The career resources model: an integrative framework for career counsellors

Changes in the nature of work and organisations have led to an increased need for self-directed career management (SDCM). However, there is no consensus in the literature of what constitutes SDCM and many related concepts have been proposed. Integrating previous research across different conceptualisations of SDCM, the article proposes four critical career resources which are essential for career development in the modern context: human capital resources, social resources, psychological resources and identity resources. Implications of this framework for counselling practice are presented.     

The impact of career boundarylessness on subjective career success: The role of career competencies, career autonomy, and career insecurity

Based on the theoretical frameworks of the career enactment and the stress perspectives, this study develops and tests a model in which career boundarylessness affects subjective career success through its effect on three career competencies—knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom—and career autonomy and career insecurity. The results provided empirical support for the importance of career autonomy, career insecurity, and the development of knowing-why and knowing-how competencies in the successful pursuit of a boundaryless career. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Constructionist career counseling of undergraduate students: An experimental evaluation

This study used a pretest–posttest control group design to examine the effectiveness of a six-session constructionist career counseling intervention (Savickas, 2011). It was hypothesized that relative to pre-intervention scores, the participants would demonstrate decreases in their indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity about their career choices. Participants consisted of 50 undergraduates ranging in age from 19 to 25. They completed the Undergraduate Career Choice Survey (UCCS) and then were evenly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received six sessions of constructionist career counseling. Each session was approximately 45 min with a total of 4 h, 30 min approximately for the six sessions. Both groups then took the UCCS again. Analyses of the data using t-tests revealed significant reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity for the intervention group but not for the control group. The intervention group took the UCCS again eight weeks later. An ANOVA indicated that the reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity were slightly yet significantly greater. Limitations and directions for further research were pointed out.     

Emotional intelligence influences on the work performance of early career academics: An exploratory study

We aimed to investigate emotional intelligence (EI) influences on the work performance of early career academic (ECA) staff. Participants were 220 early career academic staff at a rural South African university (female = 56.8%, 77.7% aged between 20 and 40 years, black = 89.1%). They completed an emotional intelligence scale as well as a measure of work performance. Results, following structural equation modelling, indicated that perception and regulation of emotion aspects of EI to significantly, positively influence the ECA’s job, interpersonal, non-organisational and hierarchical success. ECA staff high on EI perceived to relate better with others, and to be proactive in their adaptive behaviours when change manifests. The ways in which ECA staff appraise and respond to emotionally charged workplace communication appear to influence their likelihood to succeed in the work adjustment.     

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 impact of college on sex-atypical career choices of men and women

This study sought to identify the college environments and experiences associated with changes in sex-atypical career aspirations among men and women. A sample of 17,637 students attending baccalaureate institutions across the country was surveyed upon college entry and again 4 years later. The findings revealed that aspects of the college environment, including the peer culture, faculty interaction, and curriculum, all contribute to shifts to or from nontraditional career choices.     

The role of career adaptability in predicting entrepreneurial intentions: A moderated mediation model

Guided by the Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2013), we view entrepreneurship as an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in a complex entrepreneurial career context. Our research model posited that individuals rely on their adaptive resources and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as they form entrepreneurial intentions. Career adaptability, as self-regulatory competencies, is further strengthened by prior exposure to family business. We collected data over three measurement periods from Serbian business students (n = 380) and validated the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). The moderated mediation model was supported and as predicted: (a) career adaptability was positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions and (b) the mediated relationship between career adaptability and entrepreneurial intentions via entrepreneurial self-efficacy was stronger for individuals with prior exposure to family business. In addition, we provide evidence for the psychometric properties of CAAS by examining its internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor structure. Taken together, our study offers the groundwork for understanding successful adaptation in the entrepreneurial career context and supports the cross-national measurement equivalence and utility of CAAS in a developing economy.     

