Work Volition: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research
Newman, A., Toscanelli, C., Hirschi, A., Macaulay, L., Dunwoodie, K., & Allan, B. A. (2026). Work Volition: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research. Human Resource Management Review, 36(1), 101118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2025.101118
Abstract
In this article, we undertake a systematic review of empirical research on work volition, defined as the capacity of an individual to make occupational choices despite facing constraints. In doing so we not only expose emerging theoretical perspectives that have been used to study work volition, but also analyse assumptions in the literature and clarify the construct of work volition. Based on the gaps and inconsistencies identified in our review, we develop an agenda for future research that highlights the advantages of adopting social cognitive approaches to study work volition, articulates new empirical directions for research, and identifies improved methodologies for studying work volition. In particular, we call on scholars to examine personal and contextual factors that promote work volition, and support individuals to overcome the constraints faced in their work and personal lives, as well as the mechanisms that explain why those high in work volition are able to overcome constraints and look at a wider range of outcomes associated with work volition.
Keywords: Work volition, systematic review, career developement, career decision-making
The Impact of Financial Precarity on Proactive and Unethical Pro-Family Behaviors: The Role of Financial Contingent Self-Worth and Family Motivation
Jia, Y., Wang, X.-H., & Hirschi, A. (2025). The Impact of Financial Precarity on Proactive and Unethical Pro-Family Behaviors: The Role of Financial Contingent Self-Worth and Family Motivation. Journal of Business and Psychology. 1 - 15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-025-10073-0
Abstract
Many employees face some degree of financial precarity, but its effect on behavioral work outcomes is poorly understood. Drawing on self-determination theory, we examined the roles of financial contingent self-worth and autonomous and controlled family motivation as key mediators linking financial precarity to proactive work behavior and unethical pro-family behavior. Study 1a developed a new measurement of autonomous and controlled family motivation among 342 employees. Study 1b assessed scale validities with a separate sample of 223 employees. Study 2 conducted a three-wave survey among 345 employees and their supervisors showing that financial contingent self-worth mediated the relationship between financial precarity and both autonomous and controlled family motivation. Moreover, autonomous family motivation was positively associated with supervisor-rated proactive work behavior, while controlled family motivation was positively associated with unethical pro-family behavior. Furthermore, we found a serial mediation from financial precarity to unethical pro-family behavior through financial contingent self-worth and controlled family motivation. However, the serial mediation from financial precarity to supervisor-rated proactive work behavior through financial contingent self-worth and autonomous family motivation was not significant. These results help to integrate disparate research on financial precarity and workplace behaviors by clarifying possible underlying mechanisms.
Keywords: financial precarity; financial contingent self-worth; family motivation; proactive work behavior; unethical pro-family behavior
Can you have it all? How employees’ whole-life perspective relates to role performance evaluations
Steiner, R., Von Allmen, N., & Hirschi, A. (2026). Can you have it all? How employees’ whole-life perspective relates to role performance evaluations. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 47(1), 44-65. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.70032
Abstract
Seeking satisfaction and success in work and other life domains (i.e., pursuing a career with a whole-life perspective) is important for many employees, yet its effects are not fully understood. We integrate signaling theory with boundary theory and the work–home resources model to investigate how and when an employee's whole-life perspective relates to the work–nonwork interface and role performance evaluations as perceived by key others. Two studies (Study 1: 194 employee-life partner and 171 employee–supervisor dyads; Study 2: time-lagged data from 210 life partners and 218 supervisors) reveal positive consequences of the employee's whole-life perspective. The results show that the employee's whole-life perspective, as perceived by the partner, positively relates to employee home role performance through perceived employee work-to-nonwork enrichment (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, the employee's integrative boundary enactment style enhances signaling effects of a whole-life perspective for the partner. In addition, the employee's whole-life perspective, as perceived by the supervisor, is positively related to employee work role performance, mediated through lower perceived employee nonwork-to-work conflict (Study 1) and higher perceived employee nonwork-to-work enrichment (Study 2). The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the consequences and related processes that occur when employees strive to simultaneously seek satisfaction and success in both work and other life domains.
