Career commitment among social workers: The contribution of personal,organizational,and vocational factors

Abstract

Despite today’s considerable changes in the labor market, studies on the career commitment of social workers remain scarce. The current study focuses on the personal, organizational, and vocational factors of social workers’ career commitment. The study included 251 social workers from various organizations in Israel. Findings show that their career commitment is positively correlated with Protean and Boundaryless career patterns, as well as with their perceived career success. These findings could contribute in developing tools that could increase social workers’ career commitment, which in turn would enable them to be more effective at work, to the benefit of their clients.

Keywords

Boundaryless career pattern career commitment perceived career success Protean career pattern social workers

Scientific background

Over the past decades, many researchers have studied the term ‘career development’ in various professions and organizations. This term was originally coined by Tuckman (1974), who perceived it as a process by which employees develop their professional identity and become aware of themselves and their vocational environment. Hoekstra (2011) expanded upon this definition, and claimed that career development is a daily process formed through ongoing experiences and by gradual changes related to employees’ roles and responsibilities.

The theoretical model constituting this study’s background was developed by Hall (1976), and emphasizes the middle period of employees’ career (around the ages of 25–45) as a critical period in their vocational life. This period includes professional development, along with various struggles and stressors (e.g. the balance between work and family). During this period, many questions could arise in relation to different vocational routes, requiring employees to make meaningful and often life-changing decisions about their career path.

Career development among social workers

Social workers’ career development typically starts when they complete their basic professional training (in Israel, this means completing a BA degree at an academic institution). Career development is expressed in several ways. One way to pursue it is by attending formal and advanced degree studies (e.g. an MA degree or a PhD degree). Other paths include enrolling onto training programs and continuing education programs, and changing jobs, positions, and organizations (Howard et al., 2018). These aspects are especially relevant in the social work profession, which is characterized by diverse types of jobs, positions, and organizations, and whose ultimate goal is to aid people in need and provide a variety of social services (Barsky, 2019; Maynard et al., 2017).

Studies have shown that over the course of their careers, many social workers combine professional and academic continuing education programs in order to advance their careers (Geisler et al., 2019; Moorhead et al., 2020). One reason for this is to enable themselves to progress to advanced professional roles, such as management, supervision, and policy making (Gurbatov et al., 2013; Howard et al., 2018). However, despite the importance of career development among social workers, there are no empirical studies, to date, which directly examine this phenomenon. However, in related professions – such as nursing – there is some empirical evidence that shows that career development has a positive influence on employees’ job performance. For example, Johnson et al. (2011) found that the efforts employees invest in advanced studies and career development endeavors significantly contribute to effective outcomes at work. Therefore, the current study strives to examine social workers’ career patterns on the assumption that these significantly contribute to their career commitment and their work effectiveness altogether. The two main types of career patterns that were examined in this study were the Protean career and the Boundaryless career.

Theoretical concepts: Protean career and Boundaryless career patterns

There are several ways to examine career patterns. In this study, we will focus on two prominent and common career patterns. The first is referred to as the ‘Protean Career Pattern’, and the second is the ‘Boundaryless Career Pattern’. The significant difference between the two patterns is that the Protean career pattern is based on an internal change which takes place within the employee, while the Boundaryless career pattern is based on an external change that the employee experiences, and through which her/his career develops (Hofstetter and Rosenblatt, 2017). We will elaborate on the two career patterns in the following sections.

The Protean career pattern

The first career pattern is the Protean one. This term takes its name from one of the sea gods from Greek mythology, Proteus, who could change his shape whenever in times of need (Inkson, 2006). Briscoe and Hall (2006) defined this career pattern as one in which a change takes place within employees, internally. As a result, these employees decide to change their career, either within the current organization or outside of it. Hence, the Protean career pattern is depicted by employees’ attitudes toward developing their own definition of what constitutes a successful career and taking action to achieve these success criteria (DiRenzo and Greenhaus, 2011). The Protean career pattern is also based on employees’ motivation to adapt to a changing environment (Gubler et al., 2014; Hall, 2002), as the main source of this change is employees’ values and beliefs (Hofstetter and Rosenblatt, 2017), through which they change their career perspectives.

