Career Development: Theories, Practices and Challenges 9781634840767, 9781634840774

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PROFESSIONS - TRAINING, EDUCATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORIES, PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

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PROFESSIONS - TRAINING, EDUCATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORIES, PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

TANYA V. MARTIN EDITOR

New York

Copyright © 2016 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. We have partnered with Copyright Clearance Center to make it easy for you to obtain permissions to reuse content from this publication. Simply navigate to this publication’s page on Nova’s website and locate the “Get Permission” button below the title description. This button is linked directly to the title’s permission page on copyright.com. Alternatively, you can visit copyright.com and search by title, ISBN, or ISSN. For further questions about using the service on copyright.com, please contact: Copyright Clearance Center Phone: +1-(978) 750-8400 Fax: +1-(978) 750-4470 E-mail: [email protected].

NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Martin, Tanya V., editor. Title: Career development : theories, practices and challenges / editor, Tanya V. Martin. Other titles: Career development (Nova Science Publishers) Description: Hauppauge, New York : Nova Science Publishers, Inc., [2015] | Series: Professions : training, education and demographics | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015041019 (print) | LCCN 2015044382 | ISBN 9781634840767 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781634840774 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Career development. Classification: LCC HF5381 .C26546 2015 (print) | LCC HF5381 (ebook) | DDC 650.14--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041019

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Index

vii Career Development and Exploration: Barriers, Challenges and Technology Victoria Felix, Mercedes Gremillion and Walter Buboltz

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The Influence of Opportunity Structures in Shaping Individual Career Development Alan Brown and Jenny Bimrose

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Adaptive Behaviour in the Workplace: Psycho-Social Career Preoccupations and Openness to Technological Change Melinde Coetzee

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Career Counseling for People in Psychosocial Situations of Vulnerability and Flexicurity: A Social Constructionist Proposal Marcelo Afonso Ribeiro

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Overcoming Fears by Establishing Mini-Tasks and Activities As a Strategy for Enhancing Career Development Prospects Gloria Castaño, Miguel Alonso and Silvia Sánchez-Herrero Early Childhood Teachers Coping with Change: The Roles of Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Labour and Career Adaptability Carter W. H. Lam, Mantak Yuen and Wu-Ying Hsieh The Role of Career Feedback in the Career Development of Young Adults Shi Hu, Michelle Hood and Peter A. Creed

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PREFACE A hallmark of career development and counseling is exploring various career options throughout life. With the rapid changes in the work world, from globalization of the workforce to technological developments the process of career exploration has evolved and continues to change. The first chapter in this book reviews the theories and research regarding career development and barriers to career exploration, including personal variables and relationships, challenges to exploring careers as well as resources available to aid in the career exploration process. Chapter two focuses upon the influence of opportunity structures in shaping individual career development. Chapter three provides valuable new knowledge and insights relevant to career development theory that could potentially inform human resource practices aimed at promoting change-supportive and adaptive behaviours in a knowledge-driven economy and society. Chapter four studies career counseling for people in psychosocial situations of vulnerability and flexicurity. Chapter five applies concepts of emotional intelligence, emotional labour (EL) and career adaptability (CA) to explore how these variables may relate to kindergarten teachers’ avoidance of professional burnout and their ability to cope with career challenges. The last chapter reviews the historical background and theoretical development of the feedback construct in the broader social sciences, proposes a definition of career-related feedback applicable to young adults, critically reviews the literature on the construct of career-related feedback in the context of goal-oriented theories, and, finally, explores the practical implications for career practitioners who work with young adults. Chapter 1 – A hallmark of career development and counseling is exploring various career options throughout life. With the rapid changes in the work world, from globalization of the workforce to technological developments the process of career exploration has evolved and continues to change. This chapter reviews the theories and research regarding career development and barriers to career exploration, including personal variables and relationships, challenges to exploring careers as well as resources available to aid in the career exploration process. Career counseling theories, including Super’s Life-Span, LifeSpace Theory (1990), Holland’s Person-Environment Interactions (1985), and Krumboltz’s Learning Theory (1996) provide explanations for career development and exploration based on a career’s degree of fit with factors that are important for the individual’s life, including personality, developmental level, and access to resources. While these theories collectively provide useful information about career decision-making processes, they lack an acknowledgment of personal barriers that hinder an individual from engaging in the career-

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exploration process. Exploration of these barriers and possible interventions to reduce or eliminate the barriers or challenges is important because research indicates that perceived self-efficacy and barriers significantly moderate engagement in the career-exploration process. The following review will provide an explanation of the career exploration process as it specifically applies to adolescents, college students, and adults. Furthermore, Zikic and Hall (2009) explain that career-exploration is a lifelong adaptive process that changes based on personal, cultural, and societal influences. Some personal influences that may act as barriers to the career exploration process include gender, age, socioeconomic status, interests, talents, and values. They may also experience access discrimination, preventing them from entering a specific occupation or organization. Another variable that plays an important role in career exploration includes one’s relationships. Many of the career exploration theories imply that this process occurs in a vacuum, and that a person’s choices are not embedded within larger systems (e.g., Pope et al. 2004). Research supports that an individual’s relationships with family plays a significant role in career exploration. This is especially relevant for individuals making career decisions in midlife because their established relationships and family systems may undergo change (Ibarra 2003). An additional variable includes having the access to resources to engage in career exploration processes. For example, Attewell (2001) noted that poor and minority families are less likely than other families to have access to computers, which decreases an individual’s ability to access career exploration materials, many of which are now available predominantly online and sometimes exclusively. This review will provide specific factors that act as barriers in the career exploration process for adolescents, college students, and adults, while also providing implications for further research and interventions in career counseling. Chapter 2 – The precise pattern of how individual career pathways develop are clearly influenced by individual decisions, attitudes and behaviour but they also take place within particular contexts. Careers and identities evolve through the classic dynamic interaction of structure and agency. The focus of this chapter is upon the influence of opportunity structures in shaping individual career development and material will be drawn from two European studies which involved interviewing either low skilled and/or intermediate skilled workers in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The most obvious ways in which individual career development is facilitated or constrained in particular contexts relates to the access to the opportunities associated with different types of employment, training and education. Opportunity structures influence individual careers and access to challenging work was often a significant driver of subsequent career development for individuals who described successful career narratives. However, other forms of work could act as barriers or faciltiators to career development. The significance of the role of initial vocational education and training in constraining or facilitating subsequent career development, including access to continuing vocational education and training to develop and deepen expertise, will also be examined. Chapter 3 – Proactive change-oriented employee behaviour that facilitates adaptation to technological advances and promotes organisational innovation has become important for organisational and individual success in the globalised knowledge-based economy. These trends have led to new conceptualisations of vocational behaviour that increasingly focus on the evolving career needs and preoccupations of individuals and the proactive flexibility and adaptiveness demanded from them. This chapter outlines an empirical study that explored the link between individuals’ psychosocial career preoccupations and their cognitive receptivity

Preface

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to technological change and innovation. Both constructs relate to adaptive behaviour in the workplace and assume a measure of proactivity and initiative in making changes in one’s career and work environment. In this regard, the chapter and study findings provide valuable new knowledge and insights relevant to career development theory that could potentially inform human resource practices aimed at promoting change-supportive and adaptive behaviours in a knowledge-driven economy and society. Chapter 4 – The working world has been undergoing a continuous and gradual process of flexibility, heterogeneity, and complexity of the regulatory mechanisms of work, something which has generated significant impacts and deep changes on many dimensions, revealing new scenarios, in addition to generating precariousness and vulnerability of a large part of the population in all countries. In that sense, the knowledge and strategies developed in the Latin American researches and practices in the career counseling field are potentially important in today’s working world, because Latin America is a region in the world where this situation has always been present due to contexts and situations of socioeconomic inequality and psychosocial vulnerability, which often produces discontinuous, fragmented and intermittent work trajectories, despite the recent development of some countries like Brazil. Besides, some countries in the northern hemisphere, which have been under a welfare state for decades, are nowadays living under precarious work conditions with high rates of unemployment, and with an increasing demand of theories and strategies to face flexible and unstable situations. Thus, based on research and practices systematically developed in recent decades, inspired on the Life Design paradigm and grounded on the social constructionist perspective, the main objective of this chapter is to highlight general principles to career counseling in order to deal with situations of psychosocial vulnerability and flexicurity. To this end, the chapter will present and discuss: (a) The challenges that the working world have generated for contemporary workers, mainly through situations of flexicurity and psychosocial vulnerability; (b) The challenges for the career counseling field to face these situations; (c) The general principles of social constructionism, in terms of ontology, epistemology, methodology and ethical-political project, in dealing with the contemporary challenges; (d) The basic concepts of the proposed career counseling (psychosocial approach, psychosocial reality, psychosocial relation, practices, narratives, discourses, decent work, psychosocial vulnerability and psychosocial career); (e) A proposal for a theoretical and technical framework, in addition to an ethical-political project, for the career counseling inspired on the Life Design paradigm and based on social constructionism with some examples of practices with groups of people in situations of flexicurity and psychosocial vulnerability, among them, young people who are institutionalized, people with mental diseases, disabled people and unemployed. As a conclusion, it must be stated that the heterogeneity and the complexity of the current working world have required assumptions that ought to help in the understanding of it, and, at the same time, it might give support in the construction of analysis categories of the psychosocial phenomena of this working world, mainly for the ones who live in a vulnerable situation and have to face instability their entire lives. Chapter 5 – Over the course of a professional career, different transformations and changes often depend on two fundamental aspects: attaining a high level of self-knowledge, and establishing clearly defined aims and goals. This involves finding the answer to two questions: who we are, and what we want.

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Nonetheless, on many occasions individuals’ fears prevent them from achieving meaningful advances in their career development. Such fears act as obstacles, hindering the achievement of goals. This chapter is based on research analysing the different kinds of fears that may arise during job search. The results obtained show different levels and patterns of fears in the individuals evaluated depending on their work situation. The results could be generally applicable to career development within an organization and may help to establish guidelines for action plans to follow. These guidelines would be based on the completion of mini-tasks, permitting the achievement of career development goals. Such mini-tasks should be challenging but attainable, focusing on obtaining developmental advances with relation to strong and weak points through the achievement of cognitive, emotional and behavioural targets. The authors also propose mini-tasks focusing on changing limiting thought patterns and beliefs and on assisting in the management of fears and other obstacles or negative emotions. Chapter 6 – Studies have suggested that emotional intelligence (EI) is among the most desirable qualities needed by kindergarten teachers, and is a strong predictor of career success. Teachers with high emotional intelligence also tend to suffer less burnout and exhaustion, are able to avoid or resolve conflicts, and often have high job satisfaction. This chapter applies concepts of emotional intelligence, emotional labour (EL) and career adaptability (CA) to explore how these variables may relate to kindergarten teachers’ avoidance of professional burnout and their ability to cope with career challenges. The context of this discussion is recent reforms to early childhood education in Hong Kong; and the topic provides a perspective on cultural influences on the relationships among EI, EL, and early childhood teachers’ career development. Chapter 7 – Individuals shape their own lives and express their self-concepts in the world of work by continually setting career goals and taking career-related actions. Feedback about these career goals and actions informs the individual about their suitability, how well the goals are being progressed, and what they might need to do in order to achieve them. Feedback, thus, helps reduce a person’s sense of uncertainty about their career goals and actions, and helps them adjust their subsequent behaviours to improve their chances of achieving them. When young people do not receive useful feedback, lack the necessary strategies to deal with conflicting feedback, respond to serious negative feedback inappropriately, or are not sufficiently motivated to regulate their behaviours in response to feedback, they can experience difficulties with their career development. In this chapter, the author’s review the historical background and theoretical development of the feedback construct in the broader social sciences, propose a definition of career-related feedback applicable to young adults, critically review the literature on the construct of career-related feedback in the context of goal-oriented theories, and, finally, explore the practical implications for career practitioners who work with young adults.

In: Career Development Editor: Tanya V. Martin

ISBN: 978-1-63484-076-7 © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND EXPLORATION: BARRIERS, CHALLENGES AND TECHNOLOGY Victoria Felix, Mercedes Gremillion and Walter Buboltz Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, US

ABSTRACT A hallmark of career development and counseling is exploring various career options throughout life. With the rapid changes in the work world, from globalization of the workforce to technological developments the process of career exploration has evolved and continues to change. This chapter reviews the theories and research regarding career development and barriers to career exploration, including personal variables and relationships, challenges to exploring careers as well as resources available to aid in the career exploration process. Career counseling theories, including Super’s Life-Span, LifeSpace Theory (1990), Holland’s Person-Environment Interactions (1985), and Krumboltz’s Learning Theory (1996) provide explanations for career development and exploration based on a career’s degree of fit with factors that are important for the individual’s life, including personality, developmental level, and access to resources. While these theories collectively provide useful information about career decisionmaking processes, they lack an acknowledgment of personal barriers that hinder an individual from engaging in the career-exploration process. Exploration of these barriers and possible interventions to reduce or eliminate the barriers or challenges is important because research indicates that perceived self-efficacy and barriers significantly moderate engagement in the career-exploration process (Creed & Hood 2014). The following review will provide an explanation of the career exploration process as it specifically applies to adolescents, college students, and adults. Furthermore, Zikic and Hall (2009) explain that career-exploration is a lifelong adaptive process that changes based on personal, cultural, and societal influences. Some personal influences that may act as barriers to the career exploration process include gender, age, socioeconomic status, interests, talents, and values (e.g., Flum & Kaplan 2006). They may also experience access discrimination, preventing them from entering a specific occupation or organization. Another variable that plays an important role in career exploration includes 

Address Correspondence to the first author at: Department of Psychology, Louisiana Tech University, PO Box 10048, Ruston, Louisiana 71272. Email: [email protected].

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Victoria Felix, Mercedes Gremillion and Walter Buboltz one’s relationships. Many of the career exploration theories imply that this process occurs in a vacuum, and that a person’s choices are not embedded within larger systems (e.g., Pope et al. 2004). Research supports that an individual’s relationships with family plays a significant role in career exploration. This is especially relevant for individuals making career decisions in midlife because their established relationships and family systems may undergo change (Ibarra 2003). An additional variable includes having the access to resources to engage in career exploration processes. For example, Attewell (2001) noted that poor and minority families are less likely than other families to have access to computers, which decreases an individual’s ability to access career exploration materials, many of which are now available predominantly online and sometimes exclusively. This review will provide specific factors that act as barriers in the career exploration process for adolescents, college students, and adults, while also providing implications for further research and interventions in career counseling.

Keywords: career, exploration, barriers, discrimination, adolescents, college students, adults

CAREER EXPLORATION: BARRIERS, CHALLENGES AND TECHNOLOGY A hallmark of career development and counseling is exploring various career options and opportunities throughout life. With the rapid changes and growth in the work world, from globalization of the workforce to technological developments the career options available for individuals has expanded tremendously and will likely continue to grow. As this expansion in career options has occurred the process of career exploration has evolved and continues to change along with the world of work. This chapter reviews the theories and research regarding barriers to career exploration, including personal variables and relationships, challenges to exploring careers, as well as some resources available to aid in the career exploration process.

Career Counseling Theories There are numerous theories that have been posited to explain the career development and exploration process as well as career counseling. The following review provides a description of three of the most prominent career theories, including Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice, Super’s Developmental Theory, and Krumboltz’s Social Learning Career Theory.

Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice (1997) is the most strongly researched and cited career theory. The basis of this theory relies on a person-environment fit model. Holland developed a theory and organization system to efficiently match a person’s interests and personality with an occupation that matches those qualities. During Holland’s initial research, he found that individuals in similar occupations had similar interests. Based on his data, he organized individuals’ interests and personality characteristics and occupations into 6 broad occupational themes, including realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and

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conventional (RIASEC). In sum, every individual has one of these types are their primary interest type and every occupation also has a primary type. This correspondence has important implications for career counseling and exploration which will be discussed later. Realistic orientations have a preference for concrete problems, and are likely to enjoy technical tasks that include working with one’s hands, building, fixing, or maintaining something. Some examples include being a mechanic or electrician. Investigative orientations have a preference to think through problems, being scientific, analytic, and curious. Investigative personality types may enjoy working scientific occupations, such as a botanist or physician. Artistic orientations have characteristics including creativity, imaginative, and expressive. Individuals with an artistic orientation may enjoy being an author or drama coach. Social types are concerned with the welfare of others, and prefer to solve problems through discussions. They are usually cooperative, friendly, and generous. Occupations involve serving and helping others, and may include being a teacher or a counselor. Enterprising individuals are likely to be social, ambitious, and domineering, with a preference for engaging in competitive activities. They may also have a particular preference for persuading others. Example occupations include sales person or business executive. Conventional types are organizers, planners, and efficient workers. They like orderly and practical tasks, and are more likely to be conforming, conscientious, and attentive to detail. Some examples of occupations include bank examiner and tax expert. The basis of Holland’s theory explains that if a person with a realistic orientation chooses an occupation under the realistic category, he/she is more likely to be satisfied with his/her occupation because there is congruence (fit) between the person and their occupational environment. Following the development of the 6 RIASEC types, Holland explained that it is possible, and probable, that individuals will associate with more than one orientation, but one type is likely the primary type. When an individual is assessed for his/her Holland code, he/she will get scores for all 6 of the RIASEC subtypes. The three highest scoring subtypes will be used to generate one’s Holland code, with the highest score denoting the primary type. Holland explained that in order to determine the individual’s code type, it is important to determine the degree of differentiation between the person’s interests. Differentiation refers to the measure of the crystallization or purity of one’s interests. When analyzing the scores of an individual’s six subtypes to determine the highest three types, the scores between each type need to differ from each other by at least 10 points. For example, if an individual’s subtype scores are R = 60, I = 50, A = 35, S = 10, E = 15, and C = 25, then the individual’s code is RIA, and is differentiated because the scores differ from each other by at least 10 points. If this same individual had scores that included R = 60, I = 55, A = 35, S = 10, E = 15, and C = 25, then his/her code would be R/I A C. The first code would be split between R and I, because the scores are undifferentiated. Furthermore, Holland’s three-letter codes follow a prescribed order, being clustered together by overlapping characteristics. Holland uses a hexagon to illustrate the relationship between the RIASEC subtypes. Following Holland’s hexagon model, it is likely that an individual will have a code type that includes RIA because those characteristics are located next to each other on the hexagon. It is not likely for an individual to have a code type that includes REA, because those characteristics are not oriented next to each other on the hexagon. This concept is referred to as “consistency.” According to Holland, consistency refers to the internal coherence of an individual’s code type. Consistency is determined by first examining the distance between the first two letters of the Holland code, and then the

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third letter can be added. Code types with letters that are adjacent to each other on the hexagon have high consistency. Code types with letters that are opposite from each other have lower consistency. Holland defines congruence as the degree of fit between an individual’s interests/ personality and work environment. Higher congruence between the person’s interests and work environment is associated with higher job satisfaction and job tenure. Lastly, another concept that has been added to this theory includes identity. This concept refers to one’s clarity and stability in his/her goals, interests, and talents. Career counseling, using Holland’s theory, would include assessing one’s interests through determining their code type, and then helping them find occupations that are associated with that code type. Holland’s model is designed to help individuals find a career based on the congruency between their personality/interests and occupation. To assist in this career exploration process individuals of a particular type can look for occupations that have the same code type. This helps individuals explore occupations that theoretical they should find satisfying. To assist in this career exploration process Holland’s code types have been applied to every occupation listed in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Therefore, after an individual has obtained his/her Holland code, he/she can search for occupations with the same code type. This aspect of matching between code types in Holland’s theory is very useful in the career exploration process as it gives individuals a starting point of what types of occupations to gather information on the career decision making process.