Keywords: role performance, signaling effects, whole-life perspective, work–nonwork interface
Navigating Transitions: A Longitudinal Exploration of Career Decision-Making Process Dynamics in Adolescents
Haenggli, M., Hirschi, A., Marciniak, J. (2025). Navigating Transitions: A Longitudinal Exploration of Career Decision-Making Process Dynamics in Adolescents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 159, 104125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2025.104125
Abstract
In times of changing labor markets and rapid technological development, individuals are repeatedly faced with career decision-making to manage frequent and complex transitions within and between learning and work. Thus, it is crucial to understand the dynamic process of career decision-making. Career decision-making models propose specific sequences of key aspects, such as actions of career exploration, gaining career knowledge, and making a career decision. However, how such key aspects are related over time remains not well understood. In this sixwave longitudinal study across 30 months, we investigate the intra-personal dynamics between career self management actions (i.e., environmental exploration), career knowledge (i.e., labor market knowledge), and attitudes (i.e., career decidedness). Based on a sample of 1132 students in 8th grade in Switzerland, we tested a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to examine within-person dynamics while accounting for stable between-person differences. We found a dynamic link between these variables, in that increases in environmental career exploration predicted subsequent increases in career knowledge and career decidedness. Moreover, increased career knowledge and career decidedness predicted subsequent increases in environmental exploration. We discuss the findings considering a dynamic intra-person approach to understanding the career decision-making process.
Keywords: Career preparation, Career self-management, career decision-making, Random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM)
Exploring the 'inner compass': How career strivings relate to career self-management and career success
Hirschi. A. & Pang, D. (2025). Exploring the 'inner compass': How career strivings relate to career self-management and career success. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 74(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12562
Abstract
This research investigates the relations between career strivings, career self-management behaviors, and career success. Examining 312 German workers with two measurement waves, Study 1 reveals that career strivings significantly positively relate to engagement in various career behaviors, extending beyond the scope of established motivational variables. Specifically, we observed that self-enhancement strivings correlate with self-promotion activities, self-transcendent strivings with helping behaviors, and personal growth strivings with continuous learning. In Study 2, incorporating three measurement waves and involving 299 German workers, examines how these career strivings differentially relate to objective career success and career satisfaction. Our findings indicate that self-enhancement strivings are associated with higher leadership positions and workplace status, while self-transcendent and personal growth strivings are linked to greater career satisfaction. Additionally, self-enhancement strivings indirectly relate to career satisfaction through increased recognition. In contrast, self-transcendent and personal growth strivings relate to satisfaction through experiences of meaningful work and personal development. This research underscores the significance of career strivings in influencing career self-management behaviors and success, providing novel insights into the complex interplay between individual aspirations and professional outcomes.
Keywords: career goals, career motivation, career self-management, career strivings, career success
Striving to contribute to the greater good: Changes in self-transcendent vs. Self-enhancement career strivings during the Covid-19 pandemic
Hirschi, A., Schläpfer, D., Spurk, D., & Akkermans, J. (2024). Striving to contribute to the greater good: Changes in self-transcendent vs. Self-enhancement career strivings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12514
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, as a major crisis event, could have changed people's career goals. We examined change trajectories in self-transcendent versus self-enhancement career strivings during the COVID-19 pandemic among 662 employees from Germany with eight measurement waves across 7 months. Building on event systems theory and the literature on prosocial motivation and altruism, we examined whether affective and cognitive self-focused and other-focused reactions to the pandemic (i.e., personal distress, empathic concern, and perceived responsibility) predicted differences in changes in career strivings. Analyses with growth curve mixture modelling suggest three distinct groups in terms of stable (N = 537), declining (N = 12), and increasing (N = 113) self-transcendent versus self-enhancement career strivings. Controlling various individual and contextual factors, membership in the increasing group was predicted by more empathic concern for people negatively affected by the COVID crisis. In addition, less dispositional self-concern, more other-concern, less job insecurity, experiencing job loss and less career impact of the pandemic predicted an increasing self-transcendent versus self-enhancement career strivings trajectory compared to other trajectories. The results imply that career strivings can change during major crisis events, predicted by empathic reactions to the effects of the crisis and personal dispositions and contextual factors.
