This study examines factors influencing job-search self-efficacy (JSSE) among technical education students and graduates in South-South Nigeria. Using a mixed methods design, data from 350 survey participants showed that digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and career adaptability significantly predicted JSSE, while socioeconomic factors and external job-market conditions were not significant predictors. Qualitative findings highlighted curriculum gaps, weak professional networks, limited career support, and resource constraints affecting transitions into employment. The study recommends integrated digital and emotional-intelligence training, structured career guidance, mentoring, and stronger university-industry linkages to improve job-market readiness.
Drawing on an integrated framework that combines the social cognitive career theory model of career self-management with self-determination theory, we investigated the career experiences of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals, examining how psychological capital and psychological safety relate to innovation behavior, knowledge sharing, career satisfaction, and turnover intention through boundaryless career attitude. Structural equation modeling using survey data from 2000 science and technology professionals in South Korea revealed that psychological capital was positively related to innovation behavior, knowledge sharing, and career satisfaction, and unexpectedly positively related to turnover intention; psychological safety was positively related to knowledge sharing and career satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intention but was not related to innovation behavior. Boundaryless career attitude mediated the relationships between psychological capital and all four outcomes; however, the indirect effects on career satisfaction and turnover intention were inconsistent with the corresponding direct effects. The indirect relationships of psychological safety through boundaryless career attitude were not significant. Our findings highlight the role of boundaryless career attitude as a mediator with mixed effects on career outcomes in contemporary STEM careers and offer implications for career counseling with STEM professionals navigating culturally complex career environments.
In precarious and high-stakes vocational environments, fostering psychological sustainability is a critical challenge for employment counseling. This study investigates a modifiable psychological pathway-the mediating role of grit between growth mindset and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE)-within a high-risk performance population (K-POP trainees) characterized by prolonged uncertainty and elevated dropout risk. Drawing on social cognitive career theory, we conceptualized growth mindset as a cognitive belief target and grit as a psychological resource associated with the translation of growth-oriented beliefs into sustained effort under pressure. Using structural equation modeling with bias-corrected bootstrapping ($N = 265$), the results indicate that growth mindset significantly predicts CDSE both directly and through the partial mediation of grit. These findings provide empirical support for the proposed "belief-to-action" pathway essential for maintaining career self-regulation in performance-driven contexts. From a counseling perspective, this study provides empirical evidence for the development of mindset-based interventions and grit-enhancement programs to bolster the career sustainability of vulnerable aspirants. By providing empirical evidence for this pathway, the research offers actionable insights for employment counselors to support individuals in high-pressure career trajectories, shifting the focus from mere talent selection to the psychological empowerment of long-term professional self-efficacy.
Career development interventions for adults must address the complexity of contemporary work, including protean and boundaryless paths, multi-contextual influences, and lifelong career management. The cognitive information processing (CIP) approach offers a robust framework for career decision-making but was originally designed for occupational choice problems among college students. This article proposes an integrative extension that repositions the CIP approach from a primarily decision-making framework toward a developmental, lifespan-oriented model of career self-management. The extended CIP approach adds a Values Domain to the pyramid and reframes the self- and options-knowledge domains as desired future career and current career situation. A nine-step counseling process is described, and a composite case illustrates the model in practice. Implications for employment counselors working with adults navigating complex and ongoing career transitions are discussed, with particular attention to supporting values-driven and agentic career development.
This study examines why employees in Super's maintenance and disengagement stages, operationalized as workers aged 45-65, reporting high job satisfaction nonetheless form early retirement intentions (ERIs). Survey data from 380 Indian employees aged 45-65 were analyzed using structural equation modeling with bootstrapping. Job satisfaction was positively associated with ERI, health status partially mediated this relationship, and financial security moderated both paths. Interpreted through Super's life-span theory, Savickas's career construction theory, and Schlossberg's transition theory, these findings reframe the satisfaction-exit pattern as career goal completion rather than disengagement failure. Implications for late-career counseling assessment and intervention design are developed.