The Boundaryless career pattern

The second career pattern is the Boundaryless one, which describes a situation in which the change occurring in employees’ career is based, first and foremost, on an external change in their job position, the organization, and so on. Through the external change, employees broaden their horizons and develop their careers, regardless of organizational and professional boundaries. This allows employees’ career to branch out in different directions (Spurk et al., 2015). Hence, the Boundaryless career pattern refers to a career path in which employees respond to decreased organizational resources by seeking resources or opportunities from outside their current organization, through seeking alternative jobs or by forming an external professional network (Wiernik and Kostal, 2019).

Career commitment and its relations to career patterns

Blau (1985) was the first researcher to conceptualize the term ‘career commitment’, which is expressed in employees’ positive attitudes toward their careers. Cohen (2003) expanded this conceptualization, adding that employees’ career commitment is related to their career path, and operates above and beyond a specific profession. The current conceptualization of this term is employees’ beliefs and acceptance of the unique value of their career, and is expressed in employees’ willingness to invest efforts in order to advance their careers (Arora and Rangnekar, 2016; Katz et al., 2019). Career commitment is distinguished from organizational commitment, which is defined as one’s emotional attachment to a certain organization (Freund and Zriker, 2020; Meyer and Allen, 1991). It is also different from professional commitment, which is the psychological contract between employees and their profession (Giffords, 2009). Hence, career commitment is a distinguished term in the context of employees’ work attitudes, and it allows them to advance and develop their ideal career path (Kim et al., 2016), since it involves their active involvement in achieving and identifying career goals, above and beyond their roles, professions, or organizations.

In the current study, we examined the correlations between the two career patterns mentioned above and social workers’ career commitment. The common denominator between the two patterns and career commitment is the focus on one’s career and the desire to develop. Accordingly, we state:

Hypothesis 1. Social workers’ Protean career pattern will be positively correlated with their career commitment.

Hypothesis 2. Social workers’ Boundaryless career pattern will also be positively correlated with their career commitment.

Perceived career success

A successful career has many definitions; some are objective and others are subjective. Some researchers define feelings of success with one’s career through optimal achievements perceived by the employee over time (Arthur et al., 2005). Other researchers prefer to define it using more concrete measurements, such as being granted seniority or celebrating job promotion (Hall et al., 2017). Either way, since employees’ perceived career success is an additional way to understand their feelings regarding their work performance, it is important to examine the correlations between perceived career success and social workers’ career commitment. This claim is supported in previous studies that show a significant correlation between perceived career success about one’s career commitment. Poon (2004), for example, showed that career commitment motivates employees to define their career goals and invest efforts to achieve them. Therefore, employees who are characterized with higher levels of career commitment are more able to define suitable goals and develop realistic career plans. The current study seeks to expand the existing literature. Thus, Hypothesis 3 proposes the following:

Hypothesis 3. Social workers’ perceived career success will be positively correlated with their career commitment.

Career commitment and its relation to social workers’ organizational sector

The last variable we will review is the organizational sector in which social workers are employed. One of the major trends in the field of social services today is privatization. Over the past three decades, this process has accelerated, both in Israel and abroad (Benish, 2018). This trend requires social workers to be dynamic and adjust to the rapidly changing labor market, as it requires creative thinking in order to succeed (Abramovitz and Zelnick, 2018; Myers, 2017). This trend has a direct impact on social workers’ short- and long-term career plans, in an attempt to better adjust to today’s demanding times (Dominelli, 2016).

As a result of privatization processes, for the past three decades, social workers are mainly employed in welfare organizations from three main sectors: (1) Public Sector Welfare Organizations: Governmental or municipal organizations that provide welfare services for the sake of the general society. These services are mainly measured by achieving desired values and social goals (Freund, 2005; Freund and Zriker, 2020); however, this reality is also changing, as there are some objective criteria for assessing social workers’ interventions in the public sector as well (Dominelli, 2016); (2) Private Sector Welfare Organizations: These are privately owned, for-profit organizations. In Israel and several countries in Europe, these organizations mainly provide services and treatment for the elderly, mental health, boarding schools, and so on (Cappelen et al., 2018; Freund and Zriker, 2016); (3) Non-Governmental Welfare Organizations (hereinafter: NGOs): These organizations provide different types of social services. Some are involved in advocating social change, while others focus on supplying social and professional needs through collaboration with the public sector (Chung et al., 2018).