Super’s Developmental Theory Super’s Developmental Theory (1990) is particularly important because he described career choice from a developmental perspective, explaining that career choice is a dynamic, unfolding process, that changes with time and experience. Super’s theory is considered a lifespan-lifespace theory. The lifespace dimension refers to the influence of the social environment on one’s life and career choice. It includes a consideration of what is going on in society around one’s life, incorporating societal changes into the career decision-making process. The lifespan dimension refers to time and specific aspects of career development that should occur at particular points in one’s life stages (e.g., childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and retirement). Super’s theory is one of the only theories that incorporate rough ages denoting where an individual should be in the career decision-making process. The life stages and tasks that determine one’s career maturity are based upon the successful completion of developmental tasks. These tasks are ones that have been deemed by society to be accomplished by a particular point in life. The lifespace-lifespan theory is explained through the staircase developmental model. Beginning from birth and ending with death, individuals go through five stages with specific tasks to climb the staircase of career development. The age ranges that are provided in this model are rough estimates, and are likely to change with shifts in societal developmental tasks. The first stage is Growth and it occurs from birth to around age 14. The four major tasks include becoming concerned about the future, increasing personal control over one’s life, convincing oneself to achieve in school and work, and acquiring competent work habits and attitudes. Children begin to learn habits and attitudes, develop confidence, balance cooperation and competition, and become concerned about long-term goals. The next stage, Exploration, typically occurs between the ages of 14 and 24. Exploration is defined by tasks including crystallizing, specifying, and implementing a career choice. In

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this stage, an individual will start to think realistically about his/her career choice, begin a decision-making process, and then obtain the appropriate education and/or training to begin that career. It is in the stage that the career exploration becomes extremely important as the individual must start to make career decisions about their career and lifestyle and that without proper exploration of the various options for a career an individual may make a poor or less than ideal choice for their life. The third phase, Establishment, begins when an individual starts his/her career. This typically occurs between the ages of 25 and 44. Tasks include stabilizing, consolidating, and advancing in one’s career. Stabilizing involves making one’s place in his/her career, assimilating into the organizational culture and performing work tasks. Consolidating includes demonstrating competence, positive work attitudes, and productive work habits. Advancing occurs when one climbs the organizational ladder, being promoted and taking on more advanced positions within his/her career. Individuals near the end of the phase typically have to make a decision as to whether to continue along a normal developmental path and move to the next stage of development or recycle back to the exploration stage. This possible recycle is brought about typically by changes in a person family life as children have left the home at this point and individuals have the opportunity to pursue other career options. If an individual decides to pursue other career options they will have to go through the career exploration process again. If an individual decides to not pursue other career options they will progress to the next career development stage. Maintenance is the next and fourth stage, which typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 64. Individuals in the maintenance phase focus on such tasks as holding on, keeping up, and innovating. Individuals will maintain what they have achieved in their career, update their skills and knowledge-base, and innovate new ways of doing their routine career tasks. The final stage, Disengagement, typically occurs around the age of 65. The developmental tasks of this stage include deceleration, retirement planning, and retirement living. Individuals begin experiencing a decline in energy and interest in their career, and will begin slowing down their performance and giving tasks to younger colleagues. Retirement planning will soon begin individuals begin to think about their new lifestyles as they transition out of the world of work. When working with clients using Super’s model, there are some important sociological and economic factors to keep in consideration. These sociological and economic factors need to be fully explored and incorporated in the counseling using Super’s stage-developmental model. It should be noted that the age at which developmental tasks occur for an individual may change based on maturation and the sociological and economic environment the person is developing within. In today’s society, it is less common for college graduates to immediately obtain and begin a career. Due to factors including limited job availability and increased emphasis on higher education, college graduates are more likely to be investigating graduate degree programs and/or specialization trainings prior to entering the workforce. The limited job availability increases competition to obtain one’s preferred career, which prolongs the process of obtaining that entry-level job and advancing to that preferred career. Individuals may also increase their debt by investing in higher education and training programs, which may potentially increase one’s number of years in the workforce. Also, it is less likely for individuals to retire at age 65, especially with economic and political concerns around the availability of social security following retirement. As costs of living and lifespan increases, individuals may need more in financial savings to be able to

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retire. Furthermore, with increases and developments in technology, there have been shifts in the labor market, and jobs that were once done by humans, can now be done with technology. Therefore, individuals may be laid off from their jobs after working for many years, and may be bumped down to the middle of Super’s ladder, being forced to start back at the exploration phase. Counselors should be aware that these developmental tasks and one’s career maturity are tied to the societal and economic factors influencing the individual and job market at the time of counseling.

Krumboltz’s Learning Theory According to Krumboltz (1993), career choice is influenced by an interaction between genetics, environmental feedback, and learning experiences. Individuals are born with innate abilities, and through feedback from others, they learn and develop beliefs about those abilities. Incorporating information from social learning theory, information processing, and classical learning theory, Krumboltz explains that individuals learn more about themselves and their abilities through instrumental learning, associative learning, and vicarious learning. Instrumental learning, similar to behaviorism learning theories, occurs when an individual is positively reinforced or punished for the exercise of some behavior and its associated cognitive skill. Learning occurs through the consequences of one’s behavior such that behavior that is rewarded will be repeated, and behavior that is punished or not reward is unlikely to be repeated. For example, if a person is positively rewarded for good performance on his/her math homework, he/she learns that he/she has strong math skills. This positive reinforcement may lead the child to become intrinsically motivated to perform at a high level in math, and may develop a self-concept that he/she has a particular strength in math skills. Associative learning occurs when an individual associates a previously neutral event or stimulus with an emotional event or stimulus. For example, a child may watch a movie with his favorite actor playing the role of a police officer. The child then associates being a police officer with his favorite actor, and decides that he would like to also become a police officer. Vicarious learning occurs through observing others’ behaviors, and the consequences of those behaviors. Through observation, the individual makes a decision about whether he/she would like to behave in a similar manner. Vicarious learning can also occur through collecting information from sources such as books and television. The information that is learned through these interactions with and feedback from the environment are theorized to lead to self-efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy can be defined as one’s perceptions of his/her abilities, which determine whether or not individuals will develop and exercise those particular skills. Self-efficacy is particularly important for career counseling, development and career exploration. Self-efficacy is a better predictor of job performance than skills. Specifically, an individual with low self-efficacy is more likely to have low job performance; average self-efficacy is more likely to have average job performance; and high self-efficacy is more likely to have low job performance. An individual with average self-efficacy is most likely to be motivated to work hard without being overly confident in his/her abilities. Individuals are more likely to choose careers in which they have higher self-efficacy. It is important to note that while self-efficacy may be developed through information that is learned through feedback and observation, it does not mean that self-efficacy is an indicator of one’s interests. For example, an individual may be positively reinforced for his/her skills in science, but is not interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. Furthermore, information

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that is learned may not always be accurate, which may lead to inaccurate perceptions of selfefficacy. If a person did not perform well on a particular task, but is still rewarded for effort, he/she may develop a sense of self-efficacy in that task. These factors need to be taken into consideration when conducting career counseling. When conducting career counseling from Krumboltz perspective through incorporating learning theory and self-efficacy, it is important to assess one’s particular interests, and then assess one’s self-efficacy for that particular interest. A further step may then include determining whether one’s sense of self-efficacy in that area or ability is accurate, and helping him/her choose an appropriate career based on the match between interest and self-efficacy. This is where exploration may become an important aspect of the career counseling process within this theory as individuals will have to explore their self-efficacy and interests as well as occupations that match their areas of self-efficacy and interests. Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory was developed to explain why individuals choose particular educational programs and/or career paths, why individuals change, and why individuals express preferences for different careers at selected points in their lives. One of the major tenets of Krumboltz theory includes that individuals develop a sense of themselves through feedback from others. Through operant and classical conditioning, individuals learn their strengths and abilities, which then build their sense of self-efficacy for those specific strengths and abilities. Individuals are conditioned to choose a career that matches their sense of self-efficacy. Furthermore, an individual is more likely to develop personal interests related to tasks in which they have a stronger sense of self-efficacy. Krumboltz’s theory provides four factors that influence the relationship between learning, self-efficacy, and the development of one’s interests. The first factor includes genetic endowment and special abilities. This factor incorporates the importance of genetics and heredity in influencing an individual’s particular strengths and weaknesses. Examples of genetic characteristics include gender, ethnicity, physical appearance, and physical abilities. The second factor includes environmental conditions or events. The influence of this factor on career choice is highly dependent on the particular environmental climate during that time period. These environmental conditions include social, cultural, political, and economic factors. Some particular examples include the number and nature of training and job opportunities, technological developments, education, family’s social and financial resources, and the occurrence of natural disasters. The third factor includes learning experiences. Krumboltz theorizes that each person has a unique history of learning experiences the results in a specific career path. Individuals are more likely to repeat behavior that has been rewarded. Through receiving positive feedback for certain behaviors, and negative feedback for other behaviors, one is more likely to develop self-efficacy and interests associated with the rewarded behaviors. The last factor includes a summative assessment of the interaction between genetics, environment, and self-efficacious skills. This summative assessment is referred to as one’s task-approach skills. Based on the interaction between genetics, environment, and skills, an individual develops emotion regulation, problem-solving skills, performance standards, and work habits. These skills are crucial in aiding a person to tackle new problems and situations. Individuals are unique in the ways in which they handle situations because they have different task-approach skills. According to Krumboltz, individuals develop cognitions and beliefs about themselves and their abilities based on information that they learn from those factors and these factors need to be explored when considering career decisions. When working with clients using

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Krumboltz’s model, it is important to balance sociological and economic factors influencing a client’s career decision-making process with what particularly fits for that client. Based on learning theory and sociological influence, it is common for individuals to become fixated on making life decisions that are based upon experiences that society rewards. For example, today’s society places a lot of emphasis on the importance of education. Individuals receive positive feedback and associate success with obtaining a college degree. A career counselor may be working with a client whom struggles academically, but believes that he/she needs a college degree to be successful. A career counselor may help the client to assess his/her individual interests, strengths, and abilities to help the client make a decision about the appropriate training and/or education that is required to obtain his/her career goal. While the counselor cannot tell the client that he/she should not go to college, the counselor can be a source of realistic information for the client about the difficulties that may be associated with obtaining that degree. Counselors also may take into consideration the realistic opportunities for the client in terms of having the financial and educational resources to obtain a particular job. The statusattainment model states that children will typically only rise to the same status level as their parents. The level of one’s economic stats tends to stay the same within families. It would be unrealistic for a counselor and client to make a career-decision path based on obtaining a degree that is not affordable and/or realistic for the client. Furthermore, counselors can help clients consider whether they will have the opportunity to obtain a career in their field once finished with the education/training. A counselor should take into consideration the changing labor market, especially with the advances in technology, which may eliminate certain jobs and create new jobs. According to human capital theory, individuals are more likely to invest in experiences if they can see a positive benefit or outcome. Counselors should help clients become well-informed about the outcomes of their education/training ventures for their chosen career. While these theories collectively provide useful information about career decisionmaking processes and exploration process, they lack an acknowledgment of personal barriers that hinder an individual from engaging in the career-exploration process. Exploration of these barriers and possible interventions to reduce or eliminate the barriers or challenges is important because research indicates that perceived self-efficacy and barriers significantly moderate engagement in the career-exploration process (Creed & Hood 2014).

Career Development and Exploration Process Before reviewing the potential barriers of the career exploration process, it is important to provide a definition of this process, and how it differs based on age, maturity and developmental stage. Career exploration can be defined as a process that increases ones awareness and knowledge about oneself and potential careers, while also taking into consideration the ways that self and environment interact to choose a career that best fits ones values and preferences (Jordaan 1963). Theorists have expanded upon this definition and have separated the career exploration process into two specific sub-processes (e.g., Patton & Porfeli 2007; Porfeli 2008). Diversive career exploration includes broadly learning about oneself and potential careers independently. This process usually occurs in the very early stages of career exploration, and

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is more likely to lead to lofty career aspirations that are not necessarily realistic or a great fit with one’s personal characteristics (e.g., celebrity). Specific career exploration occurs when a person engages in career exploration while integrating personal skills and values. When a person engages in specific career exploration, ideas and possibilities from the diversive career exploration stage are narrowed down into a more realistic list of potential careers. This career exploration process will be different, and will include different factors, based on life stage. Below is a review of factors that specifically impact the career exploration process for adolescents, college students, and adults.

Adolescents In accordance with Erickson (1963), it is noted that one of the central tasks of adolescence is identity development. As children come to age, they struggle to define themselves, but look to solidify who they are and what they want for their futures. As part of this, they begin the important task of career exploration. For some adolescents, career exploration happens rather organically. For others, however, it is a struggle or something that may never occur. But why, researchers have long pondered, does such a difference occur? There are many individual differences and contextual influences that affect the career exploration process of an adolescent. Kracke (2002) found that individual characteristics, in addition to parental behaviors and peers, all have an influence on the career exploration process of adolescents. Individual characteristics which were of an active and constructive approach to developmental demands were found to be positively correlated with more intense occupational exploration. That is, individuals who were more active and constructive in their lives were more likely to engage in career exploration. Similarly, child-centered parental behaviors were positively correlated with information-seeking behaviors. This means that children whose parents took on a more child-centered approach to parenting had an increased likelihood of engaging in informationseeking behaviors. Regarding the role of peers in the career exploration process, results indicated that talking with peers about career-related matters was significantly positively associated with information seeking and career exploration in the long-term. Taken together it appears that an active orientation and parents that involved with their children and encourage exploration leads to more career exploration and this may lead to more appropriate career and life decisions. Rogers, Creed, and Glendon (2008) also found that among high school students, individual differences and contextual influences can have a significant impact on the career exploration and the career decision-making process. Specifically, in looking at the effects of personality, social supports, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals on career planning and exploration, it was found that personality, social support, self-efficacy, and goals were associated with career planning, whereas support and goals, alone, were associated with career exploration. Outcome expectations were not found to be a significant predictor for career planning or career exploration. Among the personality factors measured, openness and conscientiousness were found to have direct relationships with planning and indirect relationships with planning via selfefficacy and goals (Rogers et al. 2008). This indicated that individuals who were more open to experiences and more conscientious in demeanor, had an increased likelihood to engage in career planning than may would others. Similarly, conscientiousness was found to have an indirect relationship with exploration via self-efficacy and goals, and this was consistent with

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previous literature (Judge & Ilies 2002). Extraversion was also found to have an indirect relationship with exploration via self-efficacy and goals (Rogers et al. 2008). Extraversion and neuroticism were not found to be associated with career planning, while openness and neuroticism were not found to be related to career exploration. Agreeableness has also been found to be unrelated to either career planning or exploration (Reed, Bruch, & Haase 2004). As can be seen some personality characteristics of individuals are related to career exploration and counselor need to take note of these factors when working with clients, as clients with lower levels of these personality characteristics may need additional encouragement to fully explore themselves and careers. In addition to the above findings, social supports were found to moderate the relationship between goals and planning (Rogers et al. 2008). Perceived support and goal-setting, together, were found to be associated with greater career planning. This indicates that greater social support likely leads to increased goal-setting and greater planning overall. Perceived social support was also found to have a direct relationship with career exploration. It is possible that support is similar to a secure attachment and allows individuals to feel safe and secure in exploring their lives and career options knowing that they can rely on others for support and information. Rogers at al. (2008) also found strong support for the relationship between goals and both career planning and exploration, and moderate support for the relationship between selfefficacy, goals, and career planning and exploration. Such results indicate that individuals who feel confident in making decisions related to their future career are more likely to set career-related goals, and thus engage in greater career planning and exploration. Age was also found to be an important predictor of career exploration. Results indicated that older students had a greater desire to engage in career exploration than did younger students. This relationship makes sense that as individuals get older, societal demands to choose a career mount and individuals must engage in some career exploration to choose a career. With this in mind counselor need to be cognizant of the career maturity level of individuals as chronological age is very different from their developmental age and in this instance developmental age may be more important to consider. Gushue, Clarke, Pantzer, and Scanlan (2006) also found that self-efficacy, as well as the perception of barriers can impact an individual’s vocational identity and career exploration behaviors in their study of Latino/a high school students. They found that self-efficacy was positively related to vocational identity. Students who have greater confidence in their abilities to accomplish tasks related to career decision-making were also more likely to have a clear vision of their vocational identity, or their personal goals, strengths, and interests as it pertains to their career choice. Self-efficacy was also positively related to career exploration behaviors. Similar results pertaining to self-efficacy and vocational identity as well as career exploration were also found for African American high school students (Gushue, Scanlan, Pantzer, and Clarke 2006). Meanwhile, the perception of barriers was found to be positively correlated to vocational identity (Gushue, Clarke, Pantzer, & Scanlan 2006). Students who perceived a greater number of obstacles in their life had a less defined career identity when compared with their peers. However, the perception of barriers was not found to be related to career exploration. This is of interest as the perception of barriers to career development impacts many aspects of the career development process, but does not appear to be related to the career exploration aspect of the career decision making process. The researchers note that a relationship still may exist

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between these variables, but that it may be mediated by another variable such as social support, which was not included in the present study. Interesting no differences in gender were found for perceptions of barriers and career exploration. Social support has continuously been found to be a significant predictor of career exploration among adolescents. Research continues to support that perceived social support has been found to be a significant predictor for adolescents (Turan, E., Celik, & Turan, M. E. 2014). In assessing the contribution of perceived social support to adolescent career exploration, Turanet al. (2014) found that perceived family social support, perceived friends’ social support, and perceived significant other social support all significantly positively correlated with career exploration. This indicates that individuals with greater perceived familial support and/or support of friends and/or support of a significant other are more likely to engage in greater career exploration. Individuals with a diminished level of support may need assistance in developing a support network or be supported by the counselor to feel secure enough to engage in the career exploration process. In further analyzing the role of perceived family social support, it appears that children’s relationships with their parent(s), specifically the parent-adolescent attachment and parenting style may play a role in the career exploration process (Vignoli, Croity-Belz, Chapeland, de Fillips, and Garcia 2005). This may also vary as a function of gender. Vignoli et al. (2005) found that among females, general anxiety and the neglectful parenting style were negatively related to career exploration. Therefore, a greater amount of general anxiety and a decreased presence of parenting led to the decreased occurrence of career exploration. A secure attachment to the mother and fear of failing, however, were positively related to career exploration. Females who had a secure attachment and feared failing were more likely to engage in career exploration. Among males, a fear of disappointing their parents was positively related to career exploration. Thus, males who feared letting down their families were more likely to engage in career exploration overall. Similarly, Felsman and Blustein (1999) also found that peer relatedness plays a role in the career development of late adolescents. When looking at the role of close peer relationships in facilitating both exploration and commitment, as it pertains to career development, they found that attachment to peers, intimacy, and mutuality all explain a significant amount of variance of exploration and commitment, above and beyond the contribution of parental attachment, age, and gender. Attachment to peers, intimacy, and attachment to mother, though to a lesser extent than attachment to peers and intimacy, was found to be positively associated with environmental exploration and commitment to a career choice. That is, greater attachment to their peers, level of intimacy, and attachment to mother, increases engagement in environmental exploration and commitment to a career choice. Adolescents are not the only individuals partaking in the career exploration process. College students are also actively involved in determining who they are, what matters to them, and what they want for their future careers and lifestyles.