Keywords: career strivings, career values, COVID-19, event systems theory, prosocial motivation
An existential perspective on post-retirement decisions: The role of meaning in life and social identity
Smith, S. G., Froidevaux, A., & Hirschi, A. (2024). An existential perspective on post-retirement decisions: The role of meaning in life and social identity. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 97(3), 1166-1184. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12508
Abstract
In the context of the ageing workforce, late-career development implies ongoing decisions during retirement regarding one's engagement in volunteering and bridge employment activities. While prior research has emphasized the role of the meaning of work in retirement decisions, it has not examined the roles that meaning in life and identity play in decisions made during retirement. Relying on the existential framework on meaning and career decision-making, this article explores the role of social identities as retirees and as workers as critical self-concept dimensions that may mediate the impact of meaning in life (search and presence) on their decisions to pursue bridge employment and to volunteer in retirement. Using an archival survey study relying on a time-lagged design with a one-year interval among 204 retirees, we found that retirees demonstrating a greater search for meaning in life exhibited positive identification with the worker social identity but negative identification with the retiree social identity. Additionally, worker social identity was positively associated with bridge employment; however, retiree social identity was negatively associated with bridge employment and positively with volunteering. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Keywords: bridge employment, meaning in life, retirement, social identity, volunteering
Understanding knowledge sharing from an identity-based motivational perspective
Burmeister, A., Song, Y., Wang, M., & Hirschi, A. (2024). Understanding knowledge sharing from an identity-based motivational perspective. Journal of Management. 51(7), 2946-2979. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063241248106
Abstract
Research typically adopted a social exchange perspective to suggest that employees share their knowledge with coworkers to reciprocate prior positive treatment to return the favor. We challenge this dominant focus on external motivational sources and adopt an identity-based motivational perspective. Our theorizing is grounded in identity theory and recognizes knowledge-sharing identity centrality as an internal source of motivation for knowledge sharing. We also decipher how employees express their knowledge-sharing identity centrality through self-regulatory mechanisms by incorporating key premises from social cognitive theory. Specifically, we argue that knowledge-sharing identity centrality triggers a self-verification process that facilitates knowledge sharing through knowledge-sharing envisioning and knowledge-sharing self-efficacy. We further argue that the positive effects of knowledge-sharing identity centrality are strengthened by employee self-verification striving. We adopted a multistudy design and conducted two studies to understand why, how, and when employees share knowledge. Specifically, in a within-person field experiment (Study 1), we showed that improving knowledge-sharing identity centrality increased an employee’s daily knowledge sharing via knowledge-sharing envisioning and knowledge-sharing self-efficacy. In a between-person field study with time-lagged data (Study 2), we replicated the within-person findings and further demonstrated self-verification striving as a moderator strengthening the effects of knowledgesharing identity centrality. Our findings advance research on employee knowledge-sharing motivation, unveiling the internal identity-driven motivation processes. We further provide practitioners with an effective knowledge-sharing intervention.
Keywords: motivation; role theory; knowledge management; positive organizational behavior
Career transitions across the lifespan: An integrative review and self-regulation framework
Akkermans, J., Da Motta Veiga, S., Hirschi, A., & Marcniak, J. (2024). Career transitions across the lifespan: An integrative review and self-regulation framework. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 148, 103957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2023.103957
Abstract
Career transitions are becoming increasingly prevalent across the lifespan, and research on the topic has proliferated in recent years. However, the literature is fragmented across disciplines and has primarily focused on specific one-off transitions (e.g., school-to-work, unemployment-towork, work-to-work, work-to-retirement). To reconcile these different perspectives, we conducted a review of processual career transition research, analyzing 93 quantitative longitudinal studies in this area. We problematize and synthesize the existing literature focusing on four main challenges: (1) an overemphasis on normative and predictable transitions, (2) a fragmented use of theories, (3) a lack of focus on behavioral antecedents and outcomes, and (4) a lack of attention to boundary conditions. Building on these literature critiques, we formulate a future research agenda across five directions by integrating the existing studies into a self-regulation framework of career transitions. This review thereby contributes to creating a more consistent and integrative understanding of career transitions across the lifespan.
Keywords: Career transitions, School-to-work, Work-to-work, Unemployment-to-work, Work-to-retirement, Work transitions, Role transitions
Career Self-Management Competencies: Conceptualization and Measurement Based on a Career Self-Regulation Framework
Hirschi, A., & Wilhelm, F. (2025). Career Self-Management Competencies: Conceptualization and Measurement Based on a Career Self-Regulation Framework. Journal of Career Assessment, 10690727251391209. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727251391209
Abstract
In a labor market characterized by augmented dynamics and uncertainties, people increasingly need competencies to self-manage their career across their working lives. Based on a career self-regulation framework and an iterative process including researchers, career counselors, and stakeholders from education, business, and labor associations, we specified key career self-management competencies (CSM-C) in the domains of (a) goal setting, (b) mapping resources and barriers, (c) formulating and implementing action plans, and (d) monitoring and revising career management. We then developed and validated a new short 8-item measurement scale to assess self‑perceived CSM-C. In two studies with two independent samples in Germany, we confirmed the new scale’s positive relation with measures of professional skills, personality traits, perceived social and organizational support, career attitudes and orientations, and career adaptability. We moreover established incremental validity for engagement in career behaviors, workplace status, employability, and career satisfaction beyond a range of constructs and a prominent existing career competencies scale. We outline how future research and career assessment practice can use the presented framework and measure to obtain a better understanding of what allows people to successfully manage their careers in an adaptable, self-directed way.