Prior studies (Freund, 2005; Freund and Zriker, 2016) have found significant differences in work attitudes, including career commitment, among social workers in the three different organizational sectors. For example, it was found that social workers employed in NGOs tend to report a higher career commitment compared to social workers in the other two sectors. One of the main reasons for this is that social workers in NGOs tend to choose their jobs in light of a perceived compatibility between their personal values and the organization’s values (Rölver, 2010), while the main reasons for choosing to work in the public sector are based on improved working conditions, such as seniority and stability (Burns, 2011). Regarding the private sector, most studies have shown that the main reasons for choosing to work in these organizations are lack of other options, and a general sense of ‘settling’ for it for the meantime (Rogowski, 2012). Thus, Hypothesis 4 proposes the following:

Hypothesis 4. Differences will be found in social workers’ career commitment according to their organizational sector, as social workers employed in NGOs will have the highest career commitment, while social workers employed in the private sector will have the lowest career commitment.

Method

Population and sample

This study was conducted among a population of social workers in the age range of 25 to 45. This age range was identified in Hall’s model (Hall, 2004; Hall et al., 2017) as a critical time in the employee’s vocational life. Hall’s model includes personal, organizational, and vocational factors that are related to career commitment. These factors were examined in the current study among social workers employed in the three main organizational sectors mentioned earlier.

The sampling method used in this study was a convenience sample from the described population sample. The questionnaires were distributed among participants (both Jews and Arabs) via their personal email addresses in their social services department, in governmental offices, in privatized welfare services, in NGOs, and in community centers. The distributions of questionnaires were based on lists received from the National Union of Social Workers in Israel, on authors’ social and professional networks, and on social media platforms, such as closed groups of Israeli social workers on Facebook and LinkedIn. These various databases allowed us to gain full coverage of the sampling framework.

In all, a total of 400 questionnaires were sent; 251 of which were completed (a 63% response rate). Each questionnaire included a clear statement, revealing the context in which the data are collected, and several ethical considerations (e.g. confidentiality). All participants were asked to voluntarily answer the questionnaires, and were informed of their rights to withdraw from the sample at any time, with no negative consequences for it.

According to Table 1, 87 percent of the respondents were women. In regard to the sector to which the participants’ organization belongs, 56 percent of the participants (n = 140) worked in the public sector, 29 percent (n = 72) worked in NGOs, and 15 percent (n = 39) worked in the private sector. Most of the participants (56%) had an MA degree. The rest had a BA (43%) or a PhD degree (less than 2%). The mean age of the participants was 36.55 years (SD = 8.57), and their professional experience was 9.30 years on average (SD = 8.45).

Table 1.

Descriptive statistics of the sample (N = 251).

Variable	Levels of variable	n	%	M	SD
Gender	Female	217	86.5	–	–
Gender	Male	34	13.5	–	–
Marital status	Single	63	25.1	–	–
	Married	162	64.5
	Divorced	14	5.6
	Widowed	5	2.0
	Other	6	2.4
Level of education	BA	107	42.6	–	–
	MA	140	55.8
	PhD	4	1.6
Salary	Below average	47	18.7	–	–
	Average	183	72.9
	Above average	21	8.4
Does the respondent have children?	Yes	155	61.8	–	–
Does the respondent have children?	No	96	38.2	–	–
Organizational sector	NGO	72	28.7	–	–
	Public	140	55.8
	Private	39	15.5
Receiving training	Yes	157	62.5	–	–
Receiving training	No	94	37.5	–	–
Receiving supervision	Yes	189	75.3	–	–
Receiving supervision	No	62	24.7	–	–
Working in a desired workplace	Yes	214	85.3	–	–
Working in a desired workplace	No	37	14.7	–	–
Working in a desired field	Yes	218	86.9	–	–
Working in a desired field	No	33	13.1	–	–
Career decision making	Yes	204	81.3	–	–
Career decision making	No	47	18.7	–	–
Planning future career	Yes	208	82.9	–	–
Planning future career	No	43	17.1	–	–
Feel committed to career	Yes	239	95.2	–	–
Feel committed to career	No	12	4.8	–	–
Age	–	–	–	36.55	8.57
Professional experience	–	–	–	8.45	9.30

NGO: non-governmental organization.

