among Chinese university students. Data were collected from 731 undergraduate students in China at two measurement periods, 18 months apart. Results showed that Time 1 parental support was associated positively with Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy and Time 2 career adaptability. In addition, the conditional indirect effects of Time 1 parental support in predicting Time 2 career adaptability via Time 1 career decision making self-efficacy were stronger among students with low as opposed to high traditionality beliefs. The implications of the results in terms of theory and practice are discussed.     

Applying the principles and techniques of solution-focused therapy to career counselling

Career counselling aims to help clients become more effective agents in solving problems in their vocational aspects of life. To achieve this goal, theorists and practitioners are called upon to form useful helping approaches that can help clients in a more efficient and effective manner. This article proposes an alternative model toward this end by considering and adopting principles and techniques from the solution-focused therapy in career counselling practice. After a very brief introduction of the basic features of the solution-focused counselling, the paper reviews some key theoretical principles of the solution-focused therapy, and connects these principles to career counselling context. It then illustrates several solution-focused counselling techniques that are particularly applicable to career counselling intervention.     

Training career adaptability to facilitate a successful school-to-work transition

The transition from school to work is one of the most critical steps in graduates' careers, as it can determine vocational outcomes and future career success. Yet, these newcomers to the labor market often take longer than regular job seekers to find a suitable job, are more likely to experience a job mismatch and to suffer from underemployment. In this study, we proposed that career adaptability might help remedy this problem. We therefore developed a training aimed at providing graduates with career adaptability resources, with the assumption that this may foster training-participants' later career adaptability and employment quality. A longitudinal field quasi-experiment compared the development of each career adaptability dimension between a training group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 24) over three points in time (pre-training measurement, post-training measurement and follow-up measurement six months later). Repeated measures analyses showed an overall increase in concern, control and curiosity within the training group, whereas there was no increase (concern) or even an overall decrease (control and curiosity) within the control group. Consequently, the training succeeded in enhancing participants' control and curiosity in the long run. Furthermore, among participants who had found employment half a year later, training participants reported higher employment quality than did members of the control group. In sum, results show that providing graduates with career adaptability resources can raise their chances on finding a qualitatively good job.     

Protean career attitudes during unemployment and reemployment: A longitudinal perspective

This 3-wave, 12-month longitudinal study investigated how protean career orientation (PCO) influences unemployed people's self-esteem, job search activity, employment perceived job improvement and perceived career growth over time. Panel data analysis with a sample of 186 people revealed that PCO was significantly associated with increased self-esteem, job search activity and reemployment. The effect of self-esteem on job search activity was mediated by PCO. PCO was significantly associated with job improvement and career growth once reemployed and the relationship between PCO and career growth was mediated by job improvement. PCO declined once participants become reemployed. Implications for how career counselors can develop career transitions programs that facilitate a PCO are presented.     

A longitudinal examination of career preparation and adjustment during the transition from high school

Preparing for an adult career and incorporating a career into one's identity is a key task during the transition to adulthood (Erikson, 1968), and completing developmental tasks is considered a major factor in adjustment (Havinghurst, 1972). Previous research has established associations between overall career preparation in high school and adjustment soon after high school graduation. Differences in the developmental patterns of career preparation dimensions (indecision, planning, and confidence) following high school graduation also have been found. The current study builds on that prior work by examining associations between changes in the dimensions of career preparation and changes in 3 aspects of adjustment (emotional stability, social adaptation, and self-actualization) from 12th grade in high school to 4.5 years after high school graduation in a sample of 454 youths, using latent growth curve analysis. Results showed that career preparation both predicts and is predicted by adjustment. Career confidence was a particularly important predictor of adjustment. Both 12th grade career confidence and changes in confidence over time predicted changes in adjustment and adjustment 4.5 years post-high school. In an alternative model, an increase in emotional stability was predictive of higher career confidence and lower indecision. Results are discussed in the context of developmental theories and the notion that adjustment and career are interrelated processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Personality, career decision self-efficacy and commitment to the career choices process among Chinese graduate students

This study examined the mediating effect of career decision self-efficacy on the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of personality and the career commitment process (i.e., vocational commitment and the tendency to foreclose) in a sample of 785 Chinese graduate students. The multiple regression analyses showed that neuroticism and conscientiousness related significantly to progress in vocational commitment both directly and indirectly through career decision self-efficacy. High agreeableness related to less premature foreclosure. In addition, career decision self-efficacy associated with greater progress in vocational commitment but also a strong tendency to foreclose. The implications for career development theory and practice are discussed.     