College Students The college period sees a great overlap with that of adolescence regarding the individual differences and contextual influences that affect the career exploration process. During this continued time of exploration and identity development, college students still greatly rely on both their peers and parents for advice. The relations they have with these parties still strongly influence the direction their lives, as well as careers, will take and variables such as

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personality, self-efficacy, and blossoming career interests become an integral part of the overall career exploration process. In accordance with such, a brief overview of these variables and the effects they have on career exploration are discussed. As is similar for adolescents, Cai et al. (2015) found that personality can impact the career exploration process of college students. In looking at the relationship between personality and career exploration and adaptability, it was found that both self-esteem and proactive personality positively predict future work self and career adaptability. Such a relationship, however, is indirect, and is mediated by career exploration. Taken together, this indicates that individuals with increased self-esteem and heightened proactive personality tend to engage in greater career exploration, which leads to greater career adaptability. Of note, the positive effect of self-esteem on career exploration varies as a function of proactive personality. Thus, for individuals with a higher level of proactive personality, the indirect effects of self-esteem on future work self and career adaptability through career exploration are stronger. Self-esteem and proactive personality, however, are not the only personal characteristics affecting career exploration among college students. Robitschek and Cook (1999) found that personal growth and coping styles also play a role in career exploration and vocational identity development. Specifically, in their study, results indicated that personal growth initiative was predictive of environmental exploration and vocational identity. Whereas coping style was predictive of self-exploration. Support was also found for the prediction of vocational identity by environmental exploration. Thus, results indicated the existence of both a direct and indirect path between personal characteristics and vocational identity. Creed, Fallon, and Hood (2009) also found that there exists a relationship between career adaptability, person and situation variables, as well as career concerns. To further analyze such findings, they broke down career adaptability to include career planning, career exploration, self-exploration, decision-making, and self-regulation. Person variables pertained to goal-orientation and were set to include learning, performance-prove, and performanceavoid. Situation variables pertained to social support and were set to include family, friends, and significant others. In their study of 245 freshmen students, Creed, Fallon, and Hood (2009) found that the career adaptability variables of their study were interrelated. Decision-making and selfexploration were found to be negatively associated with career concerns. That is, individuals who engaged in greater amounts of decision-making and self-exploration had fewer career concerns. Decision-making was found to mediate the relationship between goal-orientation and career concerns. This indicates that individuals who engage in greater goal-orientation seem to partake in greater amount of decision-making and in turn have fewer career concerns. Having a goal-orientation which was more learning-based was also found to be associated with a greater amount of decision-making and fewer career concerns. Comparatively, having a performance-prove orientation was found to be associated with poorer decision-making and greater career concerns. Johnson, Schamuhn, Nelson, & Buboltz (2014) found that differentiation levels can also have a significant impact on the career development of university students. In their study, results indicated that students who had higher levels of differentiation overall also had higher levels of vocational identity and fewer difficulties with career decision making. These decreased difficulties with career decision making were directly linked to higher levels of decidedness, comfort, self-clarity, knowledge, decisiveness, and career choice importance.

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Beyond this, it was found that students who had lower levels of emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity as well as higher levels of “I position” also had higher levels of vocational identity and fewer difficulties with career decision making. These decreased difficulties with career decision making were linked with higher levels of decidedness, comfort, self-clarity, knowledge, and decisiveness. Yet another variable found to be predictive of career exploration among college students is their individual family interaction patterns (Hargrove, Creagh, & Burgess 2002). Hargrove et al. (2002) found that family-of-origin patterns including quality of family relationships, family-supported goal orientations, and degree of control and organization in the family, were predictive of an individual’s vocational identity and career decision-making self-efficacy. Specifically, among college students, significant variance was accounted for in vocational identity by achievement orientation in the family. Meanwhile, significant variance in career decision-making self-efficacy was accounted for by a number of family variables including achievement, intellectual-cultural, and moral-religious emphasis orientation, as well as the degree of family conflict and expressiveness. Taken together, such results indicate that an individuals’ family interaction patterns may play significant roles in the creation and stability of career goals, the promotion of self-confidence regarding career planning behaviors and in turn career exploration. Similarly, Ketterson and Blustein (1997) found that parental attachment also plays a role in the career exploration process of college students. Though they believed students who reported a secure attachment relationship with their parents would engage in greater environmental and self-exploration, as well as greater non-traditionality exploration, results indicated this was not entirely accurate. It was found that attachment to parents was positively associated with environmental exploration. Thus, students who had a more secure attachment with their parents were more likely to engage in greater environmental and self-exploration. However, results also indicated that parental attachment was not associated with traditionality of exploration. In addition to the above findings, it was also found that age was a significant predictor of career exploration. Older college students were found to have a greater propensity to engage in career exploration than did younger students. Such results are congruent with results found by Rogers at al. (2008) for adolescents and are considered not to be an unexpected coincidental finding. Gender was not found to be a significant predictor in this study. Hellman (2014) also found that parental attachment, as well as peer attachment and selfefficacy, can affect the career exploration process of young adults. When looking at the career exploration process, this was analyzed using the domains of environmental/occupational exploration, self-exploration, and career indecision. Careful analysis indicated that among young adults, secure maternal attachment predicted secure peer attachment as well as high self-efficacy. Greater peer attachment was negatively related to environmental exploration, such that, those individuals who had greater peer attachment seemed to engage in less environmental exploration. High levels of self-efficacy were positively related to environmental exploration and negatively correlated with career indecision. This indicates that individuals with higher levels of self-efficacy are more likely to engage in environmental exploration and less likely to experience career indecision. Taken together, results of this study indicate that maternal attachment seems to have an indirect influence on the career exploration process of young males and females.

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Nauta (2007) found that self-efficacy, personality, and career interests were antecedents of career exploration among college students. Interestingly, none of the predictors were found to be associated with subsequent environmental exploration. However, after controlling for both gender and year in school, five of the six interest (Holland) types, one type of selfefficacy, and two separate personality dimensions were found to be positively associated with subsequent self-exploration. Specifically, realistic, artistic, and conventional interests, as well as artistic self-efficacy, and openness were found to be positively associated with selfexploration. This indicates that individuals who are more realistic, artistic, conventional, and/or open are more likely to engage in self-exploration. Meanwhile, investigative and enterprising interests as well as extraversion were found to be negatively associated with selfexploration. This indicates that individuals who are more investigative, enterprising, and extraverted actually have a decreased propensity of engaging in self-exploration. College students are not the only individuals partaking in the career exploration process. Though many see college, or young adulthood, as a time for the completion of career exploration, this is simply not the case. Quite frequently, and even more so now due to today’s economy, adults are continuing to or forced to engage in the career exploration process. For many, this is a continuation of a process that began previously in adolescence, while for others they are revisiting career options as it pertains to the future. Still, for some, though slightly less common, they are beginning the career exploration process for the very first time.

Adults While career exploration is not strictly for adolescents or college students, and can continue throughout adulthood, scarce research exists pertaining to the career exploration process of adults. In accordance, it is difficult to determine what individual and personal variables may be affecting their career exploration process. Career exploration, however, does occur well into adulthood. Such is attested by Phillips (1982) in one of only two articles found specific to adult career exploration. Phillips (1982) examined career exploration in the adult years. Particularly, Phillips sought to evaluate career exploration as seen regarding decision-making behavior. Results showed that decisions made at earlier stages of development are more likely to be of an exploratory nature, while those made at later stages are often of a more terminal nature. Such findings were in keeping with results obtained by Gottfredson (1977) who reported that career stability increased with age for both males and females. As could be inferred, this would indicate that individuals are thus engaging in a decreased amount of career exploration at later ages. Particularly, Gottfredson (1977) noted that stability increased markedly to the middle 30’s then slowly until about age 50 and 60. At age 70, he noted, career stability levels were still high among workers, though stable for the most part. In an effort to broaden information provided pertaining to adults and the career exploration process and in light of the growing and changing world of work information is also included regarding job mobility, job satisfaction, and unemployment. Information on these three topics is included as they are believed to be relevant topics as it relates to the career exploration process. Individuals looking to partake in job mobility, for example, may be more inclined to engage in career exploration. This can also be applied to individuals who are dissatisfied with their jobs or for those who are unemployed. With respect to these three topics, individual differences and contextual influences are discussed.

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Van Vianen, Feij, Krausz, and Taris (2003) found that job mobility is directly affected by personality. They analyzed whether personality factors, such as those seen in the Big Five, sensation seeking, and adult attachment styles could predict either external voluntary job changes or internal voluntary job rotations among employees. They also analyzed dissatisfaction changes and job improvement changes when investigating external voluntary job changes specifically. Results indicated that personality characteristics were only related to external mobility measures and not to internal voluntary job rotations (Van Vianen et al. 2003). In addition, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and openness to experiences could not explain additional variance in the number of external job changes after controlling for numerous demographic variables. External voluntary job changes were found to be related to some demographic variables as well as sensation seeking, particularly among dissatisfaction changes. Women, lower educated employees, and employees that rated high on boredom susceptibility and inhibition were more likely to change their job more often due to dissatisfaction. Job improvement changes were also related to gender and sensation seeking. Particularly, it was found that women had fewer job improvement changes than did men. After controlling for gender and specific personality traits, it was noted that experiences seeking and disinhibition, may explain the additional variance in the number of job improvement changes. Adult attachment styles did not predict internal or external job changes after controlling for demographic variables and certain personality traits. Furthermore it was found that while social relations with colleagues at work is important, individuals do not feel restrained or driven by such in making personal career decisions. Taken together, it was found that attachment has no effect on job mobility or the career exploration process of an adult overall; personality, gender, and other demographic variables, however, do. Campion, Cheraskin, and Stevens (1994) found that there exists a relationship between numerous career-related variables and job rotation. Job rotation, as defined in this study, was the lateral move from one job position to another within the same company. In their study, they found that tenure and age were both strongly related to rotation rates and interest in rotation. Age was positively associated, while tenure was negatively associated. Employees who were younger and had been with the company for fewer years were more inclined to engage in job rotation while those who were older and had greater tenure were less likely to partake in rotation. Rotation was also more common for employees performing well at their jobs. Campion et al. (1994) note, however, the view that these individuals are better performers may be a function of their increased rotation and not the other way around. In addition to these findings, Campion et al. (1994) found that individuals who held nonmanagerial positions were somewhat more inclined to rotation than were executives. No differences were found, however, in the rate of rotation based on educational levels. Outcomes of rotation were found to include increased salary, promotion, positive effect, and perception of skill acquisition in addition to other career benefits. Campion et al. (1994) note that such outcomes could be one of the many reasons individuals choose to partake in job rotations. Regarding job satisfaction, Seibert and Kraimer (2001), found that there existed a relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and career success and satisfaction. Specifically, of nearly 500 adult workers surveyed, results indicated that extraversion was positively related to salary level, promotion, and career satisfaction. This indicates that

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individuals who had a more extraverted demeanor were also more likely to have a higher pay, be promoted, and report greater satisfaction in their career. Neuroticism was negatively related to career satisfaction. Thus, individuals who were more neurotic comparatively, reported greater dissatisfaction with their job. Agreeableness was negatively related to career satisfaction. This indicates that individuals who were more agreeable reported greater dissatisfaction with their job. Openness was negatively related to salary. Thus, individuals who had a more open demeanor were likely to have lower pay. In looking at the moderators of the study, it was revealed that there existed a significant negative relationship between agreeableness and salary among workers in people-oriented occupation. No such relationship was found, however, for workers of jobs which did not involve a “people component.” Quality of friendships at work has also been linked with job satisfaction among adult workers (Winstead, Derlega, Montgomery, & Pilkington 1995). Winstead et al. (1995) found that individuals who felt they had a more positive friendship at work reported greater job satisfaction. Conversely, individuals who reported a more negative friendship, such as one which required a great amount of maintenance and upkeep, reported greater job dissatisfaction. Individuals who wished to spend more free time with their best friends at work and viewed their friendship by means of an exchange orientation also reported greater job dissatisfaction. Pertaining to unemployment, Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, and Meglino (1979) found that specific career-related variables were predictive of employee turnover. Specifically, age, tenure, job satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job, and commitment were all consistently and negatively related to turnover. As individuals increase in the age, there is an increase in their tenure, and an increase in their job content, which subsequently decreases turnover. Similarly, individuals with a high intention to remain on the job have an increased job commitment and are less likely to leave. Generally, however, Mobley et al. (1979) note, less than twenty percent of the variance in turnover is explained. Perhaps such variance could be explained by some other variables, including education, cognitive ability, and occupational training. These variables, it was found by Trevor (2001), are ones that most notably moderate the effects of job satisfaction and unemployment on voluntary turnover. In what was only one of two articles that could be found regarding career exploration among adults (see Phillips 1982), Zikicand Klehe (2006) found that adults engage in career exploration and planning during times of unemployment. In looking at this, they meticulously analyzed the outcomes and predictors of career exploration while being unemployed. Regarding the outcomes of career activities, it was found that individuals who partook in career planning and environmental career exploration during unemployment, had a higher propensity for reemployment. These individuals also rated the quality of their new job higher in the long term. Self-exploration, however, was found to have a negative effect on reemployment and reemployment quality. Zikic and Klehe (2006) note that the reason for this could be due largely to the cognitive nature of self-exploration as a whole. Additionally, general self-efficacy was positively related to both career planning and goal-setting. This indicates that individuals who have higher general self-efficacy are more likely to engage in career planning and goal-setting. General self-efficacy was not found to be related to exploration activities. Such a finding may be due to the more abstract nature of exploration activities in comparison to the more concrete tasks of career planning and goalsetting. Instrumental social support as provided by an outplacement center was found to be

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related to both environmental career exploration and self-exploration. Comparatively, emotional social support from partner and family had no influence on career adaptability but a direct effect on reemployment quality. Such findings are in support of those found previously by Wanberg, Kanfer, and Rotundo (1999). Specific to job-seeking intensity, Creed, King, Hood, and McKenzie (2009) found that goal orientation and self-regulation strategies are predictive of job-seeking intensity in unemployed adults. Particularly, it was found that learning goal orientation and selfregulation are positively related to job-seeking intensity and exploration. In addition, selfregulation mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and job-seeking intensity. This indicates that, individuals who have a higher propensity toward a learning goal orientation are also more likely to engage in greater self-regulation and in turn are more likely to engage in greater job-seeking overall. Job-seeking intensity was not found to mediate the relationship between human capital, goal orientation, and self-regulation variables and reemployment outcomes.

Barriers in the Career Exploration Process After exploring the ways that the career exploration process is specifically affected for each age group, the next section of this review explores some common barriers that can occur during career exploration and throughout one’s lifespan. Included in these common barriers are personal and relational factors, workplace discrimination, and access to resources.

Personal and Relational Factors Zikic and Hall (2009) explain that career-exploration is a lifelong adaptive process that changes based on personal, cultural, and societal influences. Some personal influences that may act as barriers to the career exploration process include gender, age, relationship factors, and work-family balance (e.g., Flum & Kaplan 2006). While research has explored differences in the career exploration process based on these variables, limited research has investigated the ways that these variables may act as barriers during the career exploration process. Drawing from Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory, Shoffner, Newsome, Barrio Minton, and Wachter Morris (2015) explain that young adolescents develop perceptions of selfefficacy and career-related expectations from their environment. Shoffner et al. (2015) conducted a qualitative analysis based on focus groups with 95 10-14 year-old students to investigate their perceptions of training required for careers. Their responses were organized into themes including Physical outcome expectations, Social Approval, Self-Satisfaction, Generativity, and Relational. Results indicated that within the Physical outcome expectations, students were mostly concerned with the potential to fail academic requirements to obtain a specific career, while also being concerned with the amount of time and effort that would be required to fulfill coursework required for that career. They also expressed concerns in the Self-Satisfaction category, which included psychological effects and internal motivation. There was a gender difference in this category, with girls being more likely to discuss potential negative psychological effects including lowered self-esteem due to fears about potential for failure. Furthermore, girls were more likely to express concerns in the Relational category, which included connectedness with

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others. Shoffner et al. (2015) explain that this may have important implications for explaining why adolescents choose not to participate in challenging academic programs to further their career goals. Some of these concerns, especially ones specific to girls, may still be a concern later in life. Motulsky (2010) explained some of the specific barriers for midlife, midcareer women who are about to begin a career transition. She conducted a qualitative analysis to investigate a gendered analysis of women’s experiences in the world of work, expand the current career literature that usually focuses on adolescents and college students by focusing on midlife women, and explore the career-exploration process for midlife women undergoing a career change. Motulsky’s (2010) research identified three major themes across her interviews with 13 women, including whether the career transition was successful, the degree to which the women were satisfied with the new career, and an examination of personal growth within the process. Research revealed that this career transition process was relational in nature, involving parents, spouses, friends, and colleagues. Participants reported that parents were important in this process due to internalized family values around family and work roles, especially within the context of cultural values. Most participants reported a disconnection from their parents during this process, mainly feeling a lack of support, disapproval, and resentment for disregarding family messages about work. Participants reported that spouses played a central role during their career transition process. Participants with spouses who were highly involved in the process while also providing strong support reported the best outcomes. Alternately, participants with spouses who were not involved in the process and did not provide support reported the worst outcomes. Furthermore, three of the woman reported that the career transition threatened their relationship. A common theme for these women included that they felt that they needed to choose between a career or their marriage. Friends were also a central aspect of their career transition experience. Similar to spousal support, the amount of involvement and level of support during the process played a major role for the participants. They reported that the levels of connection and support varied among friends, but that support including emotional, esteem, informational, and instrumental were most helpful. They also reported that friends who did not provide support were likely to express a lack of understanding about why the participant was changing careers. Finally, the connection with colleagues and/or supervisors was another source of support for participants. Support activities that were most helpful included mentoring, skills development, receiving advice, having role models, and having people who understood them and their position within their career. Some themes about lack of support from colleagues included disapproval of the career transition, competitive feelings from colleagues, and feeling as though she is leaving others behind. Participants commonly reported that, when having these feelings, they felt as though they needed to silence themselves or censor their feelings and plans for a career transition. Based on these results, Motulsky (2010) summarizes that further research should examine career change across the lifespan, with a special emphasis on the ways that relationships play a pivotal role in this exploration process especially for midlife and retirement career decisions. Work-family conflict is another relational factor that plays a role as a potential barrier during the career-exploration process. Career research supports that work-life balance is an important factor for life satisfaction (e.g., Fiksenbaum 2014; McNamara, Pitt-Catsouphes, Matz-Costa, Brown, & Valcour 2013). Based on the changing economy and societal

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expectations regarding workplace roles, there are has been a significant increase in the number of women in the workforce and the number of dual-earner couples. According to the Women’s Bureau (2011), it is projected that women will account for 51% of the increase in growth of the labor force between 2008 and 2018. Furthermore, according to the Department of Labor, in 1998 there were over 30 million dual-earner households, which represented a 20% increase since 1986. Now, the ratio of dual-earner households: breadwinner-homemaker households is 3:1. This rise in dual-earner households has important implications for career counseling, especially because it changes the roles of family members and may place additional barriers on families adjusting to the need for both adults to have full-time jobs. Keene and Quadagno (2004) found that 60% of adults with careers report having difficulty with balancing work and family responsibilities. Research has investigated the role of work-family conflict on career-related outcomes (e.g., Garcia, Milkovits, & Bordia 2014; Wang, Zhan, Liu, & Shultz 2008). Garcia et al. (2014) conducted a study to investigate whether work-family conflict was related to decisions about continuing paid employment. They hypothesized that self-efficacy and outcome expectations would mediate the relationship between work-family conflict and continuation of paid employment. Results supported this hypothesis, indicating that work-family conflict negatively influenced the decision about continuing employment, which also decreased selfefficacy and outcome expectations for employment. Wang (2014) conducted a qualitative study to explore themes related to the work-family conflict experience. Based on focus groups with 41 adults between the ages of 28 and 55, work-family conflict was organized into background, conflict experience, and coping strategies. Background included one’s family structure, resources, and cultural values. Conflict experience was comprised of conflict with the family, inner self, work performance, and career development. Coping strategies included one’s skills and abilities and cognitive flexibility and adaptation. Based on these findings, it is important to consider that there are multiple layers of family and work-related concerns that play a role in dual-earner households’ decisions regarding their roles at home and in the workplace. Furthermore, Whiston and Cinamon (2015) conducted a review to summarize ways that the work-family conflict is associated with detrimental outcomes. They reviewed that the work-family conflict experience is negatively associated with marital and family satisfaction (e.g., Carlson & Kacmar 2000), career-related variables including performance and satisfaction (e.g., Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton 2000; Hoobler, Hu, & Wilson 2010), and mental health outcomes including well-being (e.g., Wayne, Musisca, & Fleeson 2004). Additionally, Michel, Mitchelson, Pichler, and Cullen (2010) investigated the relationships between social support, role stressors, and work-family conflict. Results indicated that lack of social support is likely a contributing factor for role stressors and work-family conflict. Occupational time demands were also found to predict work-family conflict. Interestingly, research has not supported that there is a gender difference in prevalence of work-family conflict (e.g., Byron 2005). Byron conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the role of specific variables in the work-family conflict. Variables including gender and marital status were found to be weak sole predictors of work-family conflict. Research has supported that there are gender differences surrounding the experience of work-family conflict (e.g., Allen & Finkelstein 2014; Matias & Fontaine 2015). Matias and Fontaine (2015) found that there are gender differences in roles and coping strategies related to managing work-family conflict. In dual-earner households, results indicated that women’s use of coping strategies

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was more strongly associated with work-family conflict than men’s coping strategies. Partner coping, which included expressing positive attitudes toward varying and multiple roles, and using planning and management skills to balance professional and family obligations, was associated with less work-family conflict. Furthermore, the use of childcare facilities was associated with women’s conflict. The use of planning and management skills regarding childcare had different outcomes depending on gender. When men used these skills, it resulted in reduction of their own conflict but an increase in conflict for the women. When women used these skills, it resulted in a decrease in their own conflict and an increase in partner’s enrichment. Allen and Finkelstein (2014) investigated the relationships between gender, work-family conflict, and family stage. Data were collected from 690 married employees who worked at least 35 hours per week. Results indicated a significant relationship between work-family conflict and family stage, with the least amount of conflict during empty nest stage and the highest amount of conflict occurring when there is a child under the age of 5 living in the home. When the youngest child in the home was a teen, men reported higher levels of work interference with family than women. Overall, women reported more family interference with work than did men. Finally, minimal research has been conducted to investigate long-distance moves and relationships due to career advancement in dual-earner couples. Abraham, Auspurg, and Hinz (2010) investigated migration decisions among dual-earner couples from a bargaining power perspective. Based on responses from 280 European dual-earner couples, results indicated that conflict potential significantly increased when opportunities arose for career-related moves. They also found that this conflict was able to be minimized through mutual commitment of the partners. Results did not indicate gender differences in the influence of bargaining power regarding willingness to move, but they did find that women are less willing to move than men. Based on these findings and the prevalence of dual-earner couples, further research should be conducted in this area to identify the roles of additional variables as well as provide information for adjusting counseling based on these variables.