Research procedure and tools

Prior to being conducted, the study was authorized by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of The University of Haifa’s Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences. After receiving IRB authorization, we contacted the managers of welfare organizations and requested their approval to distribute the questionnaires among the social workers in their organizations. After receiving these authorizations, we directly approached social workers.

In total, the study tool included a 69-item questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into several sub-questionnaires, detailed below. The continuous questions used a 1- to 5-point Likert-type response scale, where 1 = ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 = ‘strongly agree’. For each questionnaire, participants’ final score was calculated based on the average of all items.

Career commitment

In order to measure social workers’ career commitment, we used the questionnaire originally developed by Super and Culha (1976). Originally, the scale included 17 items, but after the translation into Hebrew carried out by Kedem (1990), 3 items whose loading factors were lower than .30 were deleted from the scale. This rather low rate of factor loading was due to their incompliance with the content of social workers’ career in Israel. Thus, the final scale used in the current study included 14 items. The internal validity of the Career Commitment Questionnaire in our study had a Cronbach’s alpha value of .79; sample item: ‘My career gives my life meaning’.

The Protean career pattern

To measure the Protean career pattern, we used the questionnaire developed by Briscoe and Hall (2003), translated into Hebrew by Zarmi (2005). The internal validity of this questionnaire (a total of 15 items) in this study had a Cronbach’s alpha value of .79; sample item: ‘I always act according to my inner voice’.

The Boundaryless career pattern

To measure this pattern, we also used the questionnaire developed by Briscoe and Hall (2003), translated into Hebrew by Zarmi (2005). The internal validity of the questionnaire (a total of 15 items) in this study had a Cronbach’s alpha value of .77; sample item: ‘If I find an opportunity to develop my career elsewhere, I’ll be willing to leave my present workplace, even if I only worked there for a short while’.

Perceived career success

This questionnaire was also developed by Briscoe and Hall (2003) and translated into Hebrew by Zarmi (2005). In this study, the internal validity of this sub-questionnaire (10 items) was very high (α = .89); sample item: ‘I am satisfied with the way I have managed my career up until now’.

Closed-ended questionnaire

This questionnaire included 15 closed-ended questions, divided into three fields. The first field was the demographic questionnaire, which included seven demographic items: age, gender, marital status, socio-economic status, children, level of education, and years of experience in the social work profession. The second field was the organizational questionnaire, which included four organizational items: organizational sector, salary, supervision at work, and job training. The last field was the vocational questionnaire, which included four vocational items: employees’ feeling that they work in their desired workplace, in their desired field, that they make decisions about their careers, and that they feel committed to their career.

Data analysis

In order to examine the study’s hypotheses, we first analyzed the descriptive statistics. In the next step, we examined the correlations among the study’s variables. Finally, we regressed social workers’ career commitment as the dependent variable, and investigated its prediction by personal, organizational, and vocational variables.

Findings

Hypotheses 1 to 3 were examined using Pearson correlation calculations (see Table 2). These analyses indicated a positive and significant correlation (albeit weak) between social workers’ tendency toward a Protean career pattern and their career commitment (r_p = .23, p < .01). Thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported. We also found a positive and significant (mid-range) correlation between social workers’ tendency toward a Boundaryless career pattern and career commitment (r_p = .30, p < .01). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was also supported. A positive and significant (mid-range) correlation was also found between social workers’ perceived career success and their career commitment (r_p = .23, p < .01). This finding supports Hypothesis 3.

Table 2.

Correlations matrix of study variables (N = 251).