How Career and Non-Work Goal Progress Affect Dual Earners’ Satisfaction: A Whole-Life Perspective
Abraham, E., Verbruggen, M., & Hirschi, A. (2024). How Career and Non-Work Goal Progress Affect Dual Earners’ Satisfaction: A Whole-Life Perspective. Journal of Career Development. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453241230907
Abstract
Many career self-management models assume that career goal progress promotes satisfaction, but research on the topic has yielded mixed results. Adopting a whole-life perspective, this study examines how career and non-work goal progress relate to career, non-work, and life satisfaction and explores crossover effects and gender differences between dual-earner partners. We tested our research model using Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling on a two-wave dataset of 190 heterosexual dual earners (i.e., 95 couples). Career goal progress was not related to any of the satisfaction indicators. For men, non-work goal progress was marginally positively related to career and non-work satisfaction and positively related to life satisfaction. For women, non-work goal progress was not related to any satisfaction indicator. Between partners, men’s non-work goal progress was positively related to women’s non-work and life satisfaction, whereas women’s career goal progress was negatively related to men’s life satisfaction. Implications for research and career practice are discussed.
Keywords: career goal progress, non-work goal progress, dual-earner couples, career self-management, satisfaction, gender
The multidimensional nature of career self-management behaviours and their relation to facets of employability
Wilhelm, F., Hirschi, A., & Schläpfer, D. (2024). The multidimensional nature of career self‐management behaviours and their relation to facets of employability. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 97(1), 342-375. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12474
Abstract
Career self-management (CSM) has attracted increased scholarly interest, but definitional issues and the lack of an integrative understanding constrain research on the topic. In two studies, we seek to clarify the nature and dimensionality of CSM behaviour, examine the relation of specific dimensions to the general construct and investigate the relation of different CSM behaviours to facets of employability. In Study 1, we used a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to identify seven key CSM behaviours: (a) impression management, (b) building contacts, (c) using contacts, (d) human capital development, (e) goal setting and planning, (f) self-exploration and (g) mobility-oriented behaviour. Across two samples in Study 2 (combined N=1065), we examined the relation of the seven behaviours to the general CSM construct and their relation to facets of employability in a time-lagged analysis. The results show that CSM behaviours are best modelled as a bifactor structure with a general dimension and seven specific behaviours. Specific CSM behaviours explained unique variance in specific facets of employability. In sum, the studies clarify our understanding of CSM's nature, dimensionality, structure, and nomological net.
Keywords: career management, career proactivity, employability, proactive career behaviour
Technological self-efficacy and occupational mobility intentions in the face of technological advancement: a moderated mediation model
Medici, G., Grote, G., Igic, I., & Hirschi, A. (2023). Technological self-efficacy and occupational mobility intentions in the face of technological advancement: a moderated mediation model. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 32(4), 538-548. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2023.2197215
Abstract
While research on the effects of technological advancement on job design has gained traction, we know little about how personal and contextual factors relate to work attitudes and mobility intentions in relation to technology-induced change in different occupational domains. Based on social cognitive career theory, we investigated the influence of technological self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) on occupational commitment and occupational mobility intentions and included automation potential and developmental support as contextual moderators. Based on a survey study with 512 employees and two data points, we found that TSE was negatively related to occupational mobility intentions, both directly and through the mediating role of occupational commitment. The relation between occupational commitment and mobility intention was stronger for individuals receiving more developmental support. Contrary to our hypotheses, the relation between TSE and mobility intention was stronger in occupations with low and medium automation potential. Our findings provide first evidence for the relevance of TSE for occupational mobility intentions and the impact of automation potential and perceived developmental support on this relationship. We discuss the relevance of our findings for better understanding potential effects of technological advancement on occupational mobility and provide practical implications for enabling employees to deal with changing work environments.