Creating a research agenda in career counselling: the place of action theory

After identifying historical and current problems in career counselling research, we propose a research agenda based on contextual action theory. This theory has been used as a framework for research in the career field and for general counselling practice. It is advantageous for several reasons including its conceptual basis, its detailed qualitative and quantitative research method, and the significant link it provides between research and practice. It is supported by the action-project method, an integrated set of procedures developed for conducting research. Contextual action theory and the action-project method can address major emerging issues in career counselling, for example the place of emotion and the use of narrative, and advance the research agenda in this field.     

The effects of creative,expressive, and reflective writing on career learning: An explorative study

This study investigates whether creative, expressive, and reflective writing contributes to the formation of a work-life narrative that offers both meaning and direction among students in higher education. The content of writing done by students who participated in a two-day writing course at the start (or in preparation) of their work placements and of a control group who did not take part in the course were compared. Writing samples were analysed using the Linguistic Index Word Count program (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007) and an instrument based on Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010). Results show writing promotes the development of career narratives.     

The protean career orientation as predictor of career outcomes: Evaluation of incremental validity and mediation effects

A protean career orientation is assumed to be beneficial for career development but researchers have only recently started to empirically evaluate the concept. Conducting two studies based on three independent samples of university students and working professionals in Germany, we address issues of concurrent validity, predictive incremental validity and mechanisms linking the protean orientation to career outcomes. The first study showed that in a sample of 104 German employees different measures of the protean career orientation all correlated highly, but not identically, to a range of work and career attitudes. Using bootstrapping analysis, a second study with a six-month prospective examination among 419 German university students and a cross-sectional analysis among 526 German employees showed that a protean career orientation predicts proactive career behaviors and career satisfaction beyond a proactive disposition and core self-evaluations, respectively. Moreover, the protean career orientation was a significant mediator of these two personality constructs on both career outcomes. Cumulatively, the studies enrich our understanding of how and when a protean career orientation is related to important career outcomes.     

Toward community: A third position

This essay addresses the insufficiency of modern science as the solution to the problems of human life. It is a critique of community theory and a constructivist proposal for a synthesis of the individuality and collectivity solutions to the Paradox of the One and the Many—designated as the Third Position. The Third Position is necessary for the postmodern period for there is a need to incorporate the goal of Equality (or Justice) into a paradigm based on Liberty and Fraternity. The Third Position is also called the Just Community. To achieve the development of the new position (paradigm), a location-specific action research center is proposed based on the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory (Kelly, 1970). Two examples of action research are described: aqualitative project to develop community within a parish that has served to advance the theory of the Just Community, and aquantitative project of community-level change-monitoring of social indicators and the use of dynamic modeling as a way to understand and simulate local community processes. The Society for Community Research and Action is urged to take specific actions to explore the development of a Woods Hole community research laboratory.     

The gendered nature of career related learning experiences: A social cognitive career theory perspective

The learning experiences questionnaire (LEQ; Schaub & Tokar, 2005) was used to examine learning experiences as they relate to SCCT (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) across the Holland (1997) RIASEC typology. In particular, differences in men’s and women’s career related learning experiences were examined. A sample of 319 undergraduates at a public Midwestern university completed an online survey. Gender differences were observed in reported levels of some learning experiences; similar to prior findings for self-efficacy and interests, women reported more learning experiences in the Social domain, and men reported more experiences in the Realistic and Investigative domains. Results also supported that more reported learning experiences in a given domain relate to higher self-efficacy and outcome expectations in that domain.     

A model of career success: A longitudinal study of emergency physicians

Objective and subjective career success were hypothesized to mediate the relationships between sociodemographic variables, human capital indices, individual difference variables, and organizational sponsorship as inputs and a retirement decision and intentions to leave either the specialty of emergency medicine (EM) or medicine as output variables. Objective career success operationalized as the number of leadership positions held did not mediate the relationship, but income change and career satisfaction mediated the relationship between the hours worked and years employed in emergency medicine. Work centrality was significantly related to subjective career success more so for men than women and perceptions of success or self-efficacy were positively related to subjective career success for women, but not for men. The expected pattern of women indicating more difficulties with personal time and family time did not emerge; but women did indicate less perceived support from the organization, fewer EM leadership positions, less perceived control over their work situation and less organizational support than did men.     