	Career commitment	Protean career pattern	Boundaryless career pattern	Perceived career success	Professional experience
Protean career pattern	.23**	–	–	–	–
Boundaryless career pattern	.30**	.36**	–	–	–
Perceived career success	.23**	.35**	–.03	–	–
Professional experience	.14*	–.02	–.07	.24**	–
Age	–.23**	.05	.02	.12	.85**

p < .05; **p < .01.

In order to examine the differences in career commitment according to employees’ organizational sector (Hypothesis 4), a one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted (see Table 3). This yielded non-significant differences in the examined work attitudes (career commitment, Protean career, Boundaryless career, and perceived career success) according to organizational sector. Thus, Hypothesis 4 was refuted.

Table 3.

Differences in study variables according to organizational sector (N = 251).

Variable	Range	NGO (n = 72)		Public (n = 140)		Private (n = 39)		F
Variable	Range	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	F
Career commitment	1–5	3.83	.47	3.80	.49	3.77	.39	.19
Protean career pattern	1–5	3.49	.43	3.51	.46	3.49	.45	.07
Boundaryless career pattern	1–5	3.45	.44	3.33	.47	3.43	.47	2.04
Perceived career success	1–5	3.71	.66	3.86	.56	3.62	.83	2.69

NGO: non-governmental organization.

Furthermore, in order to predict social workers’ career commitment, a regression analysis was conducted (see Table 4). The regression analysis demonstrates six variables that significantly and consistently contributed to the prediction of social workers’ career commitment. The most powerful factor in the regression model was the Boundaryless career pattern, followed by (1) employees’ subjective feeling about future career planning, (2) employees’ sense that they work in their desired field, (3) employees’ subjective feeling that they work in their desired organization, (4) employees’ perceived career success, and (5) employees’ age (the latter had a negative impact).

Table 4.

Hierarchical regression for predicting career commitment by demographic, organizational, vocational, and personal variables (N = 251).

Variable(s)	Model 1B (t)	Model 2B (t)	Model 3B (t)	Model 4B (t)
Demographic
Age	–.02 (–3.41) ***	–.02 (–3.32) ***	–.02 (–3.91) ***	–.02 (–4.095) ***
Social work experience	.006 (0.97)	.009 (0.006)	.009 (1.495)	.009 (1.41)
Education – BA	–.51 (–2.01)*	–.49 (–2.14)*	–.28 (–1.27)	–.27 (–1.24)
Education – MA	–.38 (–1.67)	–.38 (–1.61)	–.20 (–0.91)	–.19 (–0.88)
Organizational
Sector 1	.04 (0.43)			.007 (0.09)
Sector 2	.06 (0.74)			.08 (0.08)
Receiving training	.09 (1.34)			.07 (1.10)
Receiving supervision	–.05 (–0.75)			–.06 (–0.88)
Salary	–.009 (–0.14)			–.008 (–0.14)
Vocational
Working in a desired workplace		–.05 (–0.54)		–.19 (–1.99)*
Working in a desired field		.13 (1.42)		.195 (2.21)*
Career decision making		.01 (0.18)		–.04 (–0.54)
Planning future career		.30 (3.86)***		.24 (3.19)**
Personal
Protean career pattern			.08 (1.17)	.04 (.58)
Boundaryless career pattern			.29 (4.75) ***	.30 (4.78) ***
Perceived career success			.15 (3.15) **	.17 (3.14) **
R²	.10	.16	.24	.31
Adjusted R²	.07	.13	.22	.26
F	3.00**	5.61***	10.98***	6.41***

p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Table 4 illustrates the four regression models, which combined demographic variables (age, experience in the social work profession, and level of education), organizational variables (organizational sector, salary level, receiving professional job training, and receiving supervision at work), vocational variables (desired workplace, desired field, decision-making about one’s career and future career plans), and personal variables (Protean career pattern, Boundaryless career pattern, and perceived career success).

The first model combined demographic variables with organizational variables and was found significant, F(9, 241) = 3.00, p < .01. The model predicted 7 percent of the explained variance of social workers’ career commitment. In the model’s analysis, the highest relative contribution for predicting social workers’ career commitment was having a BA degree. However, this contribution was negative (β = –.51). The second most important contribution was also negative and was related to employees’ age (β = –.02). These findings show that when social workers have only the basic level of education required for the profession (a BA degree in Israel), and the younger they are, the lower is their level of career commitment.