Keywords: technological self-efficacy; automation potential; developmental support; social cognitive career theory; occupational mobility
Work-Nonwork Interface and Career Success: Examining Behavioural and Affective Linking Mechanisms
Wüest-Baumeler, F., Hirschi, A., & Steiner, R. S. (2023). Work-nonwork interface and career success: Examining behavioural and affective linking mechanisms. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 32(4), 476-488. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2023.2173066
Abstract
Past research has illustrated that experiences at the work-nonwork interface are related to the achievement of objective and subjective career success. However, the mechanisms linking positive and negative work-nonwork experiences and career success have not received much attention. Based on the conservation of resources theory and the source attribution perspective, we propose behavioral (i.e., through career engagement) and affective (i.e., through positive and negative affect at work) mechanisms linking positive and negative work-nonwork experiences (i.e., work-to-nonwork enrichment and interference) to objective (i.e., salary) and subjective (i.e., career satisfaction) career success. The results of a time-lagged study (N = 812) performed over one year with three measurement waves with young employees (18–35 years old, 47% females) provided partial support for both mechanisms and showed that career engagement mediated the positive relation between work-to-nonwork enrichment and salary, as well as the positive relation between work-to-nonwork enrichment and career satisfaction. However, unexpectedly, work-to-nonwork interference was also positively associated with salary and career satisfaction through increased career engagement. Additionally, negative affect at work mediated the negative relation between work-to-nonwork interference and both career success dimensions, but this mediation was stronger for career satisfaction. The study implies that behavioral and affective mechanisms differentially link work-nonwork experiences and various forms of career success.
Keywords: work-nonwork enrichment, work-nonwork interference, affective mechanism, behavioral mechanism, career success
Called to stay? The moderating roles of feedback from others and role clarity in the relationship between experiencing a calling and organizational embeddedness
Muehlhausen, J., Spurk, D., Hirschi, A., & Sandmeier, A. (2023). Called to stay? The moderating roles of feedback from others and role clarity in the relationship between experiencing a calling and organizational embeddedness. Career Development International, 28(2), 160-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-06-2022-0167
Abstract
Purpose – Organizational embeddedness of employees who are experiencing their work as a calling is of high relevance. Understanding what promotes staying in organizations can provide benefits for individuals with a calling while at the same time helping organizations to retain those valuable employees. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how and when experiencing work as a calling relates to organizational embeddedness (OE). Based on assumptions from the theory of work adjustment (TWA), the authors hypothesized a conditional effects model with feedback from others and role clarity as moderating variables.
Design/methodology/approach – For this longitudinal study, the authors collected data at two measurement time points (N 5 553). To tests the hypotheses, the authors performed hierarchical regression analysis. Additionally, the authors conducted simple slope tests to calculate the effects of calling on OE, depending on the different levels of the moderators.
Findings – The results indicated that higher levels of experiencing a calling are associated with higher levels of OE 18 months later while controlling for the initial levels of OE. Additionally, the moderation analysis revealed that feedback from others and role clarity strengthened the relationship between experiencing a calling and OE. Interestingly, for individuals with low feedback from others and low role clarity, experiencing a calling was not related to OE.
Originality/value – Addressing recent research calls that highlight more research on boundary conditions and diverse theoretical perspectives, this study contributes to the literature on calling and organizational retention and provides a more individual and career-related view of potential predictors of OE.
Keywords: calling, organizational embeddedness, feedback from others, role clarity, employee retention, theory of work adjustment
Career proactivity: Conceptual and theoretical reflections
Akkermans, J., & Hirschi, A. (2023). Career proactivity: Conceptual and theoretical reflections. Applied Psychology, 72(1), 199-204. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12444
Abstract
This article adds several conceptual and theoretical reflections to the article “Career proactivity: A bibliometric literature review and a future research agenda” by Jiang et al. The authors conducted a timely and relevant study by analyzing and integrating literature on career proactivity from the domains of organizational and vocational behavior. Prior research has clearly demonstrated that these areas are still largely operating as separate “islands,” both conceptually and methodologically. As such, systematically analyzing the literature and synthesizing the many existing proactivity-related constructs are important steps forward in taking research on career proactivity to the next level. Though their bibliometric analysis confirms the gap between vocational psychology and OB research, there is also a hopeful message in the article, as several clusters showed considerable connections. Thus, it seems that scholars are starting to build bridges between the islands. Building on their analysis and future research suggestions, in this article, we further explore three specific considerations related to (1) conceptual issues, (2) theoretical issues, and (3) additions to their future research agenda.
