Interactive support effects on career agency and occupational engagement among young adults.

Jenkins, Lyndsey; Jeske, Debora

Abstract

The PIC model by Gati and Asher describes three career decision making stages: pre-screening, in-depth exploration, and choice of career options. We consider the role that three different forms of support (general career support by parents, emotional/instrumental support, and informational support) may play for young adults in each of these three decision-making stages. The authors further propose that different forms of support may predict career agency and occupational engagement, which are important career decision precedents. In addition, we consider the role of personality traits and perceptions (decision-making window) on these two outcomes. Using an online survey sample (N = 281), we found that general career support was important for career agency and occupational engagement. However, it was the combination of higher general career support with either emotional/instrumental support or informational support that was found to lead to both greater career agency and higher occupational engagement. Personality also played a role: Greater proactivity also led to greater occupational engagement, even when there was little urgency for participants to make decisions (window of decision-making was wide open and not restricted). In practical terms, the findings suggest that the learning required in each of the three PIC processes (pre-screening, in-depth exploration, choice of career options may benefit when the learner has access to the three support measures.

Citation

Jenkins, L., & Jeske, D. (2017). Interactive support effects on career agency and occupational engagement among young adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 25(4), 616-631. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072716652891

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 24, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jun 6, 2016
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2016
• Print ISSN: 1069-0727
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-4590
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 616-631
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072716652891
• Keywords: Career Agency; Career Support; Emotional Support; Indecisiveness; Occupational Engagement; Proactivity
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9986
• Contract Date: May 2, 2016