The second model combined demographic and vocational variables in order to predict social workers’ career commitment. This model was also found to be significant, F(8, 242) = 5.61, p < .01, and predicted 13 percent of the variance in social workers’ career commitment. In the model’s analysis, the highest relative contribution for predicting career commitment was having a BA degree; this contribution was negative (β = –.49). These findings were similar to those of the first regression model; only this model’s prediction also includes the positive contribution of future career plans.

The third model examined the prediction of social workers’ career commitment by combining demographic and personal variables. This model was significant, F(7, 243) = 10.98, p < .01, and predicted 22 percent of the variance of social workers’ career commitment. The model’s analysis indicates that the strongest contribution for predicting social workers’ career commitment was their tendency toward the Boundaryless career pattern (β = .29).

Finally, a fourth regression model was calculated, and included all research variables (demographic, organizational, vocational, and personal variables). This model was found significant, F(16, 234) = 6.41, p < .01, and predicted 26 percent of the variance of social workers’ career commitment. A deeper analysis of the model showed that six variables contributed to the prediction. The strongest relative contribution to the prediction of social workers’ career commitment was their tendency toward the Boundaryless career pattern (β = .30).

Discussion

The current study examined the phenomenon of social workers’ career commitment, a phenomenon which has received very little scientific attention to date. The importance of career commitment among social workers is based on the notion that in order to aid their clients, and help them deal with the diverse challenging situations and contexts of their profession, social workers need to be more satisfied with their work and their career (Itzick and Kagan, 2017). This, in turn, could lead to higher motivation and a stronger tendency among social workers to effectively intervene in order to benefit their clients (Graham et al., 2016).

Study findings show that social workers’ tendency toward the Boundaryless career pattern was positively correlated with career commitment. This is an especially important finding considering social workers’ current occupational reality, which offers a wide range of opportunities in different workplaces and diverse professional fields (Kam, 2014). This wide array of potential vocational opportunities strengthens social workers’ need to expand and develop a career without defined boundaries, and their ability to move from one organization to another (Inkson, 2006). These findings reinforce the importance of the Boundaryless career pattern in the current labor market, as social workers characterized by this career pattern tend to have a flexible professional repertoire. Thus, they are better able to realize their professional potential, without committing to a single organizational domain (Mainiero and Gibson, 2018; Rodrigues et al., 2019).

A similar trend was found in relation to social workers’ tendency toward the Protean career pattern. This finding is also important in the current dynamic labor market, as it may indicate that social workers tend to define their career goals based on their own values, rather than on objective measures, such as salary or seniority (De Vos and Soens, 2008). One can conclude that social workers who adopt a Protean career pattern would be more aware of the occupational changes taking place around them and perceive their career as a continuum of experiences, through which they acquire knowledge and skills that reflect their personal values and goals (Rahim and Siti-Rohaida, 2015).

However, despite these seemingly promising findings, they may prove to be more complex from the organizational and managerial points of view. Even though the tendency toward the Protean career pattern may be perceived as valuable and essential when it comes to carrying out social workers’ tasks and benefiting social workers’ clients, at the same time, it may also hinder organizational goals (Weng et al., 2010). Hence, on the one hand, employees characterized by the Protean career pattern are interested in taking control of their own career and may feel the need to move from one position to another within their organization. On the other hand, organizations are interested in stability (Suykens et al., 2019). In order to balance this alleged contradiction, employees’ and managers’ expectations should be aligned. This process could lead to a mutual understanding between the needs of social workers and their managers. In this process, this type of understanding can lead to managers’ increased efforts to merge employees’ goals with those of the organization. The mere recognition of an employee’s tendency toward the Protean career pattern may lead both parties to reflect on the employee’s career-related goals, for the benefit of the organization and its clients.