Keywords: career proactivity, career self-management, grading coefficient, proactive behavior, proactive career behavior
Boundaries for career success? How work–home integration and perceived supervisor expectation affect careers
Unger, D., Kornblum, A., Grote, G., & Hirschi, A. (2023). Boundaries for career success? How work–home integration and perceived supervisor expectation affect careers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 96(1), 144-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12416
Abstract
The necessity to actively manage the work–home boundaries has drastically increased. We postulate that work–home integration may affect individuals' subjective career success via its positive effects on work goal attainment and exhaustion. Furthermore, we study perceived supervisor expectation for employee work–home integration as a boundary condition. Our three-wave online survey with 371 employees showed support for the two hypothesized moderated mediation effects. Work–home integration preference is indirectly related to subjective career success: (1) positively via home-to-work transitions and work goal attainment and (2) negatively via home-to-work transitions and exhaustion. Perceived supervisor expectation constrained work–home integration preference's direct effect on home-to-work transitions and indirect effects on subjective career success. Exploratory analysis revealed that exhaustion negatively affected all career success dimensions, whereas work goal attainment was only related to some. Our results indicate that supervisor expectation can override the effect of employee's work–home integration preference on home-to-work transitions which have a double-edged sword effect on subjective career success. Our study contributes to integrating the careers and work–life interface literature and incorporating contextual factors. Furthermore, with the exploration of differential effects on subjective career success, we advance our understanding of this outcome's nomological network.
Keywords: boundary management, exhaustion, subjective career success, supervisor expectation, work goal attainment, work–home integration
Facing Change With Stability: The Dynamics of Occupational Career Trajectories
Medici, G., Igic, I., Grote, G., & Hirschi, A. (2023). Facing Change With Stability: The Dynamics of Occupational Career Trajectories. Journal of Career Development, 50(4), 883-900. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453221133123
Abstract
In today’s dynamic work environments, individuals must manage their careers. Although research suggests that many individuals change jobs and organizations more frequently, they often pursue their careers within one occupation still. The current study addresses how such seemingly stable careers unfold in the face of societal, economic, and technological changes and explores the proactive and reactive strategies individuals use to sustain occupational stability throughout their careers. Applying qualitative content analysis to 32 semi-structured interviews, we revealed eight major strategies underlying the process of occupational stability maintenance. We discuss the identified strategies using control theory and job crafting as theoretical lenses and introduce the concept of occupational crafting for understanding stability maintenance in vocational careers. The study highlights occupations as meaningful reference points in contemporary careers and illustrates how proactive and reactive strategies lead to occupational stability.
Keywords: occupational stability maintenance, career management, vocational careers, occupational crafting, qualitative methods
A Longitudinal Study of Relationships Between Vocational Graduates’ Career Adaptability, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Vocational Identity Clarity, and Life Satisfaction
Kvasková, L., Hlado, P., Palíšek, P., Šašinka, V., Hirschi, A., Ježek, S., & Macek, P. (2023). A longitudinal study of relationships between vocational graduates’ career adaptability, career decision-making self-efficacy, vocational identity clarity, and life satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment, 31(1), 27-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727221084106
Abstract
Career construction theory proposes that high career adaptability leads to positive adaptation outcomes during career transition. However, the specific pathways of how this happens remain underexplored. Drawing on the career construction model of adaptation, we hypothesized that career decision-making self-efficacy mediates the link of career adaptability with vocational identity clarity and life satisfaction as two measures of adaptation outcomes. We conducted a three-wave survey with an initial sample of 3126 Czech upper-secondary vocational graduates transitioning from vocational school to the labor market. Structural equation modeling revealed that career decision-making self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between career adaptability before graduation and vocational identity clarity 20 months later. In contrast, the mediation effect of career decision-making self-efficacy on the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction was not supported. Additionally, in contrast to the previous literature, career adaptability was not directly related to vocational identity clarity and life satisfaction. Nevertheless, our findings demonstrated a positive long-term association of career adaptability with adaptation outcomes within the working life domain. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.
Many Roads Lead to Rome: Researching Antecedents and Outcomes of Contemporary School-To-Work Transitions
Steiner, R., Hirschi, A., & Akkermans, J. (2022). Many roads lead to Rome: Researching antecedents and outcomes of contemporary school-to-work transitions. Journal of Career Development, 49(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453211063580