Job-searching following involuntary job loss is critical. However, as lifetime employment is a defining characteristic in Japan, few empirical studies have examined job-search behaviors after involuntary job loss. To fill this gap in the literature, a survey of 400 unemployed individuals explored the relationship between job-search behaviors and life satisfaction, including investigating self-efficacy, support, work volition, and dispositional optimism. Path analyses found that life satisfaction was predicted by optimism, job-search self-efficacy, and work volition, while job-search behaviors were facilitated by support and self-efficacy. No significant associations were found between job-search behaviors and life satisfaction. Results suggest that job-search interventions attempting to improve an individual’s optimism, feelings that the job search will be successful, and perceived support can facilitate job-search behaviors.

In recognition of growing economic inequality and rapid transformation in the world of work, we seek to understand how young people perceive their futures to develop career development education that supports both personal goals and promotes social and economic justice. Thirty-six students attending high-performing high schools in the United States ( n = 19) and Israel ( n = 17) were interviewed to assess their espoused future plans and conceptions of work and society. Consistent with the psychology of working theory, students' plans were reflective of the social, economic, national, and historical contexts in which they are embedded. US and Israeli students expressed optimism and anxieties about their futures, along with recognition of social and economic inequalities and limited motivation and awareness of how to effect social change. The findings are discussed with regard to implications for career development education and the promotion of social and economic justice.

Education-job match is often associated with enhanced well-being and career satisfaction, although existing research suggests that arts college graduates are less likely to experience education-job match than graduates of other disciplines. As research also increasingly suggests that student loan debt may influence college graduates’ access to lower-paying industries and careers, this study uses a cross-sectional dataset from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project to investigate how student loan debt predicts education-job match (entry into an arts position) among arts bachelor’s graduates. Even when controlling for individual and institutional factors, results show that arts bachelor’s graduates with over US$10,000 in undergraduate student loan debt are less likely to enter arts careers than those with no loans. Findings suggest that arts careers may be less accessible for college graduates who are most dependent on student loans, with important implications for diversity and equity within the arts.

The current study examined associations of intersectional social identities on Black women’s ( N = 126) career self-efficacy and interests at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Structural models examined associations of different aspects of gender and racial identity on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) predictors (i.e., learning experiences and self-efficacy) for each RIASEC career interest. Social Cognitive Career Theory paths from learning experiences to career interests, via self-efficacy, were supported for all six career interests. For gender norms, domesticity directly predicted learning experiences and indirectly predicted interests for enterprising, investigative, social, and conventional themes; however, primacy of work conformity was not associated with learning experiences or indirect effects for any career interest. Racial centrality only predicted learning experiences and indirect effects on career interests for social careers. Aspects of racial and gender identity may set forth educational decisions that have implications for the eventual careers that many undergraduates pursue.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between career adaptability (CA) and organizational embeddedness (OE) and organizational and occupational turnover intention among employees in the Netherlands. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine survey data obtained from 173 employees with various occupations, who worked for (semi-)public and private organizations in the Netherlands. The variable measuring CA did not contribute to explaining organizational or occupational turnover intention. The variable measuring OE contributed to explaining organizational and, to a lesser extent, occupational turnover intention. In addition, for moderately to higher embedded workers, the odds of organizational turnover increased when they had higher CA. Our results suggest that the fostering of CA, in general, does not influence the likelihood of workers making transitions. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

This article examines the role of student job search strategies that differ in goal-directedness (focused, exploratory, and haphazard) in achieving successful university-to-work transitions (i.e., employment in jobs with high skill use/development and qualification–job match). The relationship between job search and employment outcomes is considered in two labor market contexts—high or low ambiguity—which are represented by the comparison between arts, humanities, and social sciences (AHSS) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates, respectively. Using two-wave survey data, we find that job search strategies during university do not explain, yet differentially impact, successful outcomes one year after graduation. Fully exploring opportunities was particularly beneficial for STEM graduates (low ambiguity context) and more focused job search was beneficial for AHSS graduates (high ambiguity context). Paradoxically, findings both question and reinforce the efficacy of career agency for overcoming barriers to labor market entry, depending on the job search context. The study contributes to the agency and context debates relevant for school-to-work transitions.

The relationship between career adaptability and career decision self-efficacy was examined due to its importance for clients in the career development and career decision-making process. Multivariate meta-analyses using 18 studies with a total population of 6,339 participants were employed. Moderator variables important to this relationship were country of participants, mean age, and career adaptability measures. Estimated correlations between career adaptability subscales and career decision self-efficacy measures ranged from .36 to .44. Findings are discussed in relation to career research and counseling.

The aim of this study was to validate the French version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) and to assess its measurement invariance across gender, age groups, countries, and student versus career counseling samples. We also examined the sensitivity of this instrument to discriminate a career counseling population from a general student sample. Third, we studied the relationship between career decision-making difficulties, career decision-making self-efficacy, and self-esteem in a sample of 1,748 French and French-speaking Swiss participants. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the overall hierarchical structure of the CDDQ. Multigroup analysis indicated that the level of invariance across groups almost always reached configural, metric, and scalar invariance. Differences between countries were very small, whereas differences between the general population and career counseling subsamples were much larger. Both self-esteem and self-efficacy significantly predicted career decision-making difficulties. Moreover, as expected, self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between self-esteem and career decision-making difficulties.

According to the Career Construction Model of Adaptation, career decision-making difficulties (CDD) and life satisfaction are important adaptation results, and career adaptability is a crucial resource to attain positive adaptation results. This study focused on the influence of parental career-related behaviors on career adaptability, CDD and life satisfaction, and the mediating role of career adaptability between parental career-related behaviors and CDD and life satisfaction. Five hundred thirteen Italian students (182 of middle school, 141 of high school, and 190 of university) were involved. The results showed that parental support influences CDD and life satisfaction both directly and indirectly through the mediation of career adaptability. Parental interference and lack of engagement have a positive direct effect on CDD. Finally, CDD and life satisfaction are significantly and negatively associated. The data support the key role of parental support and career adaptability in CDD and life satisfaction. Practical implications are discussed.