Another interesting finding was the positive correlation between social workers’ perceived career success and their career commitment. This finding is in line with the findings of Poon (2004), who claimed that employees with a higher career commitment are better able to define suitable goals for themselves, develop realistic career plans, and perceive higher job satisfaction. Perceived career success also leads to employees’ improved work performance and an increased level of effectiveness (De Vos et al., 2011; Spurk et al., 2015). When the perceived career success is in line with employees’ personal and professional values, their career commitment will be higher. In this context, it is important to mention that the social work profession is mainly based on values such as protecting and maintaining human rights and social rights (Dominelli and Ioakimidis, 2016; Kam, 2014). Therefore, when social workers feel they base their work on their own values, it reinforces not only their career commitment but also their commitment to the profession (Giffords, 2009).

An additional factor that predicted social workers’ career commitment was their age. In contrast to Hall’s (1976) model, the current study found that employees’ career commitment tended to decrease with age. Even though these findings contrasted Hall’s model, they are in line with findings from recent studies (Kooij et al., 2010), and may be explained by various factors, such as burnout (Kim et al., 2011) and the public’s image of the profession (Zugazaga et al., 2006), but mainly by the changes in today’s labor market, in which employees tend to be less committed to their organization and career, and more committed to other aspects in their lives, such as their family and personal lives (Freund et al., 2019; Hur and Perry, 2020). In future studies, it is important to ascertain the impact of age on social workers’ work attitudes, such as career commitment.

Besides these significant findings, the current study failed to find differences between social workers’ career commitment according to their organizational sector (public sector, private sector, and NGOs). This finding contradicts previous studies, such as that of Freund (2005), which found that social workers employed in NGOs had a higher level of career commitment than their colleagues employed in the private and/or public sectors. These findings may stem from the fact that, apart from career commitment, social workers could also have a higher professional commitment, that is, to the values upon which the profession is based. This may somewhat blur the differences in their career commitment based on their organizational sector. Similarly, in the study sample’s descriptive analysis, we found that most participants received job training (62.5%) or supervision (75.3%). Therefore, this could indicate that social workers have a strong sense of career commitment, and thus there is a reduction in inter-organizational differences, despite the effects of the ongoing privatization process.

Finally, one of the main objectives of this study was to examine the relative contribution of personal, organizational and vocational factors in predicting social workers’ career commitment. The regression analyses indicated that the highest relative contribution of social workers’ career commitment was their tendency toward the Boundaryless career pattern and the second most important contribution was their future career planning. These findings demonstrate social workers’ willingness to perceive their professional career as a process and as a continuum, and to plan it as a series of experiences accumulated over their entire career, without any affiliation to a certain organization (Taber and Blankemeyer, 2015).

A possible explanation for the relatively strong contribution of the Boundaryless career pattern is that this pattern mainly derives from external motives (the transition from one position to another, or moving from one organization to another), while other attitudes derive from more internal motives (Arthur, 2014). Focusing on external motives may therefore indicate influences related to frequent changes in the labor market, expressed by numerous vocational opportunities for social workers. Previous studies did show that an unstable labor market may result in employees coming up with new career patterns (DiRenzo and Greenhaus, 2011; Hofstetter and Rosenblatt, 2017), such as their adoption of a Protean or Boundaryless career pattern, each of which helps the employee to better cope with the labor market and its frequent changes (Rodrigues et al., 2019).

In conclusion, the findings of the current study indicate the importance of the Boundaryless career pattern among social workers, as it could enable them to engage in various processes of professional socialization, and to gain proficiency and expertise. These could be achieved by attending advanced studies and professional courses. In this context, Hall’s (1976) model seems appropriate as it indicates the importance of career development in mid-career as a critical stage in one’s vocational life. An additional conclusion is that social workers’ organizational sector did not differentiate their levels of career commitment, career patterns, and perceived career success. Hence, we conclude that these work attitudes seem to be quite similar among social workers in different organizations. It is possible that in light of social workers’ common values (above and beyond organizational boundaries), differences in employees’ work attitudes are reduced and even diminished.

