Openness to Experience and the Career Adaptability of Refugees: How Do Career Optimism and Family Social Support Matter?

The present study examines the antecedents of the career adaptability of people from a refugee background. Drawing on career construction theory, it specifically examines whether openness to experience fosters career adaptability through enhancing career optimism. In addition, it examines whether family social support moderates the relationship between openness to experience and career optimism, and moderates the mediated relationship between openness to experience and career adaptability through career optimism. Analysis of three waves of data from people from a refugee background seeking employment in metropolitan Australia found support for the hypothesized relationships. In particular, career optimism was found to fully mediate the relationship between openness to experience and career adaptability. In addition, family social support was found to substitute for low levels of openness to experience.

How does proactive personality promote calling at work? A dual-path mediation model

In previous studies, calling mechanism as an adaptation result can be explained using the career construction theory (CCT) through the adaptive readiness and adapting response that employees have and do. However, this perspective has not accounted for external factors that might affect the adapting response impact on the formation of their calling. This study aimed at addressing this gap by using not only the CCT perspective but also the social exchange theory (SET) to see the relationship between proactive personality and individual calling through the roles of two mediators, namely job crafting and LMX. The research data were collected using an online survey involving active employees (N = 222) who have worked for at least one year in various banking industries. The data were analysed using a parallel mediation model analysis from Hayes (2017) with SPSS for Windows. The results show that proactive personality positively contributes to calling either directly or indirectly through both mediators (i.e job crafting and LMX). This dual path mediation model provides a new perspective in understanding that each job crafting and LMX has their role in explaining the mechanism of the relationship between proactive personality and the calling of the employees in their work. Therefore, this study has both theoretical and practical implications for the existing literature of calling.

Cultivating Proactive Career Behavior: The Role of Career Adaptability and Job Embeddedness

Scholars have widely acknowledged that proactive career behavior is essential for individuals to proactively build their careers, as well as facilitate positive career outcomes. However, there are still many questions about how to activate proactive career behavior. In the current study, we consider whether, how and when regulatory focus of individuals would evoke their proactive career behavior. Based on career construction theory, we utilized the career adaptability framework to develop and test the mediating effect of individual regulatory focus on proactive career behavior through career adaptability. Moreover, we further proposed that job embeddedness plays a contingency role in moderating the extent to which regulatory focus contributes to proactive career behavior with the mediation of career adaptability differently and uniquely. Using a sample of 247 participants and collecting data in three waves, we found that the promotion focus of employees positively influences their proactive career behavior through the mediation of career adaptability. Furthermore, the indirect effect of promotion focus on proactive career behavior via career adaptability was moderated by the dichotomy of job embeddedness of individuals respectively and differently. Specifically, the positive relationship between promotion focus and proactive career behavior via the mediation of career adaptability was strengthened by the on-the-job embeddedness of employees, whereas the relationship was weakened by their off-the-job embeddedness. The overall findings broaden our understanding in terms of the underlying mechanism of proactive career behavior, suggesting that the promotion focus of individuals fosters proactive career behavior via career adaptability, and on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness as contingency factors alter the effect of career adaptability.

Adolescents’ Future Expectations of Work and Education Within Adaptation Model of Career Construction Theory

The current study suggested and tested a model to investigate the associations between adolescent future expectations of work and education (AFE-WE; adaptive responses) and positive future expectations (PFE; adaptivity) through concern, control, curiosity, and confidence (adaptability resources) as well as the role of the gender. The data were gathered from 806 high school students (59% girls), recruited from eight different public schools in Gaziantep, Turkey. Structural equation model was used. The results showed that the PFE predicted the AFE-WE and concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. Yet, concern contributed to the AFE-WE, only and partially mediated the relationships between the PFE and the AFE-WE. The proposed model did not change across gender. These findings were discussed within cultural context and addressed implications for theory, research, and practice.