Workplace Discrimination An additional factor that acts as a barrier in the career-exploration process includes experiencing workplace discrimination. Research supports that discrimination occurs due to a number of variables including, but not limited to, gender, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Women are more likely than men to report experiencing discrimination in the workplace. Leskinen, Rabelo, and Cortina (2015) explain that women in the workplace are caught in a “catch 22.” After collecting data from a sample of 425 working women, results supported that women who deviated from stereotypical femininity traits (e.g., masculine appearance and masculine-typed behaviors including aggression and self-reliance) were also more likely to experience gender harassment. Their research also supported that it was those nonstereotypical masculine characteristics that were associated with professional success. These results imply that working women may have to deal with the additional stress of experiencing gender harassment while assuming larger responsibilities at work. Additionally, Herrbach and Mignonac (2012) found that women experiencing gender discrimination were also more likely to perceive lower subjective career success. Furthermore, they found that women who

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were seeking to have a balance between their home life and work life reported higher levels of perceived gender discrimination. Research also supports that college students who are not yet in the workplace consider gender as a career barrier. Watts, Frame, Moffett, Van Hein, and Hein (2015) investigated the relationship between college student gender, perceived career barriers, and occupational goals. Results indicated that women reported perceiving more barriers than men, and that there was a significant interaction between gender and perceived career barriers that predicted occupational goals. Age is another factor that plays a role in perceived workplace discrimination. Chou and Choi (2011) collected survey data from 420 older workers that were at least 50 years old, and found that 81% of the participants reported experiencing at least one instance of workplace discrimination. Furthermore, employees with lower educational status and/or racial minority status were positively associated with higher levels of perceived workplace discrimination. James, McKechnie, Swanberg, and Besen (2013) conducted a study including a sample of 4,500 employees between the ages of 18 and 94 to determine whether there is a relationship between perceptions of age discrimination and employee engagement. Results indicated that higher level of perceived workplace discrimination was associated with lower levels of employee engagement for employees of all ages. Similarly, Kunze, Boehm, and Bruch (2011) found that age diversity in a company workplace is associated with a climate that includes age discrimination, negatively impacting overall performance of the company. Taylor, McLoughlin, Meyer, and Brooke’s (2013) findings also support that age discrimination in the workplace is not specific to older employees. Results indicated that younger employees also experienced workplace discrimination, and that this experience was a direct and indirect predictor of job satisfaction while also being an indirect predictor of psychological wellbeing. When evaluating the intersection of gender and age in the workplace, Gander (2014) found preliminary support indicating that younger women entering the workforce are more likely to experience perceived workplace discrimination compared to older woman. Future research with larger sample sizes should continue to investigate this relationship. Furthermore, Shaw, Chan, and McMahon (2012) conducted a study to investigate potential interactions between variables including disability, race, age, and gender and their associations with workplace discrimination. Results supported that being an older female with a behavioral disability placed individuals at a higher risk of experiencing workplace discrimination. Sexual orientation is a variable that is associated with workplace discrimination, but has not been as extensively studied in the literature. Ozeren (2014) conducted a systemized literature review to identify common themes in the literature regarding sexual orientation and experiences with workplace discrimination. Some of the identified themes included concerns around coming out, wage inequality, GLBT employee groups, and the effects of GLBT discrimination on workplace outcomes. Gates and Mitchell (2013) conducted a study to examine workplace-related stigma experiences among the LGB working community. Results indicated that during the past 24 months, 78.1% of participants reported experiencing at least one instance of workplace discrimination. Additionally, 54.9% of participants reported that they experienced work peers telling offensive jokes about members of the LGB community, and 36.7% reported experiencing work peers making general homophobic remarks. Furthermore, 34.9% of the participants reported that work peers made them feel like it was

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necessary for them to “act straight.” When asked about experiences related to stigma, 57.3% of participants reported agreeing with the statement that heterosexuals judge homosexuals for their sexual orientation, 51.1% agreed with the statement that they have been personally affected by stereotypical judgments, 53% agreed that heterosexuals have a lot more homosexual thoughts than they actually express, and 42.3% of participants agreed that most heterosexuals have a problem viewing homosexuals as equal. Research also supports an interaction between marital status and gender with regards to workplace discrimination. Nadler and Kufahl (2014) examined the relationships between gender, marital status, and sexual orientation on hiring ratings. Results indicated that there was a significant 3-way interaction between these variables, finding that single lesbian women received significantly higher ratings compared to married lesbian women. Alternately, married heterosexual women received significantly higher ratings compared with single heterosexual women. This interaction between marital status and gender was not significant for men. Research has consistently supported that ethnicity is a factor associated with workplace discrimination. Offermann et al. (2014) conducted a study to examine participants’ colorblind attitudes and perceptions of racial microaggressions in the workplace between a White supervisor toward a Black employee. Results indicated that color-blind attitudes including institutional discrimination and blatant racial issues mediated the relationships between racial group membership and perception of workplace microaggression. Higher levels of color-blind attitudes were significantly associated with a lower probability of perceiving microaggressions. Additionally, Stainback and Irvin (2012) found that having predominately same-race coworkers decreases perceived workplace discrimination and that perceived workplace discrimination mediates the effects of racial composition on organizational attachment. Furthermore, Krings, Johnston, Binggeli, and Maggiori (2014) examined workplace discrimination among samples of immigrants, finding that members of highly competitive immigrant groups (e.g., neighboring countries) report experiencing incivility in the workplace, which was related to increased reports of perceived discrimination at work. A recent meta-analysis conducted by Triana, Jayasinghe, and Pieper (2015) investigated the relationships between workplace discrimination and employee-related outcome variables. Results supported that perceived racial discrimination was negatively associated with job attitudes, physical and psychological health, and perceived diversity climate. Furthermore, there were stronger effect sizes when women and minorities were included in the samples, which indicate that these groups are more likely to perceive discrimination and/or are more likely to respond strongly to perceived discrimination. Interestingly, Chavez, Ornelas, Lyles, and Williams (2015) examined the relationship between workplace discrimination and tobacco and alcohol use among employees reporting discrimination experiences. Based on a sample size of 70,080 participants of various ethnicities including Black, Hispanic, and White, results indicated that discrimination was associated with current smoking, daily smoking, and heavy drinking. Further research should examine unhealthy coping effects due to experiencing workplace discrimination.

Access to Resources For individuals looking to engage in career exploration, there are a wide variety of resources available. From books to brochures, websites to programs, the amount of resources available today far exceed those seen in the decades prior. Unfortunately, many individuals

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still fail to use these accesses. A review of the literature indicates many possibilities for this particular barrier in the career exploration process. Zikic and Hall (2009) note that some individuals may be reluctant to engage in the career exploration process because they lack certain individual characteristics and contextual influences. Specifically, some people lack the opportunities, confidence, and/or skills needed to engage in career exploration. Additionally, many people are simply not aware of the opportunities available to them for exploration. Beyond this, Blustein (2001) comments that many people are also unaware of the need for career exploration. Such a lack of awareness Blustein (2001) adds may be secondary to strong societal norms and traditions and/or an immediate environment which does not encourage exploration. In regional areas which struggle economically, often the focus of career exploration is finding a job, rather than exploring career choices and possibilities. In what may be seen as a cyclic relationship, a lack of opportunities often breeds decreased career exploration and, in turn, decreased career exploration creates a lack of opportunities. For many disadvantaged groups, basic career exploration stimuli cease to exist (Flum & Kaplan 2006). Though Flum and Kaplan (2006) note that such stimuli should be available from a young age, for many individuals there is a lack of stimuli in both their immediate families and in their educational environments. Specifically, Lee and Ekstrom (2001) noted that for many high school students, guidance counseling is the first step in their career exploration process. Unfortunately, statistics show that still today, not every high school student has equal access to counselor and career exploration resources. Students who come from a lower socioeconomic status, are of a minority status, and/or attend schools in rural areas were found to be less likely to have access to guidance counseling in their schools. Moreover, it was found that students who lacked access to counseling were more likely to be placed in nonacademic curricular tracks and to take fewer academic math courses overall. Ultimately, the students who may need guidance the most, were the ones least likely to receive it in their schools. These same students were also more likely to be placed on academic tracks which did not coincide with career success in the future. Expanding on this notion, Julien (1999) found of 400 adolescents surveyed, forty percent noted that they did not know where to go for help in their career decision making. Thirtyeight percent of youth stated they felt they would need to go to too many different places for the information they were looking for. Thus, even if they knew where to find information, they felt the information needed was too scattered. Regarding information provided in books and pamphlets, many students also felt the information was too complex to understand. This in turn, contributed to a decreased use of such resources. Additionally, many youth indicated an unclear understanding of the career exploration process overall which left them feeling anxious and overwhelmed. When offered help in this process, many adolescents stated they did not know what questions to ask. Students and many individuals in general may not be knowledgeable or educated on the career development and decision making process. Even when resources are available, frequently they are under-accessed. Carter, Trainor, Cakiroglu, Swedeen, and Owens (2010) found that, despite the availability of career and vocational resources in some schools, the extent to which such resources are accessed by youth is limited. Children with severe disabilities or emotional and behavioral disorders in urban, suburban, and rural schools are not participating in the career development programs offered. Carter et al. (2010) identified that the reasons for this are varied. Potential factors

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identified, however, all pertain to disability-related needs and the limited professional development opportunities available for educators. Individuals with disabilities are not the only people who are under-accessing the career resources available to them. Domestic violence survivors also seem to have a decreased use of career counseling services (Chronister, Linville, & Kaag 2008). Chronister et al. (2008) found that such decreased use was attributable to numerous contextual barriers. Barriers which arose as the most significant included emotional consequences of abuse fear of new situations, others’ judgements and practical constraints. Yet, once again, not everyone has the resources necessary for career exploration. Beyond a lack of access to guidance counseling, many students also lack access to computers both at home and at school. Attewell (2001) refers to this as a digital divide and notes that such a barrier is increasing the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” particularly the “information haves” and “information have-nots.” Attewell (2001) notes that poor and minority families are less likely than other families to have access to computers. Such a lack of access to computers can decrease an individual’s ability to access career exploration materials, many of which are now available predominantly online and sometimes exclusively. Warschauer and Knobel (2004) note that even when technologies are available to students at schools, the use of such varies between low-socioeconomic status and high socioeconomic status schools. The computer use of low-socioeconomic status schools are affected by uneven human support networks, irregular home access to computers by students, and pressure to raise school test scores while also addressing the needs of a large number of English learners. Such concerns are likely to contribute to a decreased use of online resources for career exploration which may be deemed more leisure-based in activity. Regarding the access of resources for career progression, Cook (2006) notes that there is a lack of opportunities, lack of career guidance, and minimal provision of training and education programs for many workers in their careers. When employees are not provided the opportunity to reach their full potential in their careers, the results can be detrimental. Often as a result, employees leave the company which they are employed or cease career development as an individual. Many individuals cite social cliques and age discrimination as their reason for a lack of career progression and quite possibly continued career exploration. Future research as it pertains to the access of resources for career exploration should focus on the many individual and contextual factors that prevent individuals from partaking in career exploration. Though some of these variables are unique to the individual, many are also part of a larger societal issue. Implications as it relates to these barriers are discussed below.

Implications for Career Counseling Based on the reviewed research, there are some important implications for further research and career counseling interventions.

Personal and Relational Implications As described above, the career decision-making process does not occur within a vacuum, and implications for relationships based on career choice play a major role in this decisionmaking process. One implication from this reviewed research indicates the importance of

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career counseling programs for high school students. Based on Shoffner et al.’s (2015) findings, high school students are already developing perceptions of self-efficacy and expectations about their career success during this time. Interventions such as career development workshops may be particularly helpful. Workshops or career counseling during this stage of development may focus on helping students identify interests, values, and skills. Furthermore, education regarding how to use available career-related resources, such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and O*Net, could provide students with an opportunity to explore careers, as well as gain accurate information regarding the necessary preparatory qualifications required for that career. Additionally, having conversations with peers and peer support during this process may act as a buffer against developing feelings of inadequacy or fears about the probability of successfully obtaining their career of choice. Another implication includes the importance of career barriers that occur during the midlife and retirement phases of development, especially for women with families. Motulsky (2010) explains that future research should include a gendered analysis concerning the career decision-making process because there are differences for men and women, especially in terms of balancing family and career responsibilities. Furthermore, she explains that research should specifically focus on the confounding roles of age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation on the career decision-making process for women. She explains that these factors add additional concerns and/or barriers for women and could provide richer information regarding how cultural variables impact career-related decision-making. Furthermore, Motulsky (2010) also includes practical implications based on her findings. She explains that career counseling should include an integration of relational concerns into career counseling, rather than solely focusing on the role of individual interests, values, and skills. She explained that a more holistic approach to career counseling should include an assessment of these relational concerns. A relational assessment should include an identification of significant relationships in one’s life, and the role that these relationships play in career decisions. Additionally, counseling can help the client to integrate these relationships as a source of emotional and social support during their career exploration process. Research on work-family balance, especially for dual-earner households, also provides important implications for research and practice. While research has explored the role of work-family balance and consequences for career and family roles, minimal research has explored the specific barriers of work-family balance for dual-earner households. For example, research should explore the role of compromise and decision-making for couples with opportunities for careers in different geographic locations. This may have important implications for the quality of their relationship and the advancement of their career. Research may investigate ways that couples navigate these decisions, and ways that career counseling could approach this possibility with clients. Whiston and Cinamon (2015) also provide some implications for interventions to balance work and family roles while reducing conflict. They explain that it is important for relational needs to be met both at work and at home, and that counseling should focus on encouraging individuals to have a support network in both domains. By having a relational support system in both domains, they explain that there is less opportunity for conflict to occur in either domain. Furthermore, they explain that incorporating Savickas’s (2005) career construction theory into counseling may be particularly helpful in incorporating meaning-making decisions for both work and family roles into the process of career construction.

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Whiston and Cinamon (2015) suggest using a narrative counseling approach to help clients identify their values for family and work based on Savickas’s (2005) domains of vocational personality, career adaptability, and life themes. This approach focuses on using information from clients’ life stories to identify ways of integrating clients’ attitudes, competencies, and behaviors into their world of work. Furthermore, clients are taught strategies and resources for adapting and integrating these characteristics into their roles at work and at home. Lastly, counselors would listen for themes that are consistent across work and family roles, and help clients to be aware of these themes, while processing ways that these themes are facilitating healthy or unhealthy relationships. Cinamon (2006, 2014) also explains that early intervention and education may provide a buffer against the work-family conflict. Cinamon (2006) developed a career intervention program to increase adolescents’ sense of self-efficacy to manage and balance both career and family roles. This program focuses on three components of work-family balance including identity exploration, career information, and development of skills to manage both domains. Cinamon (2014) also developed a group intervention titled “Work-Family Synergy” which focuses on providing skills and coping resources for balancing work and family roles while preventing conflict. Career counselors may incorporate this research and intervention resources into their work with clients to provide holistic career counseling.

Workplace Discrimination Implications for minimizing workplace discrimination should be addressed by conducting further research and implementing policy changes informed by that research. There is currently a large gap in research investigating the occurrence and effects of workplace discrimination on career development, decision-making processes, workplace culture and environment, and workplace productivity. Zawadzki, Danube, and Shields (2012) compared methods by which information regarding gender inequity in the workplace were delivered, and found that an approach to providing information that reduced reactance and promoted self-efficacy was effective. This approach, Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation - Academic version (WAGESAcademic), is a brief workshop that incorporates experiential learning to teach workers about subtle forms of sexism in the workplace. The workshop is presented in a board game format, where members of the Green Team draw cards that highlight subtle sexism (e.g., being criticized for making a forceful decision) while members of the White Team draw cards that praise them for their assertiveness. The game is designed in a way that the White team is consistently rewarded with small advantages over the Green Team. It highlights that, over time, those small advantages will accumulate into larger opportunities for the members of the White Team. The game ends in a comparison and discussion about the differences in opportunities for the Green and White Team members, and focuses on individual, group, and institutional levels of discrimination. Zawadzki et al. (2012) found that presenting information in this format was significantly more successful than lecturing on this topic. They discuss that WAGES-Academic presents information in a manner that reduces reactance, increases self-efficacy, and increases knowledge retention. Workplace environments experiencing issues with subtle sexism may consider implementing experiential learning exercises, such as WAGES-Academic, to encourage change in workplace climate. Furthermore, this type of experiential learning exercise could be applied to many different forms of workplace discrimination. Based on this

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approach, it may be hypothesized that workshops regarding workplace discrimination should include active exercises, such as role plays, to provide applied examples while reducing reactive responses. As mentioned above, there is a dearth of literature investigating workplace discrimination among a number of populations. Furthermore, policy changes should be informed by research to specifically address the workplace climates that lack interventions to reduce workplace discrimination.

