Vocational behavior and career development, 1983: A review

This article reviews the literature related to vocational behavior and career development published during 1983. Journals in the fields of psychology, sociology, and organizational behavior were examined, and 445 relevant articles published in 42 different journals were identified. The review is organized around issues pertinent to the counseling psychology perspective (i.e., career development, vocational choice, vocational behavior of women, assessment, intervention strategies) and the industrial/organizational psychology perspective (i.e., personnel functions, worker adjustment problems, work adjustment) on vocational behavior.     

政治与关系视角的员工职业发展影响因素探讨

通过对16家制造型企业中的343个员工、662个同事及343个直接领导的配对数据进行实证分析,文章探讨了员工的组织政治技能、政治知觉,以及他们与直接上司的关系对于员工职业发展的关系。多层线性分析模型（HLM）结果表明：员工的政治技能有助于促进其与领导之间形成良好的关系（guanxi）,并籍此积极影响个人在组织中的职业发展,员工－领导关系是政治技能与职业发展之间的中介变量。另外,组织政治知觉影响政治技能对领导关系的作用,在政治氛围浓重的组织中,员工－领导关系更易受到员工政治技能的影响     

Career indecision in adult women: A comparative and descriptive study

This study compared 66 high-school women, 66 first-year college women, and 66 adult women on four measures of career indecision, the Satisfaction with Career Scale, the Occupational Alternatives Question, the Vocational Decision Making Difficulty Scale, and the Career Decision Scale. The results consistently suggested that the adult women were experiencing more career indecision than the high-school and college women. Intercorrelations among the scales were generally moderate to somewhat low and raised some questions about the use of the Career Decision Scale with adult women. Additional data were gathered on the adult women in an attempt to delineate the sample. Variables included were: marital status, present work experience, the career-related goals and the reasons for pursuing these goals, and possible impediments to reaching the goals. These results are presented and the implications for future research and counseling with adult women are examined.     

The relationship of academic major and career choice status to anxiety among college freshmen

This study examines the relationship of career and academic major choice status to levels of state anxiety among undergraduate students. A total of 179 resident freshmen responded to a questionnaire concerning their career development status. On the basis of that information, subjects were arranged within a 2 × 2 factorial design of two dichotomous variables: career choice status (decided/undecided) and major choice status (declared/undeclared). Participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. An analysis of variance of state anxiety scores yielded a significant main effect for career choice status, with subjects reporting they had already decided on a career direction exhibiting lower levels of state anxiety than those who had not.     

The relationship between career growth and organizational commitment

This research examines the relationship between employees' career growth and organizational commitment. Career growth was conceptualized by four factors: career goal progress, professional ability development, promotion speed and remuneration growth, while organizational commitment was conceptualized using Meyer and Allen's (1997) three component model. Survey data, collected from 961 employees in 10 cities in the People's Republic of China, showed that the four dimensions of career growth were positively related to affective commitment, and that three of the facets were positively related to continuance and normative commitment. Only three of eighteen two-way interactions among the career growth factors affected organizational commitment, suggesting that the career growth factors influence commitment in an additive rather than a multiplicative manner.Results focus on how career growth can be used to manage organizational commitment.     

Associative and categorical hypotheses of organization in the free recall of adults and children

Associative and categorical explanations for the organization children and adults display in free recall were tested. It was expected that young children would show output clustering as a function of associations between individual items within categories rather than relationship to the taxonomy itself. Kindergarten, fourth-grade, and tenth-grade subjects were presented with pictures representing the four factorial combinations of high and low interitem association and high and low category relatedness. Each set of pictures could be divided into four taxonomic categories of six items each. Kindergarteners displayed greater category clustering of highly associated items than weak associates. Older subjects showed sensitivity to both organizational dimensions. These data support a hypothesis that young children cluster in recall as a function of associations while older individuals show organizational flexibility which serves to facilitate greater recall.     

Locus of control and career self-management among nonsupervisory employees in industrial settings

The effects of locus of control on career self-management and career experiences of nonsupervisory workers were examined in different organizational environments. In organizational settings which encouraged personal initiative in career development through personnel policies and promotion practices. Internals played a more active role in their career progress than Externals by initiating their own job searches, and they had more favorable career experiences. In situations which hampered self-initiative, locus of control had little effect on career self-management and subsequent job experiences.     

Dimensions of adolescent career development: A multi-instrument analysis

Dimensions of adolescent career development were assessed by several well-established, objectively scored instruments. Attention was given to the correlations between measures of academic achievement and career development. Correlations among 19 scales administered to 237 eleventh graders revealed three clusters of converging scale pairs, labeled “Certainty,” “Decision-Making,” and “Activity.” Four orthogonal factors were identified and given the following heuristic labels: “Cognitive Resources for Decision-Making,” “Decision-Making Style,” “Systematic Involvement in Career Decision-Making,” and “Decision-Making Stage/Certainty.” Results are discussed in relation to practical problems of instrument selection and score interpretation and in the context of theories of adolescent career development.     