Theoretical implications

The current study offers new lines of thought and research regarding social workers’ career commitment, as it explores its correlates and contributing factors. As our study is among the first to examine this aspect of career commitment among social workers, it contributes to the field of employee work attitudes in general, and to the social work profession in particular. Its findings could be understood in the international context, as social workers in different national contexts face similar issues, such as working with aging populations (Hartnett et al., 2019), immigration (Herrmann, 2018), and multi-culturalism (Akintayo et al., 2018). Since social workers conform globally to the same basic values, such as social justice and advocating for underprivileged groups (Barsky, 2019), one can generalize these findings from the Israeli context to the international one.

The study’s scientific background discussed the rapid changes that have been taking place in recent years in the labor market in the welfare arena. As a result of these changes, the contemporary labor market differs greatly from that of the 1970s and 1980s, and a large part of the 1990s (Gunaydin, 2018; Voßemer et al., 2018). One of these changes is a greater sense of instability, which is expected to become more complex over the next decade (Kalleberg, 2018). These changes call for further studies that will investigate the impact of various factors (personal, social, vocational, organizational, etc.) on both employees and organizations, in order to develop effective managerial tools for managers and policy makers.

Regarding the social work profession, and specifically the ever-growing trend of the privatization of social services (Benish, 2018; Chung et al., 2018), it is of the utmost importance to continue examining whether working in different organizational sectors leads to different attitudes and performance levels among employees. In the current study, no differences were found among the various organizational sectors in the domain of social workers’ career commitment, but it is worthwhile to continue studying this issue, as several past studies did identify differences related to this factor (Freund, 2005; Freund and Zriker, 2016).

An additional line of recommended research is the examination of different groups in relation to career commitment among social workers in Israel and abroad. Given the diversity of cultural and social groups within the social work professional community (as many countries in the world experience cultural changes in light of immigration processes), it is important to investigate potential differences according to social and cultural variables. In Israel, for example, it would be wise to examine the differences in career commitment between Arab and Jewish social workers. In addition, within the Jewish group, it is suggested to examine differences among secular, religious, and ultra-Orthodox social workers.

Practical implications

The present study also has meaningful implications for social work practice. One of the more obvious implications relates to raising awareness of the mere concept of social workers’ career commitment and career development, both for managers and employees. The employing organization can serve as a reinforcing, strengthening, and unifying framework for employees, and as a platform for career development. Hence, it is highly important for welfare organizations’ managers to be aware of the fact that training and supervision have a significant impact on social workers’ career commitment, as employees with more skills will make more meaningful contributions to their organization, and – no less important – to the profession and its core values for the sake of service users.

Another practical implication relates to the importance of perceived career success among social workers. Our findings show that perceived career success is positively related to career commitment. Therefore, it is wise for managers to develop tools to identify social workers’ career success, which can support their career development and increase their short- and long-term work effectiveness. One should also bear in mind the elusive concept of effectiveness and success in a value-based profession like social work, and to attempt to better understand its importance. An additional practical aspect of this study is the obligation of social work professionals to cope with various situations and cases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which calls for social action – both on the micro and macro levels of intervention. In other words, social workers are obliged to intervene both in routine and emergency situations. In order to achieve high levels of proficiency in these situations, it is important for them to engage in career development strategies.

Limitations

Despite this study’s positive findings, it also has some limitations. First, the sample was not evenly distributed among organizational sectors. Second, we did not examine participants’ affiliation to other categories, such as religious or ethnic backgrounds. If the findings had been examined in this way, it may have been possible to draw further conclusions. Hence, other types of demographic distributions are recommended in future research. Third, in relation to the study’s scientific background, very few prior studies have examined social workers’ career commitment. Therefore, there was a lack of sufficient data to support our pioneering study. It is our sincere hope that this study will serve as a cornerstone for future studies regarding the phenomenon of social workers’ career development and career commitment, and that it will lead to expanding the existing body of knowledge related to this field.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Anat Freund

Author biographies

Anat Freund is an associate professor at the School of Social Work in University of Haifa. Her research areas are organizational behavior, work attitudes, and intervention with minorities.

Guil Javier Koltun is a PhD candidate at the School of Social Work in University of Haifa. His main research areas are career development and career commitment of social workers.

Amit Zriker is a lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Ruppin Academic Center, and in the School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University. His research areas are organizational behavior, work attitudes, community social work, and leadership development.

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