Applying the social cognitive model of career self-management to career exploration and decision-making

We present two studies applying the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) to career exploration and decision-making outcomes in college students. In the first study (N = 180 college students), we developed a new, brief measure of career exploration and decision-making self-efficacy for use in subsequent model testing. The measure yielded two factors, decisional self-efficacy and coping efficacy, with adequate internal consistency reliability estimates. The decisional self-efficacy factor related strongly to an established measure of career decision self-efficacy and produced theory consistent relations with measures of outcome expectations, social support, conscientiousness, exploration goals, prior engagement in career exploration, decisional anxiety, and level of career decidedness. In the second study (N = 215 college students), we re-examined the factor structure of the new self-efficacy measure and used it to assess the tenability of the self-management model in a path analysis predicting exploration goals, decisional anxiety, and career decidedness. The model fit the data well overall, though certain predictors were linked to the criterion variables only indirectly via mediated pathways. Implications of the findings for the social cognitive model as well as for future research and practice are considered.     

The relation of career adaptability to work experience,extracurricular activities,and work transition in Portuguese graduate students

This study analyzed the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS)—Portugal HE Form with 406 graduate students and explored the relationship between career adaptability, work experience, extracurricular activities and work transition. The analysis allows us to conclude that CAAS can be a valid and useful measurement for assessing career adaptability in Portuguese graduates. The differential analysis evidenced that participants with student worker status and with work experiences reported displayed higher scores on the subscales of control and curiosity, respectively. No statistical differences emerged regarding experience of extracurricular activities. Also, participants who referred to anticipating difficulties in work transition scored significantly lower on the subscales of control than did their peers who do not anticipate difficulties in such transitions. The obtained results support the importance of considering practical experiences and fostering career adaptability during higher education studies as a way to help graduates manage the transition to professional contexts.     

Achievement strategies during university studies predict early career burnout and engagement

To examine whether individuals’ achievement strategies measured during university studies would have an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10, 14 and 17 years later, 292 university students completed the SAQ strategy questionnaire three times while at university, and the work burnout inventory three times and work engagement inventory twice during their early career. The results showed that optimism increased during university, while task-avoidance did not change. Moreover, high and increasing optimism during university predicted a high level of work engagement and low level of burnout 10, 14 and 17 years later. By contrast, a high level of task-avoidance during university predicted a low level of work engagement and high level of burnout during the early career.     

Perceived social support and maternal adaptation during the transition from hospital to home care of high-risk infants

Forty-two mothers of high-risk infants who had been hospitalized in a newborn intensive care unit were interviewed approximately 2 months after hospital discharge. On standard questionnaires, they reported how much support they had received since discharge and their need for and satisfaction with support in three areas: Emotional, informational, and tangible support. Mothers also completed the Profile of Mood States, the Sleep, Feeding, and Crying Questionnaire, and the Impact of Event Scale and rated the severity of the infant's medical condition and expected developmental/health outcome. Measures of maternal adaptation and infant characteristics were subjected to exploratory factor analysis from which summary scores were constructed. One maternal adaptation factor and two infant status factors were examined in relation to social support variables, but no significant associations were found for the sample as a whole. However, satisfaction with each area of support was related to maternal adaptation when the infant's post-discharge status was relatively more severe. The results are discussed in terms of the crises of the hospital to home transition and the difficult tasks that face parents after the assumption of full responsibility for a vulnerable infant who required newborn intensive care.     

Making the transition: How finding a good job is a risky business for military Veterans in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT

Veterans transitioning from the military to civilian life may encounter difficulties in different domains of functioning. Most research in this area comes from the US and Israel, with Veterans in Northern Ireland (NI) in the United Kingdom, remaining an understudied population. This qualitative study aimed to examine the nature of transition experiences of NI Veterans by analyzing responses (N = 252) to an open-ended question related to the transition process, in a self-report survey. Thematic analysis highlighted both positive and negative experiences across high-level themes. These were related to (1a) how good the military life had been, (1b) the transition had been easy for some Veterans, and (1c) the skills gained in the military have been valuable; (2) it was hard to adjust to civilian life/still adjusting; (3) negative employment experiences; (4) lack of trust; (5) transitioning is hard in NI; and (6) inadequate support, post-service. The findings highlight that NI Veterans share some of the same challenges as other Veterans; however, the challenges in NI are compounded by ongoing security concerns and political tensions, which means living under the radar is a reality for many, making finding meaningful work and community integration difficult. The findings indicate that preparation for civilian life and the acculturation process needs to start many months before discharge. Perhaps more crucially, regiments should work closely with and support civilian employers to equip them to recognize and value the skills ex-Services Veterans can offer, and find a good fit for their skills within their organizations.