Access to Resources Implications as it pertains to the access of resources for career development and exploration are vast. First and foremost, it is recommended that the opportunity for career development and exploration be provided to all individuals, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and the like. As it stands now, not everyone is provided with the same opportunities for career exploration (Attewell 2001; Lee & Ekstrom 2001; Zikic & Hall 2009). This, however, is unacceptable in today’s times. Discrimination comes in many forms and denying individuals the equal opportunity to learn about, and plan for their future based on demographics is just another form of such. We, as a society, need to make sure that children are provided both in school, and at home, with the basic career development and exploration stimuli they need (Flum & Kaplan 2006). It is recommended that career development and exploration opportunities be provided for children as young as five in elementary school settings nationally. In addition, it is recommended that guidance counseling be made available in all high schools, particularly for students who come from a lower socioeconomic status, are of a minority status, and/or attend schools in rural areas (Lee & Ekstrom 2001). As it stands now, these children, in particular, are of the majority that is not receiving the opportunity for career development and exploration. Such findings may only be described as tragic when it is considered that these are the youth who perhaps need career guidance the most. Furthermore, as noted by Attewell (2001), denying individuals the opportunity to engage in career exploration due to their status is only further expanding the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” of the world. Specific recommendations as it pertains to bridging this gap include career exploration groups and programs at career centers, not just schools, for adolescents and college-age students. It is also recommended that we, as a society and as providers, need to make sure that youth, college students, and adults, alike, are aware of where to go for help in their decision making process and that help is available. As Julien (1999) found, often times, individuals do not know where to turn for answers to their questions. Furthermore, many individuals feel that they would have to go to numerous places for the information they need. Future efforts should be made to ensure that the information can be obtained from one sole source and that individuals in society are aware of what that source is and where to access it. For many people, even engaging in career exploration can be stressful and overwhelming (Julien 1999). Thus, as providers, we should be trying to reduce this stress and simplify the process for the consumer at large. One such way to reduce consumer stress is to properly explain the process of career exploration and to have the individual become an active participant in one’s own discovery. Many individuals do not know what the process entails. Because of this, they cite that they do not know what questions to ask and/or what steps to take next. Many individuals are also overwhelmed because the information provided for them

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is too complex for understanding. All providers should strive to provide their clients with information which is simple and easily understood. Such material has a higher likelihood of being used in later times. Providers are reminded that information which is not easily understood by clients and is often not used and this lead to deter future information seeking and exploration overall. Counselors need to also work to ensure the trust of their client (Julien 1999; Chronister et al. 2008). If counselors do not build proper rapport with their clients, clients are less likely to be active participants in their own exploration. They are also unlikely to return for services or to recommend such services to a friend. This is especially true for certain at risk populations as detailed previously. For specific clientele, it may even be necessary to partake in general counseling prior to engaging in career counseling. For others, subsequent general counseling may suffice. Providers should speak with their clients ad libitum before engaging in career counseling and make this type of decision based on the personality, self-efficacy, confidence, and personal skills, as well as perceived barriers. Specific to adults, it was found that there is a large shortage of information available specific to career exploration. Such a finding seems rather perplexing when it is considered that career exploration is a lifelong process (Blustein 1997), and not something that is truly ever complete. Adults, it is noted, may continuously engage in career exploration as they make decisions to stay or leave a company or how their career interacts with their lifestyle. They may reengage in career exploration should they voluntarily or involuntarily terminate from a company, as well as if they are forced to relocate geographically due to familial concerns. These are only a few examples of times in which career exploration may continue or be reignited. Future research, as it pertains to adult career exploration, should focus on the many individual differences and contextual influences of the career exploration process overall. Specifically, researchers should look to see if personality, self-efficacy, perceived barriers, familial support, peer relations, and the like have the same influence on career exploration as they do for adolescents and college students comparatively. Furthermore, as detailed above, what times specifically, are adults engaging in career exploration. Is career exploration in later adulthood unique from that of adolescents and early adulthood? If so how? These are only a few of the questions which researchers should seek to answer. Researchers should also consider ways in which greater career exploration options could be offered for adults. While typically opportunities for career exploration are offered in school settings for youth, researchers and providers alike should begin considering what options may could be created for adults. Options need to be available in society as well as on the job. Though it is anticipated employers may try to rebuff such efforts, it is recommended they be educated on the ways this may benefit them, in addition to the ways it may benefit their employees. Presently, a large number of adult workers feel they lack the opportunity for career progression (Cook 2006). Specifically, they cite a lack opportunities, lack of career guidance, and minimal provision of training and education programs at their work. As a result of these three factors, many employees are never reaching their full potential. They are leaving the company in which they are employed and/or ceasing career development as an individual. Career exploration opportunities, however, could potentially put an end to such abysmal outcomes. In fact, it is proposed that if career exploration opportunities were made available on the job, no matter an individual’s age, race, and/or status within a company, that greater

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worker productivity, job satisfaction, and job retention may be seen. Such outcomes can only be described as a win-win for both employer and employee, and society at large. These are only a few of the recommendations for practice and research that can be made based on the included theories and research of barriers to career exploration. Above all else, it is recommended that equal opportunities begin to be provided for all members of society. In addition, that providers begin to think of the individual, and their career exploration pursuits, in a more holistic manner overall. Such a recommendation is made, with the notion, that it is only through complete analysis of an individual’s differences and contextual influences, that their need and ability to successfully undergo the career exploration process can be understood.

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In: Career Development Editor: Tanya V. Martin

ISBN: 978-1-63484-076-7 © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 2

THE INFLUENCE OF OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES IN SHAPING INDIVIDUAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT Alan Brown and Jenny Bimrose* Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

ABSTRACT The precise pattern of how individual career pathways develop are clearly influenced by individual decisions, attitudes and behaviour but they also take place within particular contexts. Careers and identities evolve through the classic dynamic interaction of structure and agency. The focus of this chapter is upon the influence of opportunity structures in shaping individual career development and material will be drawn from two European studies which involved interviewing either low skilled and/or intermediate skilled workers in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The most obvious ways in which individual career development is facilitated or constrained in particular contexts relates to the access to the opportunities associated with different types of employment, training and education. Opportunity structures influence individual careers and access to challenging work was often a significant driver of subsequent career development for individuals who described successful career narratives. However, other forms of work could act as barriers or faciltiators to career development. The significance of the role of initial vocational education and training in constraining or facilitating subsequent career development, including access to continuing vocational education and training to develop and deepen expertise, will also be examined.

Keywords: career development, opportunity structures, identity, learning and development

*

Corresponding author: Prof. Alan Brown, IER, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, England. E-mail: [email protected].

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INTRODUCTION Model of Learning for Career Development: Role of Opportunity Structures There are a huge variety of forms, contexts and content of learning associated with learning for career development. As a consequence, the precise configuration of key learning processes for career development will vary depending on the individual and context. It is therefore an empirical question as to which are the most important factors in particular contexts and Brown (2015) developed a model to help those interested in knowing more about the factors which influence career development processes. A model of learning for career and labour market transitions was developed in order to help people consider where they may like to focus their attention. The analysis of the strategic learning and career biographies of interviewees in five countries led to the design of a model of learning for career and labour market transitions which could help researchers, practitioners and policymakers understand more about how to support people making career and labour market transitions. Learning for career development can be effectively supported if it is understood that it can be represented in three inter-related ways: as a process of identity development; as a process of development in four inter-related domains; and taking place in the context of particular opportunity structures. The overall model will be briefly described but the focus of this article is upon the third representation. The first representation views learning as a process of identity development: a process of ‘learning as becoming’ outlined in the strategic career and learning biographies of individuals. Key influences in this representation of learning are: the personal characteristics underpinning learning and development: learning through self-understanding; and development of personal qualities: sense of personal agency; personality; motivation (determination); resilience; self-efficacy (self-belief; ‘efficacy belief’); commitment to own learning and professional development; career orientation (career decision-making style); and career adaptability. The second way learning for career development can be represented is as occurring across four domains: relational development; cognitive development; practical development; emotional development. Learning may involve development in one or more domains and development in each domain can be achieved in a number of different ways, but development can be represented thematically, although the extent of development under particular themes varied greatly across individual cases (Brown 2015). The third representation of learning for career development acknowledges that learning takes place in the context of opportunity structures within which individuals operate. These structures include: employment/unemployment rates; employer recruitment practices, including openness of job offers; initial vocational education and training (IVET); occupational pathways; continuing vocational training (CVT) system; progression to and permeability with Higher Education (HE) from VET; affordances for learning and interaction at work; occupational structure (e.g., concept of ‘Beruf’); transition regimes; recognition of prior learning; support structures (e.g., family, personal networks, public employment services); career guidance; support for reflection; opportunities to address skills mismatch

The Influence of Opportunity Structures …

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(including under-employment); and extent of opportunities for learning for personal development. The key to understanding learning for career development is then to switch back and forth between representations. So, for example, those wishing to support such learning may start by helping an individual with the process of identity development, reflecting upon their career story, developing a sense of career direction and a commitment to their learning, professional development and career adaptability. The next phase of support could examine what types of learning and development were required across the four domains in order for individuals to achieve their goals. Both these processes may need to be revisited in the context of particular opportunity structures within which decisions are being made. In practice, the support offered by those wishing to support learning for career development may start with any of the three representations. The crucial aspect is that, wherever, the starting point, they have to engage with processes of identity formation and development within and across the four domains and be sensitive to the particular opportunity structures within learning takes place. It is the influence of opportunity structures upon career development which is our primary focus and it is to that to which we now turn our attention.

Opportunity Structures Extended initial career development transitions for young people before meaningful occupational identities are established are now common in many economies because of unfavourable labour market conditions and structures, (Roberts 1997, MacDonald et al. 2005). In addition to the occupational offers a society makes, other structural elements impinge upon occupational identity development, in that individual choice takes place within opportunity structures associated with particularities of time, place, labour market and the organisation of work (Roberts 2009). Opportunity structures are formed primarily by the inter-relationships between family backgrounds, education, labour market processes and employers' recruitment practices. So, for example, people the same age when faced with making choices about work may be faced with very different opportunities and expectations depending upon their family and educational backgrounds. Similarly, seeking permanent employment if you possess intermediate skills is very different in Spain or Italy from Germany, due to the differences in unemployment rates, occupational pathways and employers’ recruitment practices. Individuals’ likelihood of realising their choices, as well as the choices themselves, is framed by the structure of opportunities available to them. The career and learning pathways available and different sets of expectations about career choice and occupational mobility are framed within clear opportunity structures, which vary within and between sectors and countries. The use of the term ‘opportunity structures’ itself neatly expresses the tension between openness and flexibility and structured pathways (Roberts 2009). Occupational identities are both personal and social (Brown and Bimrose 2015), and the occupational and educational structure, patterns of work organisation, nature and buoyancy of the labour market and employer recruitment practices can act to frame occupational choices and whether choices and identities are realised or reformed. Occupational identity development is an important driver of learning for career development, with occupational identity formation itself a dynamic process (Brown 1997).

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Employers, while themselves constrained by competition, interdependence, uncertainty of demand, and complexity of their product or service, etc., use various means to attempt to shape work identities through the work they expect people to do. These means include organisational structure; vertical and horizontal mobility; flexibility; learning and development; organisation of work; and power and control. Employers are also constrained by societal influences: ‘offers’ and expectations coming from education and training; the occupational structure and the labour market. Employees, individually and collectively, also seek to influence how their work is carried out through the actions of individuals; work groups; communities of practice; custom and practice; trades unions, etc. The nature of work identities, however, is also necessarily affected by processes internal to the individual in terms of their self-reflection and appraisal of their current situation as well as through their interaction with work, learning and relationships and interactions with others. The process of acquiring an occupational identity takes place within particular communities where socialisation, interaction and learning are key elements, with individuals taking on aspects of existing identities and roles, while actively reshaping other aspects in a dynamic way. The formation, maintenance and change of occupational identities are always influenced by the nature of the relationships around which they are constructed. Over time these interactions may lead to modifications and reshaping of these same structures, the communities of practice and the individual’s work identity (Brown 1997).

Expectations of Engagement with Opportunities for Lifelong Learning and Career Development Even where people make successful transitions into employment, there are increasing societal expectations that they will continue to engage with learning opportunities. Indeed, adults in employment who do not engage in substantive up-skilling or re-skilling for five or more years, increasingly run the risk of being locked into particular ways of working (Brown et al. 2010). They become vulnerable in the labour market, especially if their circumstances change. Another striking finding of the research by Brown et al. (2010) was that learning which results in significant changes in values, attitudes, or behaviour for individuals tends to be episodic across the life-course. In emphasising significant learning it is necessary to distinguish it as learning which entails substantial personal development or transformation— quite different from other learning which involves adaptation to minor changes in context, organisation, practices and processes of work, where basic values, attitudes and behaviour remain largely unchanged. Significant learning which is episodic fits with a more general pattern of increasing engagement by people in lifelong learning (Field 2000). Identity is a central concept in individual development (Castells 1997) and Giddens (1991) linking of identity to biography where he sees identity as being ‘the self as reflexively understood by the individual in terms of his or her biography’ (1991, p. 18) means we need to consider learning identities and individual career development as intertwined. The self and a person’s identity are shaped and constructed through past and present experiences (Ferguson 2009). Individuals also imagine a future identity of who they want to be and become.

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The identities of adult learners have been shaped by their past experiences of learning at school, in the family and the workplace. What they seek to achieve may influence the form of their learning, with some relying primarily upon learning in the workplace, whereas others may wish to engage in more formal education and training. Adults’ learning careers are complex and they are constantly changing identity and, in Goffman’s (1974) terms, moving from one frame to another as they switch between their learner and other identities. Identity is shaped by social, institutional and personal experiences and processes and while learning identities are often discussed in individual terms but they can also be collective (Ferguson 2009). A collective learner identity can help to sustain learning and enable people to cope, especially if they are in a minority in formal learning contexts. Identity links structure and agency as it is ‘a function of both external (social) and internal (agentic) factors’ (Côté and Levine 2002, p. 9). Berger and Luckman make a similar point: ‘identity is a phenomenon that emerges from the dialectic between individual and society’ (1973, p. 195). The interaction between structure and agency is evident in the stories told by adult learners in a number of studies, as they strive to use their agency in engaging in learning while also sometimes struggling against constraining structural factors (Bloomer and Hodkinson (2000), Crossan, Field, Gallacher and Merrill (2003), Johnston and Merrill (2005)). Attitudes and engagement in learning are shaped by an individual’s past experiences of learning and training. Learning, in a variety of forms (formal, non-formal and informal) both inside and outside the workplace has become a mechanism and a process in the transition from one type of job to another. Learning has, therefore, come to play a central role in enabling and managing transitions in the workplace. As Field (2000) points out education in adult life becomes a resource for individuals seeking to promote their employability and mobility, but also at the same time a cause of further uncertainty and risk. The argument here is that learning opens up opportunities, for example for prospective career development, but that these opportunities themselves entail risks especially where they involve giving up a current job. Also because future career pathways are less clear-cut in terms of progression within occupations or organisations greater emphasis is put on the individual to find a route foreword rather than on society and employers to provide such pathways. The individualising tendencies in society have brought about increasing risks and uncertainties for the individual in all spheres of life (Beck 1992). For Bauman ‘individualisation’ consists of transforming human ‘identity’ from a ‘given’ into a ‘task’ and charging the actors with the responsibility for performing that task and for the consequences (and also side-effects) of their performance’ (2000, pp. 31-32). Bauman’s argument is that say fifty years ago many more people would take on a whole series of identities from a relatively limited set of choices. So, for example, whole districts would be principally defined by their major employers and often even leisure pursuits would be shared – for example, railway workers and their allotments (Wedderburn 1965). Identities were treated as ‘givens,’ provided by societies, culture, institutions and localities in a framework of often relatively narrow expectations, and individuals selected from this limited palette, now choices are multiple, societal, cultural and institutional influences more muted, and for individuals finding their place is now a major task. Some aspects of individualisation may indeed be driven by a greater sense of personal agency, but the retreat from the provision of clear but limited choices implies a greater need of the use of agency by the actor in institutional and social life (Beck 1992). For Giddens (1991) the self, in adjusting to and coping with change, has become ‘a reflexive project’

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constantly constructing and re-constructing self and identity. In a similar way Beck (1992) outlines what he calls a reflexive biography and asserts that the ‘individualisation of life situations and processes thus means that biographies become self-reflexive; socially prescribed biography is transformed into biography that is self-produced and continues to be produced’ (p. 135). It is noteworthy, however, that these writers were writing before the economic crisis of 2008, before then individualisation seemed to be giving agency the upper hand over structure. However, given current unemployment levels in, for example, Spain and Italy, and the scale of redundancies there and in Denmark and France too, it could be argued that the pendulum has swung back. In settings with high unemployment and few job openings on the open market individuals may believe they have limited control over their career development. A career transition infers a change and movement from one identity, self and situation to another. It implies having to let go of part or all of a person’s ‘old identity’ to assume a ‘new or modified identity.’ This involves a process of self-reflection through learning. Transitions are, therefore, about ‘becoming.’ Transitions occur in between periods of stability (Levinson and Levinson 1996) and, as Merriam argues, ‘change is fundamental to adult life’ (2005, p. 3). However, transitions are not linear and an individual may experience more than one transition at once or overlapping transitions. Transitions are linked to social roles, experiences, behaviour, social contexts, agency and structure (George 1993). In the process of transition, identity formation and change becomes a dialectical process between structure and agency. For Elder et al. (2003) ‘transitions often involve changes in status or identity, both personally and socially, thus opening up opportunities for behavioural change’ (2003, p. 8). Transitions can also be viewed as being driven by ‘turning-point’ moments (Elder et al. 2003) and could be associated with the transitions of young people when they make decisions about their future career direction (Bloomer and Hodkinson 2000). Whereas for a woman returning to the labour market in her thirties obtaining qualifications as an adult substantially increases the likelihood that she will be successful in making a transition to paid employment (Jenkins 2006). Turning points could feature changes in the opposite direction as when adults, some of whom are in employment, make use of further education (Crossan et al. 2003) in search of new identities. Overall then, learning may drive transitions but also experience of transitions may drive the need for learning (Merriam 2005). Learning and transitions have a similar dialectic relationship as structure and agency. So work transitions can be a major driver of learning, as when a person is promoted or changes jobs and is faced with a whole range of challenging tasks and patterns of interaction and engages with a range of different forms of learning in order to improve their performance. On the other hand, learning may precede transition, as when people engage in further education and training prior to applying for a new job or undertaking a role change.

Different Institutional Pathways into Employment The relative low incidence of institutional pathways into employment in Italy and Spain compared to, for example, those available in Denmark, France and Germany has two consequences. First, individuals are largely on their own when it comes to ‘making their way’ into employment. Second, individuals, however, are anything but on their own in that the

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problems they face, such as very high levels of unemployment and lack of transparency in many company recruitment processes, are largely structural and shared by many of their compatriots. The ways in which learning supports career paths can be understood through the lenses of an agency/structure model (Giddens 1991, Archer 2003). The capacity of finding different pathways through difficult structural conditions, especially as far as work and employment are concerned, can be considered as the marking sign of the epoch of late modernity and reflexivity (Giddens 1991, Beck 1992). The challenge of finding individual paths into, and then maintaining, employment through very difficult structural conditions is exactly the landscape which faced our interviewees from Italy and Spain. Individuals facing swiftly changing situations of their own social and private life are experiencing the need for increasingly greater personal responsibilities and choices (Bauman 2000). Autonomy, subjectivity, responsibility and choice seem to converge in the overarching phenomenon of individualisation, but within structures which can be in some respects very constraining in the lack of clear institutional pathways to permanent employment. During the last decade, the global economic crisis has – especially in Southern European economies – further intensified such transformation effects. The continued destruction of many jobs, accompanied by the increase of precariousness in the great majority of working activities, has extended dangers of marginalisation to groups who were previously relatively secure. Thus even knowledge workers, new entrants into the labour market holding excellent educational qualifications, and experienced technicians and managers are finding it difficult to make successful labour market transitions (Eichhorst et al. 2010, European Commission 2012). Individuals are increasingly alone in facing the consequences of processes, which are only partly within the control of traditional economic and political authorities. However, while individuals may feel alone, their plight is anything but unique, framed against globalising forces at work and a severe economic crisis. Quintini and Manfredi (2009), in their comparative analysis of transition pathways into employment for young people in the United States and Europe, commented that ‘in Spain – school-to-work transitions are characterised by a high incidence of temporary work. Spain has a significantly smaller share of youth belonging to pathways dominated by employment while a larger share of youth appears to enter the labour market on pathways characterised by significant instability’ (p. 45). Overall then, the literature suggests that we could expect to find evidence of more highly ‘individualised’ attempts at career development and learning for labour market transitions in Italy and Spain than in, for example, Denmark, France or Germany, where the opportunity structures offer much higher levels of institutionalised support and clearer progression pathways.

Role of Education and Training in Framing Career Development Opportunities Before examining the positive role formal education and training can play in helping individuals’ upskill and/or reskill in their mid-career, it is perhaps instructive also to consider the legacy of earlier experiences of formal (school) education. These can either be positive providing a platform for further development or negative in the sense of representing a barrier to be overcome. Wojecki’s (2007) study of learner identities in the workplace used a narrative

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perspective to look at workers working in the community and social services sector who were studying on a two year vocational and educational training programme in a formal learning context. He draws on the metaphor of ‘wounded learning practices’ for those with negative prior formal learning experiences. He explains: ‘The metaphor of wounded learning practices is offered in the externalising of some adult learners’ previous experiences of formal learning environments, and the implications these experiences might have for some adult learners and the identities and relationships they construct regarding their participation in formal training programmes. A narrative perspective of identity has been developed, inviting adult educators to appreciate how adult learners’ use of stories about learning may affect their current and future renderings of self […] Stories of an individual’s experiences of formal learning may shape how an adult learner sees herself as a “learner”’(2007, p. 179).