The development of a taxonomy of career competencies for professional women

The purpose of this study was to develop a taxonomy of the competencies necessary to women's pursuit of professional-level, especially academic, careers. During the first phase of the study two research activities, a review of literature in the areas of career development, career counseling, and the psychology of women, and a semistructured “critical incidents” interview with each of 50 female faculty members from a large midwestern university, resulted in a list of 620 career-relevant behaviors and skills. This pool of career competencies was then examined by three counseling psychologists, and a classification scheme to describe the data was developed. Finally, rates attempted to assign the original competency items to the proposed categories in order to validate the taxonomy. The final, refined version of the taxonomy is presented, and the utility of these results for counseling and research in the area of women's career development is discussed.     

Vocational maturity in adulthood: Toward turning a model into a measure

It is postulated that adult vocational maturity needs to be assessed because of the changing developmental tasks encountered during the course of a career. Vocational maturity having been found to be multidimensional, existing undimensional inventories of adult vocational maturity are considered of limited although demonstrated validity. Relevant theories of adult vocational development and adjustment are reviewed. Super's proposed adult vocational maturity model is examined for the promise that it offers and for the problems that arise in developing a multidimensional measure of vocational maturity. A way of surmounting these problems is proposed as a basis for work now being undertaken.     

A Framework for the Study of Relationships Between Organizational Characteristics and Organizational Innovation

This paper presents a taxonomy of organizational characteristics that was developed as part of a large scale job analysis project conducted for the Department of Labor (DOL). Based on research and theory related to organizations, a hierarchical taxonomy of organizational characteristics was developed with six construct domains at the highest level: organizational structure, leadership, human resources (HR) systems and practices, goals, and organizational values. The taxonomy has been empirically tested using data from over 300 organizations, and a summary of these results is presented. This taxonomy is then used to organize and review research on the relationships between organizational variables and innovation. Implications of the taxonomy for understanding relationships between organizational size, industry type, “high-performance” practices, and innovation are discussed.     

Vocational behavior and career development, 1980: A review

Papers were reviewed in the sections where their major findings seemed to have the most important implications. Since it typically was not possible to do justice to individual studies in a few lines of summary, readers are referred to the specific articles of their interest for further information regarding other findings.As has been the case in the past several years, the number of studies related to vocational behavior and career development appears to be expanding, along with perceptions of what is relevant to the field. As greater emphasis is placed on the working life of individuals after initial occupational choices are made, researchers on vocational behavior and career development will increasingly find it necessary to synthesize research findings from the areas of industrial/organizational psychology, organizational sociology, and organizational behavior and theory. This factor may suggest greater collaboration among researchers across these fields in the future. In any event, the broadening base of relevant research, while challenging, also is an exciting development with rich potential for increased knowledge of vocational behavior.As Walsh mentioned in his review of 1978 literature, there is a vital need for more work of a longitudinal nature. We see some increase this year, but we are too frequently forced to draw conclusions regarding long-term vocational development from studies which are mainly crosssectional and correlational in nature.Among the research directions of note this year is the increasing emphasis on information processing/decision-making frameworks as a means of studying the vocation development process. Other trends were the growing concern with the relationship between work and nonwork, interest in recruitment processes, and the emphasis on situational as well as individual factors in predicting vocational behavior.     

组织职业生涯管理与员工心理与行为的关系

通过广泛的开放式问卷调查和访谈,结合国外职业生涯管理的做法,编制了适合我国国情的组织职业生涯管理问卷(简称OCMQ),将问卷在13个国有企业、民营企业、股份制企业的管理者、技术人员中进行了调查,对所获得的449份有效问卷探索性因素分析结果表明：我国组织职业生涯管理的结构主要体现在四个维度：即晋升公平、注重培训、职业自我认识、提供职业信息。后来,利用研制的OCMQ,以及相关问卷职业承诺、组织承诺、工作卷入度、职业满意度、工作绩效等又在11家国有和中外合资企业中进行了调查,399份有效问卷结果进一步验证了OCMQ问卷的结构效度、实证效度和信度;并发现组织职业生涯管理对企业员工的职业承诺、组织承诺、工作绩效、职业满意度、工作卷入度等产生积极的影响,证实了职业生涯管理的价值。     

Career behavior in the knowledge economy: Experiences and perceptions of career mobility among management and IT consultants in the UK and the USA

The traditional lifelong organizational career model no longer remains relevant for many workers, particularly those active in the knowledge economy. Instead these workers are claimed to pursue boundaryless and protean careers. This paper explores management and IT consultants’ experiences and perceptions of career mobility in the UK and the USA. The findings from this multi-level study reveal that the permeation of organizational boundaries among these workers is characterized by a somewhat segmented spectrum of boundary-crossing behavior. The exploration of this form of career mobility demonstrates that inter-organizational mobility should not be dislocated from other types of career mobility when analyzing career behavior among these workers. In addition, the findings also highlight the role that inter-organizational relations and/or national institutional context play in shaping career patterns in these contemporary forms of work.     