Protean attitude and career success: The mediating role of self-management

A protean career attitude is considered as an important determinant of career success in the contemporary career era. In this article we test a model in which we specify the relationships between protean career attitude, career self-management behaviors, career insight, and career success outcomes (career satisfaction and perceived employability). A survey was conducted among a sample of 289 employees. The results support the idea that a protean career attitude is a significant antecedent of career success and that this relationship is fully mediated by the development of career insight. The implications of these findings for understanding the process through which career attitude affects individuals’ career success are discussed.     

A longitudinal test of social cognitive career theory's academic persistence model among Latino/a and White men and women engineering students

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory's (SCCT) academic persistent model among engineering students from a longitudinal perspective and examined whether relations among the variables in the model differed between Whites and Latinos/as and between men and women engineering majors. Three hundred fifty engineering student participants (172 Latino/as; 155 Whites; 23 mixed race) who were attending a Hispanic-serving institution in the Southwest completed measures of math/science ACT, college GPA, engineering self-efficacy, engineering goals, and persistence. The academic persistence model within the engineering domain provided an excellent fit to the data. Significant group differences between women and men were found; however, there were no group differences across ethnicity. Implication for further research and interventions based on SCCT's academic persistence model are discussed in relation to academic persistence in engineering for women and Latinos/as.     

Organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior: The role of affective commitment and gender

Although research has established a connection between career growth and turnover intentions, there continues to be a need to study how employee career growth contributes positively to organizations. In the present research, we studied in particular how employees' organizational career growth is related to voice behavior. Employing theories of social exchange, organization-based self-esteem, and psychological attachment, we developed six hypotheses pertinent to this relationship, including the mediating role of affective organizational commitment and the moderating effect of gender. We tested our hypotheses using data from 328 employees in Mainland China over three time periods. As we hypothesized, we found positive relationships between the three dimensions of organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior. Our results also verified that these relationships are partially mediated by affective organizational commitment and partially moderated by gender.     

Testing the choice model of social cognitive career theory across Holland themes: A meta-analytic path analysis

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) seeks to explain the factors that shape educational and vocational interests and choices. We used meta-analytic path analyses to synthesize data (from 1981 to 2008) relevant to SCCT’s interest and choice hypotheses, organizing the literature according to Holland’s (1997) broad occupational themes. Sufficient data were available to test (a) a 6-variable version of the interest/choice model in the Realistic, Investigative, and Enterprising themes, and (b) a 4-variable version of the model in the Artistic, Social, and Conventional themes. Analyses of both model versions were generally consistent with theoretical expectations. However, tests of the 6-variable model indicated better support for representing the pathways from contextual variables to choice goals as being partially mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations rather than as producing only direct linkages to goals. We consider implications of the findings for theory, research, and SCCT-based interventions.     

Career indecision and career exploration among older French adolescents: The specific role of general trait anxiety and future school and career anxiety

This study examined the relationship between two forms of adolescent anxiety, career exploration and career indecision. Two-hundred and forty-two French senior high school students filled out a self-report questionnaire that measured career indecision, frequency of career exploration, general trait anxiety, and fear of failing in one’s academic and occupational careers. The results showed that adolescent career indecision and career exploration were positively and significantly related to general trait anxiety and career anxiety. Nevertheless, career anxiety accounted for an additional part of the variance in career exploration and, to a lesser extent, in career indecision. General trait anxiety accounted for an additional part of the variance in career indecision only. In addition, general trait anxiety and career anxiety mediated the relationship between career indecision and career exploration. The discussion focuses on the role of anxiety (personality trait anxiety or an emotion connected to one’s future) in career development. It also addresses the implications of these results for improving counseling practices.