Adapting to Involuntary, Radical, and Socially Undesirable Career Changes

Career adaptability is a psychosocial resource that aids in coping with current and anticipated tasks, transitions, and traumas that people experience in their occupational roles. Although there is a great deal of evidence that career adaptability relates to important career outcomes, the role that it is perceived to play in involuntary, radical, and socially undesirable career changes is understudied. Grounded in career construction theory, we conducted a study with an experimental vignette methodology to ascertain whether career adaptability moderates the influence of different types of career transitions on ratings of hypothetical employees adapting effectiveness. Findings suggest that career adaptability can be seen as an important resource for managing radical career changes. This is one of the first papers to test a key tenet of career construction theory—that career adaptability is efficient for managing career related transitions and traumas. Moreover, we extend the scope of this tenet to include the notion that people can readily identify qualities of career adaptability in others.

Does Practice Enhance Adaptability? The Role of Personality Trait, Supervisor Behavior, and Career Development Training

Drawing upon career construction theory, we examined the mediating effect of deliberate practice (DP) on career adaptability (CA) and the effects of learning goal orientation (LGO) and supervisor incompetence accusations (SIA) as well as career development training (CDT) on DP. Using data collected from 204 Chinese PhD students in three waves over a period of 2 months, we found that individuals who were inclined to learn new skills and obtain new knowledge were more likely to deliberately practice professional activities in their fields. When a PhD student’s professional competence was questioned by his or her supervisor, the student was more prone to negative emotions and would reduce his or her effort in the development of expertise. CDT – contrary to expectations – negatively predicted DP of professional activities. One possible reason is that the participants in this study have strong autonomy so that those who really struggling are participating in training and seeking help and those who with strong professional abilities are not accessing training programs. Moreover, results showed that DP of professional activities significantly promoted PhD students to adapt to their academic circumstances. Implications for career-related practice within the academic domain are provided.

Bourdieu's Habitus for Academicians

The purpose of this chapter is to initiate a discussion on academicians' habitus to explore the life space of academicians based on Bourdieu's habitus theory along with the career construction theory. The conceptual review of Bourdieu's habitus theory sheds light on aspects that might help institutions to enhance the concept of social justice at institutional levels to increase academicians' labor effective and positive work surroundings. Within the scope of this study, the life space assessment technique is used to conceptually review studies on academicians' interpretation of their habitus. This chapter suggests that promoting the intellectual wellbeing of societies depend on how universities are represented in a society by creating free and liberal life spaces for academicians.

Women Principals' Career Paths

The managerial career has always been perceived as a man's realm, but this perception is changing. It is the same for schools like other organizations. The number of women principals is increasing, and perceptions are changing in a way that women can also take up such positions. However, women teachers face more difficulties and barriers compared to men when they take up an administrative career. This chapter looks into the career planning and pre-career process of women school principals, their stages of the career development, the barriers and difficulties they encounter during the career development, and the strategies they employ to cope with them within the framework of the career construction theory.

Career Mentoring in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions and Experiences

Nowadays, the process of building the career of emerging adults is embedded in the need for meaningful paths, connection, creativity and autonomy. Thus, the support services universities offer for students should incorporate subjective aspects of individual experiences such as targeting relevant goals, building meaningful learning experiences, promoting personal resources of adaptability. One of the most effective mechanism for positively influencing students’ career paths is mentoring, by helping them to successfully face the academic and life challenges and to build meaningful careers. The current study aims to investigate perceptions and experiences of seven undergraduate students, in order to understand the mentoring role in the development of a calling orientation in their career trajectory. Data was collected through one-to-one semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was conducted. The findings revealed a mentoring approach that includes a career construction theory and calling-infused elements has positive effects on self-reflection, self-knowledge, proactive experiences and behaviours that maintain and strengthens the perception of the presence of calling. In other words, the support of a mentor facilitates the activation of personal resources and values the self-directed career oriented towards individualized results in the context of an uncertain and dynamic work environment.