Education and training can facilitate career development in a number of ways. First, there is the role of initial vocational education and training in providing a platform for initial occupational development on which an individual can build their later career development. Secondly, systems of continuing vocational education and training can offer a range of opportunities for career progression and development. The effectiveness of these systems are multiplied where there is strong continuity through formalised initial and continuing education and training pathways, where development opportunities fit within a clear framework for career progression. In such cases individual career progression is often linked to formal qualifications. Career pathways, however, are strongly framed by organisational opportunity structures as well as national systems. Third, higher education institutions can play a role in facilitating career development, although the degree of permeability between achievements within VET and HE may be a factor influencing access to such provision. Initial vocational education and training plays a significant role in framing subsequent career development. At the European level the importance of vocational education and training is often asserted. For example, the Helsinki Communiqué on Enhanced European Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training of 2006 stressed that vocational education and training (VET) is an integral part of lifelong learning strategies. "It plays a key role in human capital accumulation for the achievement of economic growth, employment and social objectives. VET is an essential tool in providing European citizens with the skills, knowledge and competences needed in the labour market and knowledge based society." It stresses the skills, competences and mobility of the labour force should be promoted and that training opportunities should be provided for those in working life1. By definition, initial vocational education and training is the base of this structure, but the significance of initial VET is multiplied in those countries, such as Germany, where occupational labour markets are still very influential. From this perspective it is instructive to look at the role of initial VET in Germany in providing a platform for career development. The defining image of participation in the dual system of firm-based training and parttime VET in Berufsschulen acting for many participants as almost a guarantee of permanent skilled employment with the possibility of further firm-based career progression has been increasingly difficult to sustain for some time (Kutscha 2002). However, even though it is no 1

The Helsinki Communiqué on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training, 5 December 2006 http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/helsinkicom_en. pdf.

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longer unchallenged the concept of ‘Beruf’ persists as the dominant organizational principle for the German vocational education and training system and national labour market (Reuling 1996). In those systems that closely link skills acquisition with institutionalised training structures and labour markets, the formalised vocational training and the socialisation in acquiring an occupational specialisation form essential elements of developing an occupational identity (Heinz 1995). Complemented and further supported by company-based socialisation, both elements are directly linked to belonging to particular work-based communities through occupationally defined categories with which individuals identify. Through the central role of the dual system of education and training for the German economy, the relative position of the vocational track, as against the academic route, has traditionally been very strong, much stronger than in many other countries. Also Germany stands out for an early division between the vocational and the academic route, and the dual system itself generates gendered professions and career development pathways. Almost in parallel to the dual system applying to predominantly male careers, full-time vocational schools were established in work areas, which did not form part of the crafts or industrial training system of skilled labour such as social work or health care. Conceptualised as a complementary structure to the industry-based dual training system, these schools were targeted to provide vocational education for young girls to prepare them for domestic roles or jobs in personal services. From this tradition developed a school-based vocational training system that mainly covers skills formation for the major social, educational and medical professions such as child-care, nursing, elderly care, speech therapy, physiotherapy, and so on. This route comprises, overall, more than one hundred professional domains which to date remain female dominated. The historical polarisation persists and still influences job stratification between men and women in Germany today. Overall then, the experience of initial vocational education and training (IVET) can set some individuals on occupationally-related career development pathways, whereas for others whose career development does not align with their initial training, then they may have to follow more individualised paths. Structured pathways are available, but there is still a role of individual agency in transitions, and Heinz (1999, 2000) and Witzel and Kühn (2000) stress individuals’ active roles in entry into work and in transitions between education, training and employment and subsequently how they deal with the work situation and performance expectations and transform their personal resources into work biographies. It is also important to remember that while IVET still plays an important role in skill formation in Germany, when our interviewees left school this pathway was even more important and was, and continues to be, principally organised around dual systems of firmbased training and part-time vocational education. IVET was not seen as separate from the academic pathway in that large numbers of entrants to IVET had completed their Abitur, which gave access to higher education (HE). By 2008 the shift meant that one-fifth of all new entrants to IVET within the dual system had completed their Abitur (BIBB 2010, p. 159). This figure is evidence of the high reputation, acceptance and attractiveness of IVET continues to enjoy in Germany, even if IVET is now faced with greater competition than in the 1980s and 1990s when our interviewees were choosing their education and training pathways. Continuing vocational education and training can also frame subsequent career opportunities and for an examination of the role of continuing vocational education and training in supporting learning for career development, this time France will be used as an

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exemplar. The French vocational education and training system plays an important role in increasing the capacity for practical skill development, securing access to and progression within occupations and the means of linking learning paths making use of a variety of formal, informal and non-formal learning through a variety of instruments. The IVET and CVT (continuing vocational training) systems are interconnected and complementary. The French CVT system comprises three basic components: Employer-Directed CVT (ED-CVT), Employee Self-Directed CVT (SD-CVT) and Employee-Employer Directed CVT via the ‘Individual Right to Training (DIF-Droit Individuel à la Formation).’ Employer-initiated and Directed CVT (ED-CVT) constitutes the dominant instrument used within the French continuing vocational training system. It is generally carried out within the framework of the vocational training plan of the organisation (private or public) and includes all kinds of short term and medium term vocational training. For the enterprise, the training plan is usually financed through the firm's overall mandatory contribution (representing now an overall a minimum contribution of 1.6% of its total wage bill) to an accredited vocational training fund (acting on branch and regional levels) (Dif 2008). Employee self-directed continuing vocational training (SD-CVT) is usually carried out via one or more of the three main formally institutionalised vocational training regimes: 





Individual Training Leave (CIF – Congé Individuel de Formation): introduced in 1971, it was designed to allow any worker in the private sector to take (over his/her working life) paid leave (under minimum requirements adapted to the nature of work contract) to undertake self-initiated and directed training programmes independent of the organisation’s training scheme (Dif 2008, Gahéry 1996, Guilloux 1996). Professional Training Leave (CFP - Congé de Formation Professionnelle): the CFP is equivalent to CIF scheme but is for employees in the public sector, accessible after accumulating three years of full-time working experience (or equivalent). Its maximum duration is 12 months (and three years maximum accumulated leaves over the whole career of the beneficiary). Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE - Valdication des Acquis de l’Expereince): the validation of prior experiential informal and non-formal learning has been progressively extended over decades and following the latest act (‘Social Modernisation Act’ 17 January 2002) it now includes recognition for, in addition to prior work-based learning, learning gained through social and cultural activities. The procedure, which guarantees access to a VAE regime, has four basic stages: provision of information and guidance; establishing the Feasibility of the candidature; the candidate’s portfolio preparation and accompaniment; and assessment, interviewing and validation.

Additionally, anyone active in the labour market who meets the qualifying criteria is eligible to undertake a Competence Audit (BC – Bilan de Compétences). BC established the individual’s right to have a voluntary access to personnel and professional assessment and guidance with aim of coping with work/learning transitions and defining a clear professional or training project for future developments. As a ‘formative’ and ‘guidance’ instrument, the competence audit does not lead to any formal recognition or certification but it might lead to undertaking a ‘VAE.’ The assessment process has three individualised stages (Dif 2008):

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preliminary information and guidance stage; assessment stage; concluding guidance stage, which allows the beneficiary through an interview to: have access to detailed results of the assessment stage; identify the favourable and non-favourable factors for the construction of a professional or a training project, and predict/plan the principal steps of its implementation. Finally, there is the Individual Right for Training (DIF-Droit Individuel à la Formation). DIF is an individual right to training (CVT) open to any employee on open ended duration contract (justifying at least one working year with the current employer) as well as to any employee on a fixed duration contract (justifying 4 working months with the current employer during the last 12 months). The right to training is accessed (in both private and public sectors) at the initiative of the employee in consultation and agreement with the employer, is available for 20 hours per year and is cumulative within the limit of 120 hours over 6 years. These accumulated training hours can be used for taking a leave for the validation of acquired experiential learning (CVAE- Congé VAE) or a leave for competence audit (CBC - Congé de BC). So, the training is usually undertaken outside the enterprise and financially taken in charge by the employer. Overall, systemic support for continuing vocational education and training of the type offered by the French system can offer a range of opportunities for career progression and development. Denmark and Germany too have formalised CVT support, whereas provision in Italy and Spain is comparatively under-developed. The French system also offers continuity between formalised initial and continuing education and training pathways, so that development opportunities fit within a clear framework for career progression and access to qualifications. The French system, however, differs from the Danish and German systems in that as well as supporting progression within a sector, there are also resources available to those considering more radical career change through the system of BC and VAE. Whether taking CVT and acquiring formal qualifications actually leads to career progression, however, depends on organisational opportunity structures as well as national systems. The role of Higher Education (HE) in framing career development was very important for the highly skilled, but our sample was specifically drawn so that individuals were in low or intermediate level positions and had usually not completed full (EQF level 6) graduate qualifications straight from school. However, HE could still play a role for adults in facilitating career development, especially in those sectors such as health or engineering where post-experience HE qualifications can be used as an indicator of higher level expertise. However, the degree of permeability between achievements within VET and HE in different countries may be a factor influencing access to such provision more generally. HE can also be used by adults who are looking to change career, but access may be an issue in this respect too. Recent changes in HE impinge upon individual intentions to upskill or reskill in mid-career. Higher education institutions across Europe are increasingly likely to be engaged in partnerships with employers and local communities, as ‘institutional boundaries become less tight as interrelationships with the wider society grow’ (Barnett 2003, p. 27). While some systems remain elite the system as a whole has become a mass-based one (Scott 2001, Osborne 2003) opening up opportunities for widening participation and access for groups who never previously entered higher education including adults. The Bologna Declaration of 1999 has led to the creation of a European Higher Education Area with the aim of creating a more common system of higher education across Europe while still respecting national and cultural diversity.

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One consequence of the Bologna Declaration was to introduce Bachelor and Master’s degrees in systems, which previously operated a single-exit point at Diplom level. This posed a particular challenge in Germany where occupational identity development is particularly significant with traditionally high importance attached to apprenticeship, skilled work and clear occupational pathways based on the concept of ‘Beruf.’ However, attitudes to initial vocational education and training are changing as there is an ‘academic shift in the labour market’ which is leading to changes in companies’ qualification requirements in ways detrimental to students completing IVET. The new qualification profiles of some three-year Bachelor degrees in Germany are explicitly vocational and have been devised to be an attractive alternative for upper secondary school leavers with a general university entrance qualification (Abitur). The explicit intention is to recruit school leavers who previously enrolled in IVET (often apprenticeship) programmes (Hippach-Schneider et al. 2013). The first Bachelor programmes were introduced in Germany in 2002 and this development has led to questions as to the relative standing of the vocationally oriented degree programmes compared to completion of apprenticeship or other IVET programmes, with the concern that Bachelor graduates might displace the latter in the competition for skilled work in the labour market (Briedis et al. 2011). Some companies seemed particularly interested in applicants who had followed pathways where both practical and academic expertise had been developed (Hippach-Schneider et al. 2013). Such expertise could be developed in a number of ways as individuals moved through different education, training and employment contexts, but hybrid qualifications or dual-track pathways were one route. For example, a Bachelor’s degree from a university of applied sciences might have substantive in-company component, mirroring the dual system of IVET. If the intention is to preserve IVET as an attractive educational pathway for high achievers in Germany, then this will necessitate increased permeability into HE from IVET. Companies valued having people, particularly at the intermediate level, with double qualifications or who had completed hybrid pathways which had both vocational and academic components. Hence, any ‘academic shift’ for IVET would not have to lead to subsequent traditional fulltime academic disciplinary university-level study, but could lead to forms of higher (tertiary-level) vocational education, which was combined with work or at least substantive work experience (Hippach-Schneider et al. 2013). In the longer run, and in contexts outside Germany, constraints on the further development of these hybrid pathways, combining a practical and academic orientation over an extended period, could come from insufficiently demanding initial vocational pathways or insufficient numbers of technically demanding jobs rather than any constraints from HE in the willingness to offer such programmes.

METHODS Examples of the influence of opportunity structures in shaping individual career development will be drawn from two European studies which involved interviewing either low skilled and/or intermediate skilled workers in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK). The first project sought to illuminate how individuals navigate career and labour market transition processes through an examination of the strategic career and learning biographies of people with intermediate level

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qualifications in their mid-career in five countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain (Brown et al. 2012). To investigate the different ways in which learning supports labour market and career transitions for this group, the study was based on biographical research. Adults, who had occupied intermediate level positions in the labour market for at least five years in their career, were asked retrospectively to reflect upon their past experiences with career transitions and the role lifelong learning played in these. They were also asked to assess prospectively how these experiences may inform their future career plans. The narrative approach was intended to bring to the surface the heterogeneity of individuals’ experiences in regard to the nexus between learning and career and labour market transitions. The intention was to conduct at least 20 interviews in each of the five European countries, so as to draw out the complexity of the linkages between different aspects of learning, careers and workers’ identification with their work and performance, through delineation of their strategic career and learning biographies, with the meaning itself emerging from giving the interviewees the opportunity to tell their stories about their careers, learning, identities and transitions. The project was based on biographical interviews taking place in five Denmark, Germany, Spain, France and Italy. Each country partner identified a sample of between 20-25 people mainly aged between 35 and 45 for biographical interviewing. Each participant had a first interview, mainly between February 2012 and August 2012. About 60 participants were interviewed again, mainly between October 2012 and February 2013. The first interview enabled participants to reflect upon their learning experiences, recent career transition and aspirations for the future. The second interview allowed participants to identify the changes (or not) that learning and a career transition has had on the self, working life and private life. The collection of narratives focused upon individuals’ learning and career biographies (Brown et al. 2012), with respondents recounting how their occupational identities develop and change over time and how they were impacted by transition processes associated with changes in work roles. The interviews drew upon a number of different elements of occupational identity development (Brown 1997). In this process individuals prioritised certain episodes from their varied experiences and form strategic career stories. The interviews were based on a semi-structured guideline in order to ensure that the following broad themes were covered across the board: how skills, knowledge and understanding for a current job were acquired, significant work and learning transitions, significant learning experiences, nature of support for career transitions, learning from previous changes and future development plans. The sample was drawn so as to represent as many different possible types of career and learning pathways with which many people in their mid-career and with middle level qualifications in each country were likely to engage. It comprised men and women, individuals working in small, medium and large companies in both the private and public sectors who are in a range of work positions but who had not entered work on management pathways. The labour market areas chosen by each country team reflected the different nature of the labour markets, patterns of work organisation and career and learning pathways. The second study used the same methods and was an inter-disciplinary, multi-national research study across seven European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy and Poland). The overall aim of the study was to provide an in-depth understanding of the variety of reasons explaining why low skilled worked can be disengaged from education and learning throughout their life, whilst others are able to develop their skills

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to build successful careers. The narrative interviews were undertaken in 2013 and 2014 and investigated how workers who leave initial education and training with few formal qualifications (defined as low skilled) subsequently progressed in their learning activities, career development, and career transitions. According to the OECD (2013, p. 6) individuals with poor literacy and numeracy skills are more likely to find themselves at risk: “poor proficiency in information-processing skills limits adults’ access to many basic services, to better-paying and more-rewarding jobs, and to the possibility of participating in further education and training, which is crucial for developing and maintaining skills over the working life and beyond.” The policy implications based on that are clear: attention needs to be focused strongly on skills development of those performing less well both in initial education and in subsequent education, training and employment settings. Therefore, it is highly relevant to learn more about the constraints that those not on high-skilled pathways face in the labour market, especially as these groups often have fewer opportunities for learning and development as adults.

EXAMPLES OF THE INFLUENCE OF OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES IN FACILITATING OR CONSTRAINING INDIVIDUAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT The most obvious ways in which learning for career development is facilitated or constrained for individuals in particular contexts relate to access to the opportunities associated with different types of employment, training and education. Access to challenging work is a prime driver for skill development facilitative of learning for career development (Brown 2015). Challenging work can help individuals adapt across their career through the iterative interaction between work and personal development. Indeed mastering challenging work can help build a platform from which to adapt to work in other fields. Many of our interviewees, particularly the low skilled, however, struggled to find such work and some of their stories are outlined below in order to highlight how different opportunity structures can facilitate or constrain individual career development.

The Role Different Forms of Work Play in Facilitating or Constraining Career Development The search for a permanent contract loomed large in the accounts of many of our interviewees across all countries. For example, Rainer, a German supervisor, expressed a common view in stressing the importance of secure employment. In that context, temporary work is seen in a problematic light. In Italy, Rosina illustrated how career choices can be constrained by the opportunity structures within which decisions have to be made. She grew up in a village in Southern Italy which had very few work opportunities for young people. She did undertake short a period of work experience in a shop in her village, but, due to the economic crisis, the shop owner could not employ her anymore. Rosina was then faced with the classic dilemma of a young person with very limited prospects in a rural setting: do I stay or do I go? She moved to Rome, finding hospitality with her relatives, where there were a

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much wider range of opportunities. Having relatives in Rome made this transition easier in many respects. So temporary work can be a path which does not lead to any progression. However, on the other hand, temporary jobs can sometimes play an important career bridging role. For example, Christian worked as a gardener at a graveyard and as a courier driver in Germany, while waiting to gain access to his preferred course of study. Engaging in temporary work could be like doing unskilled work, in that it can be a means to develop useful skills, accumulate experience etc., and it only becomes problematic if an individual stays in such work for too long a period. Sometimes temporary work is readily accepted as being particularly interesting or challenging (e.g., Paul, a carpenter, worked in set design in theatre support roles in Germany). So temporary work can be used positively in order to stave off the prospect of unemployment and/or in order to enrich and extend your skill set in order to improve your adaptability, thereby increasing the chance one will make successful transitions in future. In addition, the experience while doing temporary work can be formative in that it may help in structuring the reflective process and can then evolve into a career, as it was in the case of Didier who while working on a temporary summer job in France developed an interest in gardening and finally became a Landscape Designer. Overall then, temporary work may often constrain career development, by limiting access to opportunities for both substantive learning and career development, especially if a permanent contract is desired and remains out of reach. However, in other circumstances temporary work may provide opportunities for challenge and personal development, thereby helping individuals develop their skill sets in ways which increase their career adaptability and chances of finding permanent employment eventually. Many low skilled interviewees across the seven countries felt locked out of opportunities for permanent employment because local, regional or national unemployment rates were so high. In a number of cases individuals pointed to the existence of large numbers of more highly qualified individuals who were also unemployed as corrosive of their motivation to try to improve their prospects. For instance, Soňa from the Czech republic was not convinced that engaging in education would improve her chances to find a better job; she sees that the opposite is often true in her region: ‘There are many university graduates that are unemployed. When I went to the labour office the last time, it looked like there were more job openings for people with lower qualifications. So the having a diploma doesn’t automatically mean getting a job. You have to work for it.’ Given that permanent employment was a goal for so many interviewees, it is interesting to note that it too could either be facilitative of career progression, by setting individuals on a genuine career ladder, or it could constrain an individual from feeling he or she could move. There were cases where people felt they were locked into permanent employment: Sabine is a paediatric nurse in Germany, who had been working with the same employer in a rehabilitation centre all her working life (over 20 years), but in three different positions, for most of that time working 30 hours per week. She has tried several times to redirect her career to specialise as a speech therapist, but has not been successful due to formal obstacles, in particular the non-accreditation of prior learning. However, she assesses that her stable and privileged employment position has been the main reason why she finally never completed other career and learning pathways she started. The narrative here is that structural conditions (secure employment versus insecure job perspectives and restrictions due to formal requirements) combined with lack of support have been major obstacles to professional

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development and ‘moving on.’ Thus, despite encountering dissatisfaction with work, the wish to keep her stable employment has locked her into the current position. Being locked into permanent employment is of course less problematic than being locked out of such employment. Brian is an example of someone who for a long period experienced the latter phenomenon. He is 33 and has worked with a travelling fun fair for 10 years. He was expelled from school at the age of 14. He admits that he misbehaved at school and regularly failed to attend. He reflected on the need from some kind of support and a second chance: ‘No one ever tried to persuade me to go back or keep me on a course. I don’t expect folks to take my side […] There should be more opportunities for people of all ages to have a second opportunity to get on training courses.’

