Elsevier

Journal of Vocational Behavior

Volume 88, June 2015, Pages 131-142
Journal of Vocational Behavior

Developmental trajectories and reciprocal associations between career adaptability and vocational identity: A three-wave longitudinal study with adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.03.004Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Analyzed career adapt-abilities in adolescents longitudinally

  • Examined vocational identity processes in adolescents longitudinally

  • Gender, school, and age moderate career adaptability and vocational identity development

  • Bilateral predictions between career adaptability and vocational identity were found.

Abstract

The purpose of this longitudinal study was two-fold. First, we investigated patterns of stability and change in career adaptability and vocational identity in adolescents. Second, we examined reciprocal associations between career adaptability and vocational identity. In addressing both research aims we tested the moderating effects of gender, school-type, and age. Participants were 1151 (58.7% female) adolescents. They filled in measures that appraised career adapt-abilities and vocational identity processes three times during a school year. Latent growth curve analyses highlighted slight longitudinal decreases in career concern, control, and confidence especially in boys, vocational school students, and middle-to-late adolescents. Also, over time boys and students attending vocational schools reported less in-depth occupational exploration, less identification with present vocational commitments, and more flexibility and self-doubt about their careers. Findings of cross-lagged path analyses highlighted reciprocal associations between career adaptability and vocational identity. Career adaptability positively predicted adolescents' ways of dealing with vocational exploration and commitment. Vocational commitment and reconsideration of commitment predicted career adapt-abilities in time. These results indicate that career adaptability and vocational identity are dynamic and interrelated dimensions of adolescent career development. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Section snippets

Career adaptability

Career adaptability stands as a central component in adolescent vocational development. It is a psychosocial construct that encompasses personal readiness and resources for dealing with present and future career problems (Savickas, 2013, Savickas and Porfeli, 2012a). In this context, career adapt-abilities are general adaptive resources and strategies that people employ in the process of career construction while approaching critical situations (e.g., age-specific developmental tasks). The four

Participants and procedure

Our study uses data from the ongoing longitudinal study Transylvania Adolescent Identity Development Study (TRAIDES). We collected data from seven schools located in four towns in the North-Western part of Romania. Students from the 8th to the 12th grade completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires at three measurement waves 3 to 4 months apart during one academic year. Students completed all questionnaires in classrooms during school hours. Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous.

Preliminary analyses

Mean scores and standard deviations for study variables and correlation coefficients between study variables appear in Table 1, Table 2. At all time-points the 4Cs of career adaptability related positively to vocational commitment and exploration processes.

Latent growth curve analyses

The first purpose of this study was to examine the development of career adaptability and vocational identity in adolescents. In order to address this aim, we analyzed mean-level changes in the four dimensions of career adaptability and in

Discussion

The vocational domain represents a key component of adolescent development, with career adaptability and vocational identity standing as pillars in the facilitation of vocational decision-making (Savickas, 2005, Skorikov and Vondracek, 2011). More longitudinal research is needed for an in-depth understanding of how these dimensions evolve in adolescence and how they are related to each other across time. Existing literature brought forward the need to analyze career adaptability and vocational

Conclusions

In spite of these limitations, the present study has significant implications for mapping adolescent career development. We shed more light on the longitudinal trajectories and relations between two core components of adolescent vocational development: career adaptability and vocational identity. In the course of one academic year these dimensions changed significantly and were interwoven in complex prediction patterns. Hence, we brought forward the importance of analyzing together the two

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