Career behavior in the knowledge economy: Experiences and perceptions of career mobility among management and IT consultants in the UK and the USA

The traditional lifelong organizational career model no longer remains relevant for many workers, particularly those active in the knowledge economy. Instead these workers are claimed to pursue boundaryless and protean careers. This paper explores management and IT consultants’ experiences and perceptions of career mobility in the UK and the USA. The findings from this multi-level study reveal that the permeation of organizational boundaries among these workers is characterized by a somewhat segmented spectrum of boundary-crossing behavior. The exploration of this form of career mobility demonstrates that inter-organizational mobility should not be dislocated from other types of career mobility when analyzing career behavior among these workers. In addition, the findings also highlight the role that inter-organizational relations and/or national institutional context play in shaping career patterns in these contemporary forms of work.     

无边界职业生涯研究:二十年回顾与展望

当今社会个体职业生涯发展与管理的背景发生了巨大变化,无边界职业生涯应运而生,它指一种不限于单一雇佣范围的一系列就业机会的职业路径。文章在介绍概念及发展历程的基础上,综述了影响无边界职业生涯的四类因素,并指出以往研究在概念、发展现状、维度和影响广度等方面存在的争议。未来应该针对当前争议有目的地展开研究,界定更加清晰的概念,扩展对无边界职业生涯类型的研究,以及这种流动环境在更深层上对个体以及组织的影响。     

A comparison of the work needs,attitudes, and preferences of professional accountants at different career stages

Although the concept of career stages has played an increasingly important role in vocational psychology, little research exists on career stage differences among professionals. In the present study, a sample of male professional accountants (N = 764) at different career stages were compared with respect to their work needs, work attitudes (intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, organizational and professional commitment), and vocational preferences. Accountants at different stages were found to differ significantly in their needs, work attitudes, and the extent to which they fit the Conventional type in Holland's model. In particular, accountants over the age of 60, in the preretirement stage of their career, when compared to their younger counterparts, reported significantly lower levels of job satisfaction but higher levels of organizational and professional commitment, and they demonstrate weaker higher-order needs but stronger security needs.     

The development of a measure to assess vocational maturity in adults with delayed career development

The development and validation of a measure of vocational maturity for educationally and economically “disadvantaged” adults who experience delayed career development is described. The Adult Vocational Maturity Assessment Interview (AVMAI) measures the attitudinal, cognitive, and behavior aspects involved in coping with exploratory and early entrance stage vocational development tasks. The measure employs a structured interview format accompanied by a detailed content scoring manual. It includes 120 items which yield scores for eight scales: Orientation to Education; Orientation to Work; Concern with Choice; Self-Appraisal: Interests and Abilities; Self-Appraisal: Personality Characteristics; Self-Appraisal: Values; Exploring Occupations; and Using Resources. Evidence for the measure's reliability, content, and construct validity is presented by examining the internal consistency of the scales, the reliability of its scoring procedures, its interscale correlations, and its performance in a pretest-post-test experimental situation. Research and counseling uses of the measure are discussed in the context of the need for vocational psychologists to develop and use measures that are appropriate for the specific career development problems of different groups in society.     

生涯适应力的作用：个体与组织层的跨层面分析*

生涯适应力(career adaptability)是生涯建构理论提出的自我职业生涯管理的核心概念,但国外理论和实践一直认为生涯适应力是一把双刃剑(生涯适应力高的员工工作绩效高,但其离职意向也高),本研究将对此进行检验;同时,生涯适应力作为个体职业生涯开发的核心变量,它在组织职业生涯管理跨层面作用中的价值也未曾研究。通过员工在两个时间点自评和管理者他评问卷,获得54家单位的485份有效调查问卷。结构方程模型分析的结果表明,生涯适应力不仅与工作绩效有显著正相关,而且也与离职意向有显著负相关。层次回归分析结果表明,工龄是生涯适应力与离职意向、工作绩效关系的调节变量;也就是说,工龄短员工的生涯适应力与工作绩效呈显著正相关,与离职意向呈显著负相关,但工龄长员工的生涯适应力与二者的关系都不显著。基于跨层面研究设计,多层线性模型(HLM)分析的结果表明,生涯适应力是组织职业生涯管理与个体工作绩效之间的完全中介变量,但在组织职业生涯管理与离职意向之间的中介作用不显著。这不但回答了生涯适应力对组织价值的管理困境问题,也解决了组织职业生涯管理与个体工作绩效的连接纽带问题。     

An investigation of racial differences on vocational variables among college women

This study used a sample of black and white college women matched on Duncan's (1961) socioeconomic indicator ratings to explore possible racial differences on vocationally relevant variables. There were no differences between the groups on age or educational level. The distribution of the parents' occupations by Holland type and the distribution of the subjects by their VPI type appeared to be quite similar. There were no significant differences based on: the relationship of the parents' occupational types to the subjects' VPIs: the relationship between the subjects' VPI types and their occupational choice or college major; the estimated likelihood of reaching the career goal; satisfaction with career choice or college major; and scores on two recent scales designed to measure vocational indecision. While no differences were found on the number of possible factors listed that might impede career goals, the distribution of the most important of these factors indicated there were differences between the two groups. These findings are discussed relative to their implications for interpreting previous research and carrying out future studies.