In his early teens, he was detained for being drunk and disorderly. He failed to attain any qualifications at school and only achieved a Level 1 qualification in later life through a mandated training programme by the job centre. Brian was raised by his grandparents and lived in small seaside town with limited employment opportunities. He has now returned from the fun fair and has experienced significant bouts of joblessness. Supported by the Government’s Work Programme, Brian has started his first full-time job, as a picker packer in a warehouse for an online retail store. His lack of opportunities for work was believed to be the result of his rural location and poor transport links to the nearest city. His efforts to engage in learning seem to be hampered by his limited access to funding: ‘I wanted to get on a training course, but didn’t have anything in mind. Every time I asked they just said the Government had pulled the funding or stopped […] I always wanted to do that [electrician course] since I was a kid but courses want £2,000 up front which I haven’t got.’

Brian represents an interesting case of someone who has disengaged from learning from an early age and wants a second chance at learning: ‘I’ve got no qualifications. I wish I’d have stuck at my qualifications and everything. I’d be in a lot better job now if I had my qualifications. I never finished the courses at college, but if there had been someone I’d got on with at the College I’d have probably stuck it out the 2 years.’

His feelings of disengagement are being amplified by his views on the lack of opportunities available to him in terms of courses that match his interests and the lack of funding opportunities to finance his participation. Brian was one of five interviewees from the UK who wished they could return to learning to ‘do better.’ Gaining different forms of expereince can be difficult when a particular record of employment is built up, especially if this is on the margins of the mainstream labour market. For this and othe reasons there may be value in experiencing different work contexts for work early in your career. In the German sample, there were examples of men undertaking activities in their period of civilian service, as an alternative to military service, which were sometimes performed in a completely different context to the rest of their career: for example,

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Christian worked in an elder care institution. This has implications for helping people develop their skill sets and enhancing their adaptability, as learning to perform effectively in very different contexts or performing different types of work activities enhances ownership of particular skills and may broaden overall skill sets through exposure to development in different domains. This idea of exposing early career learners to a variety of contexts to broaden and deepen their learning is not new. Indeed this idea was enshrined in the regulations governing apprenticeships in medieval times, whereby journeymen upon initial qualification were expected to embark on a ‘grand tour’ in order to experience different ways of working and work cultures in different cities or at least agree to work a set distance away from where they were trained for a year and a day. Several French interviewees in the health field followed a similar path in undertaking voluntary work overseas. The above examples related mainly to full-time work, even if such work was sometimes temporary. However, part-time work was a mode of work which could open up some types of opportunity while also it could close down other avenues. Many interviewees voluntarily switched to part-time work at some stage in their career, often, but not always, because of a desire to balance work and family responsibilities. Sandra, a German speech therapist, is an example of someone who varied her hours, not only because of child-care responsibilities, but also in order to retrain and to take on responsibility as the primary bread-winner. Sandra completed secondary education with the Abitur and afterwards spent about two years doing different jobs, travelling and also studying at University for a couple of months until starting a two-years training as a masseur. She worked as a masseur with different employers for four years knowing that actually she wanted to do something different. For a five year period, during which she had two children, Sandra stayed at home as a primary care-giver and then she decided to pursue another qualification as speech therapist. Around this time Sandra also started a course programme for alternative medicine, which, however, she never fully completed. To qualify as speech therapist she was lucky to get into the three-year training programme, after which she started in her new profession, first full-time for a couple of years and then for seven years she has worked part-time (75%). Sandra’s narrative revolves around seeking to establish continuity in her working life, which was partly in parallel with building a family. Starting afresh in a new profession was also a result of the health problems of her husband that made clear that Sandra will have to become the breadwinner in the longer term. Currently, she is considering building on the courses she did in alternative medicine, because this is something that really interests her. However, financial constraints in terms of prospective loss of income loom large if she was to undertake full-time retraining. On the other hand, the amount of learning involved is a major obstacle at the moment if she was to try to do the retraining as well as her current work. Overall, however, it is clear that Sandra was previously able to vary her hours in ways which balanced her current work and family requirements and commitments, but also allowed her time to devote to redirecting her career. While Sandra’s case illustrates the flexibility afforded for career development by engaging in part-time work, it is also possible for people to feel trapped in part-time work to such an extent that they feel their careers have stalled. For example, Gabi has been working with a German bank for 20 years, but in different branches in the region. Before having her children she worked full-time, then Gabi stayed home with the children for 6 years and went back into work with the same employer, since then being employed part-time (50%). Gabi was trained in the former East Germany under the old system as a “Wirtschaftskaufmann

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DDR.” In order to keep her job Gabi had to undergo a retraining/re-accreditation course of 69 months to get the equivalent West-German certificate as “Sparkassenkauffrau.” With this qualification she finds herself at the lower end of career options in the bank and has remained at the reception/referral desk ever since. She also does not see herself moving up, because there is much competition from younger, more highly qualified colleagues and Gabi herself would neither have the energy nor the resources to undergo another major retraining. However, Gabi would like to work more hours and to be more involved at work, but needs to give priority to her family commitments. The narrative here is the career priorities of the partner and family commitments over own career and work interests combined with a competitive work environment where Gabi does not see that she can ever improve her current position. Overall then, part-time work may facilitate career development, especially if the switch is made to accommodate other life transitions such as the need to exercise primary care for young children. However, a person may also become locked into part-time working, where it is difficult to return to full-time work and other career options appear to be unattainable. The type of engagement individuals had with their work could also have implications for their subsequent career development. For example, work intensification, stress and ‘burn-out’ can act as barriers to career development. Experiences at work can be a major source of learning and development, but they can also lead to stalling of a career. For example, Rainer found aspects of his work as a supervisor in a German factory very difficult. Rainer pointed to work intensification, time pressure and shift work as well as acting as a buffer between workers and management as aspects that make him feel is being burned out sometimes. Stress was mentioned as a major barrier to career development in a number of the Danish cases too, but it is Anke who provides the most dramatic example of someone burning themselves out. It is an instructive example as to why it might be helpful to offer mid-career reviews to everyone rather than waiting till a crisis occurs. Burn-out can jeopadise the ability to take up new opportunities as well as being detrimental to performance in an existing job. Anke initially wanted to do an apprenticeship in a commercial field but then decided to go straight into automobile manufacturing assembling parts in Germany as there she could earn more money. Cars were her then her fairly expensive hobby. Overall, she has been working for different suppliers for about 25 years (mainly piecework) also in different regions of the country. During this time she undertook different specialist training mostly employer directed as the employer recognised that Anke was interested in the field. She also did a distance learning course in electrical engineering. She mostly changed jobs in pursuit of earning more money, finally moving to a main city in the former eastern part of Germany to work for a company that produced medical hardware. This job was very hard and Anke worked a lot of extra hours up to 22 hours non-stop to make more money. Her plan had always been to stop working at the age of 50 to migrate to Canada. She reflects that she learnt being a workaholic from her parents. She would take over work from colleagues and work extra hours continuously. She neglected her children through over-working and says that the hardest time for her in life has been the short periods when she had to stay home when the children were small. About 5 years ago she was totally burned-out and had to stop working completely, since then she has had to live on the savings she had accrued to go to Canada. Anke was admitted to a psychiatric clinic for 9 months, and her children moved to their father with whom they still live. For the last year Anke has been working in a museum/cultural institution in the framework of the activation programme. She

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has extended this job because she likes it as she learns a lot about herself. She says that she will never be able to go back to do technical work but is now doing this more as a hobby. Anke’s burn-out compromised the type of opportunities with which she could engage, although earlier in her career she felt she could over-work so as to create new opportunities.

Significance of Education and Training in Faciltating Further Career Development The training with the most significant influence on learning for subsequent career development for many of our interviewees was Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET). The influence extended beyond the first labour market transition for some individuals in that it also facilitated or constrained access to subsequent opportunities in different employment, training and education contexts. For many of our interviewees their IVET or studies in HE, particularly if it constituted a vocational preparation, either established them upon their chosen pathways or else gave them an initial platform from which they could secure other education, training or employment. In systems like Denmark, France and Germany IVET typically lasted between two and four years and an apprenticeship or other substantive IVET gave entry into skilled level work, although the proportion of those qualified who were successful in entering such work varied by time and place. In other cases IVET was more about vocational orientation and choice than occupational preparation. For example, several interviewees either did not complete their training and switched direction or else took a second programme of IVET even after successfully completing their first. There was a smaller third group who completed IVET and then entered higher education. Finally, IVET does not only have to balance these three partly competing objectives (occupational preparation, helping with processes of vocational orientation and choice, and facilitating progression to HE), ideally it also has to support participants in the development of their career adaptability, so that they will be equipped to make successful career and labour market transitions in future. IVET played a very clear role in developing vocational expertise in apprenticeships and other substantive IVET provision. For example, interviewees gave many examples of how the range and depth of their learning and development had been extended through participation in activities designed to improve performance on particular tasks, develop their situational or contextual awareness and understanding and improve their decision making and problem solving. Such activities typically comprise a progressive curriculum in apprenticeship training or other IVET. The experience of work within IVET programmes often also gave opportunities for development of capabilities crucial for teamwork and role performance more generally. Exposure to increasingly more complex activities were designed to improve judgement, but interviewees commented how this often developed in the post-qualifying period when more challenging activities were undertaken and judgment was able to be developed cumulatively over time. Interviewees who followed their expected pathway into skilled employment also highlighted the importance of IVET in helping them develop the knowledge base underpinning their practice. Thus chefs, carpenters and nurses all gave examples of the subsequent value of the knowledge acquired through education and training. Knowledge development could then be consolidated and expanded through acculturation, experience,

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social interaction, formal reflection sessions, as well as through other less formal means of feedback. The experience of work during and after IVET was self-evidently crucial for the development of work process knowledge. The model could be quite useful in this respect as it draws attention to the different types of knowledge development and also learning to apply knowledge in different and/or more challenging contexts was an essential component of the development of vocational mastery. Dual systems of apprenticeship institutionalise the incorporation of learning at and through work in IVET, but even predominantly education-based IVET systems will often make some use of work placements and direct experience of work. The role of learning at work (work practice) in IVET also comes out very strongly in the interviews in relation to how they developed their capabilities underlining their work performance. This could be through gradual exposure to more challenging work and learning through participation in work practices. The socialisation process was valuable too, as it enabled the trainees’ integration in the work contexts and helped develop their relationships with others (members of working groups, managers, peers, subordinates, clients, etc.). More senior trainees could also play a role in supporting the learning of more junior trainees and in some cases trainees’ knowledge, of for example new techniques, might be picked up in the workplace, as in the exchange of ideas in a kitchen about new ways of preparing particular dishes. Interviewees who had experienced initial vocational education and training (including through an apprenticeship) described the ways in which their initial learning and development informed how they used and further developed the knowledge, skills and understanding to perform in their subsequent work career. These represent the classic ways IVET is intended to act as both a vocational preparation and the basis for continuing skills and knowledge development. Initial vocational education and training is on its own, however, rarely sufficient for an individual to reach the ‘experienced worker’ standard expected of an established skilled worker. There are different performance and task expectations for an experienced worker, at whatever level in an organisation, than for a person who has just joined the organisation immediately after completion of initial vocational education and training (Eraut et al. 2004). The increasing demands are likely to require individuals to continue to develop their skills through engaging in challenging work activities which extend their skills in a number of respects. Interviewees also highlight the breadth and depth of forms of learning and development relevant to work with which they subsequently engaged. Where interviewees followed traditional progression pathways related to their initial vocational education or training (such as an apprenticeship) the value of their IVET was clear. However, it is interesting that people who developed their careers well beyond their initial training still gave examples of how what or how they had learned could still have relevance in new contexts. Indeed IVET is permeated by a dialectic between short-term and longer-term considerations: whereby preparing for the immediate tasks to be performed and nature of (craft or technical) work is important but there is also value in equipping people for further progression. Interviewees stressed they did not forget or give up their ‘old’ ways of thinking just because they move into a new area, rather they seek to adapt it in new ways. Thus the Danish carpenter who progressed to setting up exhibitions, then became a team leader and finally moved into logistics support still valued his original qualification and training as providing an underpinning for his continuing development.

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Practical skills can be the basis for strong identities (as with the carpenter just mentioned) due not necessarily to a sense of continuing vocation (although that was possible too, as with German carpenter who progressed to a specialist theatre set designer), but rather as embodying a particular way of thinking and practising. However, even where this valued an individual might still be capable of a major shift, for example as in a Danish case where a craft worker switched career to become a teaching assistant for special needs. The interviewee found this rewarding in a different way from his previous work: this highlights the point about people may follow different trajectories for different aspects of their learning and development – depending whether it is primarily concerned with the cognitive; practical/technical; emotional; relational; or involves a different mix of the four domains. The above cases show the value of structured IVET pathways which can offer individuals a clear pathway to skilled employmnet. However, while the existence of such pathways can be a boon to those who make successful transitions into such employment, the scarcity of such pathways in countries such as Spain and Italy can be problematic, as could the lack of local opportunities for progression into skilled employment for many who complete such training in countries such as in Poland and the Czech Republic. There may also be issues in terms of insufficient training places to meet demand even in places with clearly structured progression pathways. In Denmark, for example, it seems evident that structural issues, for example concerning the availability of apprenticeships, play a huge role when looking at the number of unskilled people who have completed introductory courses at technical schools only to find out that they were not able to complete their vocational education due to the lack of apprenticeships. This is a systemic problem of the Danish vocational education and training system. Ellinor was such an example. After 10th grade, she continued directly into the hairdresser’s foundation course at a technical college. She completed the foundation course but was unable to find an apprenticeship. When asked about giving up on her dream of becoming a hairdresser she answered: ‘I think it was sad, but after 100 job applications I don’t feel like going after this anymore. I was plodding up and down the streets of Copenhagen and other towns [in order to find an apprenticeship]. And in the end, I didn’t feel for it. If it has to be that tough, you lose heart.’

The experience of IVET and having secured a skilled worker qualification could also open up subsequent opportunties for learning and development, such as making use of continuing vocational education and training (CVET) programmes to develop and deepen expertise. Paul, a German carpenter, completed his apprenticeship and then stayed on as a trained carpenter with the same carpenter’s shop for another 4 years. Paul wanted to deepen his expertise and then went, inspired by the carpenter who did work for the theatre, to a special full-time handicraft design school for two years. The German system makes comprehensive use of progression to Meister in order that further education and training allows skilled workers to consolidate, deepen and enhance their expertise. There were many examples from all countries of interviewees using CVT to update their skills or broaden their skill set with a view to doing their current job more effectively or facilitating subsequent career progression. CVT could vary from a few days to a few years

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and it could be a component of a national system, linked to a particular sector, provision supplied by regional or local providers or part of a company scheme. In some contexts completion of IVET and securing a skilled worker qualification are formally linked to career progression in that there is a requirement of a licence to practise in speified fields. In Germany there are issues around the extent to which ‘Meister’ and equivalent qualifications operate as a licence to practise as an independent tradesperson. Paul took a further qualification (‘ausgebildeter Gestalter im Handwerk,’ i.e., certified applied craft designer), which was funded by the government (with the ‘MeisterBafög’). Doing the Meister would have been the alternative, but he opted for the school-based qualification. However, in the end he found out that this qualification did not allow him to start his own carpenter’s workshop (which to date still requires the ‘Meister’ qualification), so as an alternative he started a business for assembly (‘Montagebetrieb’), which during the last years transformed into a carpenter’s workshop. Subsequently, for almost 6 years he has now worked as an independent carpenter. Structurally, a licence to practice system institutionalises support for learning for an important career transition, to being able to ply your trade independently. In line with much of the German system there is an emphasis upon the importance of training for responsibility. The alternative would be to learn through the exercise of responsibility and then complement learning through undertaking challenging work with other forms of learning and development, possibly including more formal learning and development. More generally, the structure of the different national CVT systems set the broad parameters of how adults, most often employees from companies, could engage in continuing professional development, but the interests of other stake-holders (e.g., provider institutions) will influence how the provision is implemented in practice.

CONCLUSION The availability of opportunities (or opportunity structures) are influenced both by policy design and the macroeconomic context. The general macroeconomic conditions (strong or weak labour demand) varied between countries and over time for our interviewees. The labour market structures (the demand for specific qualifications, the status of occupations, the existence of occupational or internal/organisational labour markets) also helped frame their decisions about career and learning. The availability of and opportunity to access learning and training programmes at different times over the life-course are also important (as any difficulties and barriers encountered in trying to access them). The availability and quality of career guidance received or on offer (if any) is also important, as is the role of learning and training in human resource practices within organisations. The structure and content of job activation programmes for the unemployed could vary by place and over time too. Taken together these factors reinforce the notion that for many individuals their career decisions are strongly influenced by the context in which their decisions are made. A major challenge of how to support learning for career development is how can support offer constructive ways foreword when the opportunity structures appear so constraining as at present in large parts of the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Spain. In all these countries many interviewees were

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experiencing very extended transitions even into employment for which they were fully qualified. Learning takes place in the context of opportunity structures within which individuals operate. Work itself structures opportunities individuals have for learning and development, because work varies in the affordances it offers for learning and interaction at work. Learning and development at work depends partly on the extent to which work offers an expansive or a restrictive learning environment (Fuller and Unwin 2006). The occupational structure is another important opportunity structure, as can be seen from the importance in Germany of recognised occupations, reflecting the power of the concept of ‘Beruf’ (occupation). Temporary work often constrains career development, especially if a permanent contract is desired and remains out of reach, although in other circumstances it may help individuals develop their skill sets. Part-time work may facilitate career development, especially if the switch is made to accommodate other life transitions such as the need to exercise primary care for young children. However, a person may also become locked into part-time working, where it is difficult to return to full-time work and other career options appear to be unattainable. Engaging in part-time work is a highly gendered activity. Initial Vocational Education and Training has a significant influence on learning for career development. The influence extended beyond the first labour market transition for some individuals in that it also facilitated or constrained access to subsequent opportunities in different employment, training and education contexts. Participating in formal education midcareer can require a lot of time and people might not have it, especially if they have a job and a family. Time away from the job to engage in learning is often subject to the support from gatekeepers (supervisors or employers). If they are supportive usually learning can be accommodated, if not it can become almost impossible. Money to pay for courses and fees is usually not a problem but an extended period without income can be. Families and parents sometimes help financially adults who are going through extended transitions or want to return to education financially. Support from public structures for career development is very important. Activation programms embedded in active labour market policies can be useful in helping people find jobs after a spell of unemployment. However, the programmes sometimes fail to activate and engage people, having the unfortunate consequence of alienating them, as was the experience some of the Danish interviewees. Formal support structures through provision of public employment services, transition regimes, recognition of prior learning and career guidance could influence how individuals perceived the career opportunities available to them. However, the extended transitions of some interviewees were highly dependent upon family support, while, on the other hand, family responsibilities might constrain career development. The navigation of one’s life course is constrained by specific structural, political and economic circumstances in a country. These constraints need to be identified and attention paid as to how barriers can be lowered. At the same time guidance can provide pillars of orientation as to how one needs to understand the structural conditions and act in them. A guidance counsellor can understand the interplay between external forces and individual dispositions and provide individualised advice. If you veer from a traditional (approved) progression pathway financial support may be critical to your chances of success. Financial difficulties (whether due to the direct cost of training or not being able to afford any loss of wages consequent upon the decision to

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undertake training) can be a significant barrier to undertaking further training, particularly if this involves reskilling. Paying attention to the particular opportunity structures within which career decisions are made is important. The general macroeconomic conditions (strong or weak labour demand) and labour market structures (including the demand for specific qualifications, the status of occupations, the existence of occupational or internal/organisational labour markets) help frame individual decisions about career and learning. The availability of and opportunity to access learning and training programmes at different times over the life-course are also important (as are any difficulties and barriers encountered in trying to access them). The availability and quality of career guidance received or on offer (if any) is also important, as is the role of learning and training in human resource practices within organisations. The structure and content of job activation programmes for the unemployed could vary by place and over time too. Taken together these factors reinforce the notion that for many individuals their career decisions are strongly influenced by the context in which their decisions are made. A major challenge of how to support learning for career and labour market transitions is how can support offer constructive ways foreword when the opportunity structures appear so constraining as at present in much of Europe. Many individuals are experiencing very extended transitions even into employment for which they are fully qualified.

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In: Career Development Editor: Tanya V. Martin

ISBN: 978-1-63484-076-7 © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 3

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN THE WORKPLACE: PSYCHO-SOCIAL CAREER PREOCCUPATIONS AND OPENNESS TO TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE Melinde Coetzee Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

ABSTRACT Proactive change-oriented employee behaviour that facilitates adaptation to technological advances and promotes organisational innovation has become important for organisational and individual success in the globalised knowledge-based economy. These trends have led to new conceptualisations of vocational behaviour that increasingly focus on the evolving career needs and preoccupations of individuals and the proactive flexibility and adaptiveness demanded from them. This chapter outlines an empirical study that explored the link between individuals’ psychosocial career preoccupations and their cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation. Both constructs relate to adaptive behaviour in the workplace and assume a measure of proactivity and initiative in making changes in one’s career and work environment. In this regard, the chapter and study findings provide valuable new knowledge and insights relevant to career development theory that could potentially inform human resource practices aimed at promoting change-supportive and adaptive behaviours in a knowledge-driven economy and society.

Keywords: psychosocial career preoccupations, change-supportive behaviour, cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation, person-environment fit, proactive adaptive behaviour

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PO Box 392, University of South Africa, Pretoria, GAUTENG, South Africa, 0003. Email: [email protected]. Tel: +27124298204, Fax: +2712429 8578.

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INTRODUCTION Proactive change-supportive employee behaviour that facilitates adaptation to technological advances and promotes organisational innovation has become important for organisational and individual success in the globalised knowledge-based economy (Holt and Brockett, 2012; Oldham and Da Silva, 2015; Strauss, Griffin, Parker, and Mason, 2015). Ongoing organisational success and long-term growth and profitability in today’s knowledgeand information driven economy are contingent on innovations in technologies, products, ideas and services in order to meet rapidly changing customer expectations (Khapova, Arthur, and Wilderom, 2007; Laing and Bacevice, 2013; Marinova, Peng, Lorinkova, Van Dyne, and Chiaburu, 2015). Due to market pressures stemming from accelerated technological advances and innovation, the workplace has witnessed continual changes in job requirements, more frequent re-organisation of work, destabilising discontinuity in employment and the blurring of career paths. As a consequence employers place greater emphasis on employee flexibility, adaptiveness, proactivity and cognitive receptivity toward technological change and innovation (Cullen, Edwards, Casper, and Gue, 2014; Uy, Chan, Sam, Ho, and Chernyshenko, 2015; Van der Heijden, de Lange, Demerouti, and Van der Heijde, 2009). These trends have led to new conceptualisations of vocational behaviour that increasingly focus on the evolving career needs and preoccupations of individuals and the proactive flexibility and adaptiveness demanded from them (Ribeiro, 2015; Savickas, 2013; Uy et al. 2015). Contemporary careers are regarded as a series of transitions, decisions, and adjustments throughout the lifespan (Savickas, 2013). Organisational and work-related change and the concomitant career transitions require adaptation and give rise to specific career concerns that preoccupy the minds of individuals at a specific point in time of the career-life (Coetzee, 2015; Savickas, 2013). Typical contemporary preoccupations relate to psychosocial aspects of adaptation, adjustment and redefining the identity or self as work-life roles and working contexts shift with more frequent work role transitions (Hamtiaux, Houssemand, and Vrignaud, 2013; Hirschi and Valero, 2015; Nazar and van der Heijden, 2012; Savickas and Porfeli, 2012). In this regard, career theory, research and practice have witnessed a conceptual shift away from career development to career self-management, career construction, lifedesigning, employability and adaptability concerns (Maurer and Chapman, 2013; Nazar and van der Heijden, 2012; Savickas, 2013); rather than developing in a stable contextual employment structure, workers must now actively plan and implement self-management behaviours in a lifelong quest to construct their best possible future whilst adapting to the changing technologically-driven labour market demands (Del Corso, 2013; Savickas, 2013; Spurk, Kauffeld, Barthauer, and Heinemann, 2015). Managing the construction of one’s career in the contemporary workplace potentially give rise to certain psychological career preoccupations that manifest as proactive adaptive behaviour relating to individuals’ need to achieve better fit or congruence between the self and the environment (Coetzee, 2015; Savickas, 2013). This chapter explores how individuals’ psychosocial career preoccupations relate to their cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation in the workplace. Research on the association between these constructs is currently lacking. The chapter approaches psychosocial career preoccupations as a significant predictor of cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation. Both constructs relate to

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adaptive behaviour in the workplace and assume a measure of proactivity and initiative in making changes in one’s career and work environment. In this regard, the chapter potentially extends understanding of contemporary career theory about adaptive behaviour in the workplace by exploring the link between the two constructs.

PSYCHOSOCIAL CAREER PREOCCUPATIONS People’s careers are socially constructed and occur within a particular socio-cultural space at a certain point in their lives (Savickas, 2013). Individuals and their environments or circumstances are in constant motion and as such, the individual-environmental or occupational match is always evolving (Savickas, 2002). As growth-oriented organisms (Deci and Ryan, 2000), individuals are continuously changing and growing as their self-concept and career needs and interests evolve over time. Table 1. Principal career stages, developmental adaptability tasks and preoccupations Career stage

Developmental adaptability tasks

Exploration

Gaining knowledge and information about society, how to cope with work issues in the process of exploring career options and making occupational choices that fits within the relevant sociocultural environment (Sullivan and Crocitto, 2007)

Establishment

Becoming part of a work organisation and the larger community in the process of finding one’s occupational niche (Sullivan and Crocitto, 2007)

Maintenance

Maintaining one’s occupational choice and self-concept in the process of noting changes in the work environment, reassessing the self and family issues, and comparing oneself with other workers (Sullivan and Crocitto, 2007)

Disengagement

Forging a new life structure outside an occupation and work organisation in the process of reflecting on one’s life (Sullivan and Crocitto, 2007).

Preoccupations (dominant life themes) Clarification of what individuals may want to do, how they learn about entry level jobs, how they did in their part-time positions, and whether they want more education (Coetzee, in press; Sharf, 2010). Concerns about advancing in one’s work, feeling a sense of stability on the job, knowing the basic requirements of the job, and thinking about the job on a long-term basis (Coetzee, in press; Sharf, 2010). Concerns about holding onto one’s job while at the same time learning more about what is required in the job, improving one’s performance, and dealing with new technological advances (Coetzee, in press; Sharf, 2010). Concerns about losing a job due to health or physical limitations, slowing down one’s work or working part-time, or retiring (Coetzee, in press; Sharf 2010).

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Similarly, the environments in which people live and construct their careers are continuously evolving and dynamically changing (Hamtiaux et al. 2013). Balancing the interaction between the individual and the environment requires adaptability (the capacity or predisposition to adapt or change) from individuals in the active process of changing (adapting) (Hamtiaux et al. 2013; Morrison and Hall, 2002). In the process of intra-individual growth/change and individual-environment adaptation, individuals tend to become preoccupied with certain issues relating to the psychosocial aspects of their careers. These career-related issues may relate to psychological (career self-concept) and social (careersocial circumstance/roles interface) concerns which are at the forefront of individuals’ minds and therefore predominant as life-career themes in the career-life story at a certain point in time (Coetzee, 2015; Savickas, 2002; Sharf, 2010). Contemporary career construction theory views vocational development as a continuing process of improving the match between the self and the situation through active engagement in psychosocial developmental activities of adaptability (Coetzee, 2015; Savickas 2005; 2013). People’s psychosocial career preoccupations therefore generally relate to these developmental tasks of career adaptability (Savickas, 2013). Drawing from Super’s life stage theory (Super 1957; 1990), Savickas (2005; 2013) broadly differentiates between five principal career stages comprising psychosocial activities of adult vocational development that compose a minicycle around each of the many transitions individuals’ face during the life span (Savickas 2005; Sharf, 2010). Table 1 provides an overview of the five career stages and the preoccupations relating to the developmental tasks of adaptability. The adult developmental tasks of adaptability within each career stage (exploration, establishment, management and disengagement) provide guidance in terms of how to reestablish stability and maintain continuity in a broader, uncertain social context (Savickas 2005). The developmental tasks are not necessarily restricted to age frameworks because not all individuals encounter these tasks at the same age, and nor do they encounter all tasks (Coetzee, 2015; Sharf 2010). Career scholars have identified additional non-career-stage and –age related career preoccupations that may be predominant in adults’ career-life stories due to individuals’ career experiences in an unsettled economy and uncertain employment market (Coetzee, 2015). Typical examples of such concerns include preoccupations about one’s employability, continuous learning and development, up-skilling, adaptability for more frequent transitions, work-life integration and flexibility, career mobility, renewal and change, career agency, selfawareness, and developing closer ties with members of one’s work and social community (Coetzee, 2015; Hall 2013; Savickas 2005; 2011; 2013; Sullivan 2013). Based on these trends, Coetzee (2014a; 2015) identified three core dimensions of psychosocial career preoccupations (see Figure 1) that are non-age and non-career-stage related: 



career establishment preoccupations which involve concerns about fitting-in in a group, career and economic stability and security, establishing opportunities for selfexpression and personal growth and development, and advancing in one’s career in the present organisation; career adaptation preoccupations which involve employability-related concerns about adapting to changing contexts which might involve career changes and adjusting one’s interests, talents and capabilities to fit with opportunities in the employment market; and

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work/life adjustment preoccupations which involve concerns about settling down, reducing one’s workload and achieving greater harmony between one’s work and personal life, which might also involve withdrawing from paid employment altogether.

Figure 1. Contemporary psychosocial career preoccupations.

The themes underpinning the three dimensions of psychosocial career preoccupations (Coetzee, 2015) show apparent commonalities with those outlined by Savickas (2005; 2013). Reflecting on the work of Savickas (2005; 2013) and Coetzee (2015), it appears that the career establishment preoccupations share the developmental tasks of adaptability relating to the exploration career stage (coping with entering a new workplace or job) and the establishment career stage (fitting-in and advancing within the job/organisation and feeling a sense of stability on the job). The career adaptation preoccupations share the developmental tasks of adaptability relating to the career maintenance stage (maintaining the self-concept in the process of noting changes in the work environment, learning more about new requirements, improving one’s performance and dealing with new technological advances). Career preoccupations of work/life adjustment concerns share the developmental tasks of adaptability relating to the maintenance career stage (reassessing the self and family issues) and disengagement career stage (forging a new life structure outside the work organisation, slowing down one’s work or retiring). Limited research is available on the framework of psychosocial career preoccupations postulated by Coetzee (2015). Research provided evidence of links between individuals’ preoccupations with career adaptation, career renewal and employability, and job-related attitudes such as lowered commitment to the job and career in the present organisation, and heightened interest in external opportunities in the job market. On the other hand, career establishment preoccupations are positively associated with work-related commitment (Coetzee, 2015). Employees’ psychosocial career preoccupations may potentially be an outflow of specific work-related needs and the fulfillment of these needs within a particular socio-cultural work context. Psychosocial needs for stability/security

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and skills development (career establishment preoccupations) relate to basic human needs that if fulfilled, influence individuals’ perceptions of the quality of employment offered by an organisation (Holman, 2013) and their perceptions of person-environment fit (Cable and De Rue, 2002). Psychosocial career preoccupations predispose individuals to adaptive behaviour aimed at proactively engaging in behaviours that will bring about change to themselves and their environment (Savickas and Porfeli, 2012), including according to self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000), satisfying innate psychological needs (e.g., autonomy, competence and relatedness) that enable them to function optimally and develop to their fullest potential. In this chapter, the construct of psychosocial career preoccupations is explored in relation to individuals’ cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation. Similar to psychosocial career preoccupations, cognitive receptivity implies an openness and motivation to adapt and support change, either in oneself (new mindset) or in one’s personal and/or social/work environment. Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000) posits that the interaction between individuals and their environment forms the basis for predictions about motivation and behaviour. The social (or work) environment is seen to influence the growth-oriented tendency of individuals by either facilitating or undermining intrinsic motivation and personal growth (Deci and Ryan, 2000; Van Beek et al. 2012). In line with the theoretical postulates of selfdetermination theory, it was expected that individuals’ psychosocial career preoccupations positively predict their cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation. Psychosocial career preoccupations point to the individual’s readiness or motivation to adapt and change in order to fulfill psychological needs and achieve greater balance or congruence between the self and the environment (Savickas, 2002; 2013), while cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation represents the willingness to actively engage in the process of adaptation (Coetzee, 2014b).

COGNITIVE RECEPTIVITY TO TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND INNOVATION Cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation refers to individuals’ sense of ingenuity (the capacity and drive to bring new and novel ideas and products to the table and being resourceful in dealing with new and unusual technological experiences) and openness to change (the extent to which an individual enjoys or is willing to trying out new applications, social media tools and technological products) (Coetzee, 2014b). Individuals who are open to the innovation of new technologies generally believe that the new product will help them to change outdated work processes or improve outdated methods for performing work tasks (Coetzee, 2014b). Individuals’ cognitive receptivity to change may range on a continuum of strong positive attitudes (readiness for/openness to change and perceiving the change as meaningful) to strong negative attitudes (resistance to change) (Chetty, 2015; Choi, 2011; El-Farra and Badawi, 2012). Positive attitudes (cognitive receptivity) toward change translate into proactive and change-supportive behaviour while a lack of change readiness may translate into resistance and avoidance behaviour (Chetty, 2015).

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As a form of adaptive behaviour, cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation reflects agentic proactivity, motivation and initiative in actively attempting to bring about change in the organisation (Strauss et al. 2015). Research provides evidence of proactivity and openness to experience supporting individuals’ tendencies to initiate change in their social environment (Marinova et al. 2015). Willingness and motivation to adapt and change have been related to learning goal orientation (Tolentino et al. 2014). Learning goaloriented individuals have a mastery orientation and tend to engage in adaptive behaviours by viewing challenging life circumstances as opportunities for maximizing personal growth and enhancing competencies (Tolentino et al. 2014). Parker, Bindl, and Strauss (2010) postulate that when individuals believe in the rationale for the change effort, can see the importance of the goal and find the goal intrinsically motivating, they tend to engage in proactive and supportive behaviours. Research suggests a dynamic interplay between adaptive behaviours and proactivity. Adaptivity builds higher levels of organisationally oriented proactivity while failure to adapt to ongoing change result in reluctance to initiate change in the future (Strauss et al. 2015). It therefore stands to reason, that the emergence of psychosocial career preoccupations may signal a readiness to and the motivation to adapt that, in turn, may positively influence cognitive receptivity to change as reflected in individuals’ sense of ingenuity (proactivity in innovation) and openness to technological change and innovation. The aim of the study was as such then to ascertain whether a significant relationship exists between a set of psychosocial career preoccupations and a set of constructs relating to individuals’ cognitive receptivity to technological change and innovation and (2), to identify the variables that contributed the most to this relationship.

METHOD Participants and Procedure Ethical clearance and permission to conduct the research were obtained from the management of the university. A random sample of working adults (N = 160; 67% black and 33% white people; 59% females and 41% males) enrolled for further studies at a distance higher education institution participated in the study. Data were collected by means of a websurvey. The participants were employed in the human resources and financial fields. The participants had an age range from 25 to 50 years with 80 percent in the early career stage (exploration and establishment phase) of their lives (25 to 40 years).

Measuring Instruments Psychosocial Career Preoccupations The construct was measured through the psychosocial career preoccupations scale (PCPS) developed by Coetzee (2014a; 2015). The PCPS uses a five-point Likert-type scale (1 = not concerned; 5 = extremely concerned) with 24 items that directly measure working adults’ general degree of concern with specific vocational developmental tasks across three dimensions regarded as being relevant to contemporary career theory: career establishment

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preoccupations (13 items; e.g., “ To what extent are you concerned about having stability in your career/ To what extent are you concerned about fitting-in with others in your job?”); career adaptation preoccupations (5 items; e.g., To what extent are you concerned about making a career change/To what extent are you concerned about how your concept of your interests, talents and capabilities fit with your current job or career?”); and work/life adjustment preoccupations (6 items; e.g., “To what extent are you concerned about balancing work with family responsibilities?/ To what extent are you concerned about withdrawing from paid employment altogether”). Coetzee (2015) provides evidence of the construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the PCPS. For the present study, the overall subscale Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients ranged between .70 and .94 (high internal consistency reliability).

Cognitive Receptivity to Technological Change and Innovation The construct was measured through the technological change receptivity scale (TCRS) developed by Coetzee (2014b). The scale consists of 28 items and three subscales with a 6-point Likert-type response scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (almost always): (1) ingenuity (9 items; e.g., I see myself as resourceful in dealing with new and unusual technological experiences/I like to take risks in bringing new ideas or products to the table; (2) openness to change (11 items; e.g., I believe that the innovation of new technological products helps create the future/I am quick to try out new apps and technological products); and (3) resistant to change (8 items; e.g., I find it difficult to adopt new technology – I would rather stick to the tried and tested/ I find it scary to try out new technological products). Evidence of the construct and internal consistency reliability of the TCRS has been provided by Coetzee (2014b). In terms of the present study, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for the three subscales were ingenuity (.92), openness to change (.93), resistant to change (.77) and overall scale (.90) (high internal consistency reliability). Demographic data were used as control variables and included: age (coded 0 = ≤ 45 years; 1 = ≥ 46 years), gender (coded 0 = male; 1 = female), and race (coded 0 = black; 1 = white). These variables were chosen based on previous research indicating that these variables are important to consider in evaluating individuals’ career concerns and openness to change (Chetty, 2015; Coetzee, 2014a;b).

Statistical Analysis Due to the two self-rating measures used and the cross-sectional research design of this study, the preliminary data analysis involved testing for common method variance. This procedure entailed conducting a Harmann’s one-factor solution and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by using the CALIS procedure in SAS (2013). The one-factor solution showed that the single factor that emerged for the PCPS accounted for only 11% of the covariance among the PCPS variables. The three PCPS variables were then loaded onto one factor to examine the fit of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model. The PCPS singlefactor model did not fit the data adequately (Chi-square/df ratio = 3.72; p < .0001; CFI = .75; RMSEA = .13; SRMR = .08; AIC = 1033.49). The PCPS single-factor model fit indices were compared with the fit indices of a three-factor solution measurement model for the PCPS (the three factors loading onto an overall latent variable: career preoccupations). The fit indices of

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the three-factor measurement showed a more adequate model fit: (Chi-square/df ratio = 2.57; p < .0001; CFI = .90; RMSEA = .08; SRMR = .07; AIC = 741.58). A marginal value of RMSEA and SRMR for model acceptance is .10 and a value of .08 and lower is considered a good fit (Hamtiaux et al. 2013; Park, Nam, and Cha, 2012). The indices obtained for the three-factor PCPS model indicate good fit of the data. The one-factor solution for the TCRS showed that the construct accounted for only 11% of the covariance among the TCRS variables. When loading the three TCRS variables onto a single construct in the CFA model, the fit indices showed that the single factor did not fit the model well (Chi-square/df ratio = 3.47; p < .0001; CFI = .69; RMSEA = .12; SRMR = .11; AIC = 1325.89). The TCRS single-factor model fit indices were compared with the fit indices of a three-factor solution measurement model for the TCRS (the three factors loading onto an overall latent variable: adopting change in technology). The fit indices of the three-factor measurement showed a more adequate model fit: (Chi-square/df ratio = 2.48; p < .0001; CFI = .90; RMSEA = .08; SRMR = .07; AIC = 981.37). The indices obtained for the TCRS three-factor model indicate the model represents the data adequately. In line with the guidelines of Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, and Podsakoff (2003), the one-factor results for both the PCPS and TCRS suggested that common method bias did not pose a threat to the research findings. Bivariate correlation (Pearson’s coefficients) analyses were then calculated to assess the pattern of relationships between the variables of concern to the study. Point-biserial correlations were calculated for discrete dichotomous variables (i.e., the demographic variables). Canonical correlation analysis was used to study the multivariate relationships between the three and overall PCPS scores and the three and overall TCRS scores.

RESULTS Correlations As can be seen from Table 1, the practical effect of the significant correlations between the PCPS and TCRS variables ranged between r ≥ .29 ≤ .36 (small to moderate effect; p ≤ .001). No significant correlations were observed between resistant to change and the PCPS variables. The correlations between age and gender and the construct variables were with the exception ingenuity not significant. Race had significant correlations with the PCPS variables and ingenuity. However, these associations were small in practical effect (r ≤ .30; p