Journal of Career Assessment

A significant portion of the working population faces economic injustices, precarious work, and exclusion from career development opportunities. Despite the growing scholarly concern for precarious workers, previous studies have pointed out the need for broader conceptualizations of what positive work experiences represent for them because individuals strive for work that provides a sense of worth and dignity in addition to minimal conditions. Building on the Dignity at Work Framework, the present study aimed to investigate dignity at work among paid domestic cleaning (PDC) workers in Switzerland, identify the strategies, resources, and hindrances to secure or enhance favorable conditions, and report participants’ propositions for improving their working conditions. We analyzed four focus groups with 15 PDC workers using Consensual Qualitative Research analysis. Results show a diversity of experiences on a continuum ranging from dignity to indignity at work. Workers employed various strategies, from resignation and demanding adaptation to more resistant responses to dignity threats. Moreover, PDC workers showed critical consciousness at various stages by proposing pragmatic changes, increased contextual support, or more liberatory aspirations and actions. Our findings contribute to bridging precarious work literature with precarity and dignity research and help adapt policies and counseling interventions for precarious workers.

Existing measures of outcome expectations in career exploration and decision-making tend to focus on positive expectations and may not adequately sample the range of anticipated outcomes (e.g., self-evaluative, social) that could motivate or discourage students’ engagement in career planning activities. We developed a novel measure assessing negative and positive outcome expectations and explored its factor structure, validity, and reliability in a sample of undergraduate students in the United States (N = 291). We then administered the scale to a sample of Turkish undergraduates (N = 307) and tested measurement invariance across the two cultural/linguistic groups. Results supported a four-factor structure of the 22-item Career Exploration and Decisional Outcome Expectations (CEDOE) scale in both samples, reflecting positive (self and social benefits) and negative (self and social costs) outcome expectations. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across countries. The scale also yielded promising reliability and validity estimates, including relations with an established measure of career exploration outcome expectations, decisional self-efficacy, and exploratory goals. However, evidence of intercept non-invariance and weaker reliability of the social benefits sub-scale in the Turkish sample suggests that further research, including targeted item refinement, is needed to support cross-cultural use of the CEDOE.

The concept of calling is relevant to many people’s working lives. Most extant research examines perceiving and living a calling, but search for a calling is comparatively understudied. We addressed this by examining profiles of searching for and presence of a calling using latent profile analysis (LPA) across student and employed adult samples. We conducted two studies (N = 1,251). Study 1 recruited participants from a U.S. university, and Study 2 drew a subsample of employed adults from the nationally representative Portraits of American Life Study. Profiles were compared across criterion variables including living a calling, academic/job satisfaction, purpose/meaning in life, hope, and faith at work. Among each sample, four profiles emerged: unresolved searchers (low presence, high search), called satisficers (high presence, low search), called explorers (high presence, high search), and unconcerned with calling (low presence, low search). For students, called explorers showed greater work-related and overall well-being. For employed adults, called satisficers appeared most favorable. This research revealed arrangements of how people engage with their sense of calling and identified how the nature of seeking a calling and its associations may differ between students and employed adults.

Guided by Porfeli’s model, we conducted two studies examining vocational identity among Croatian middle adolescents. In Study 1 (N = 770), the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Croatian version of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA) were assessed. The six-factor model showed the best fit and was confirmed across gender and school type. Subscale reliability and convergent validity were supported. In Study 2 (N = 549), adolescents were followed over three years (ages 16–18). Overall, commitment and in-depth exploration increased, while flexibility decreased. These trends were consistent across genders. However, gymnasium students showed more change, with increases in commitment, identification, and in-depth exploration, and decreases in self-doubt, flexibility, and in-breadth exploration. In contrast, vocational students showed stable identity profiles over time. The findings highlight the importance of educational context in shaping vocational identity development and support the use of VISA across diverse groups of secondary school students.

This is the first study to examine the fit of Holland’s (1997) RIASEC model of vocational interests within the Finnish cultural context. We conducted secondary analyses of vocational interest data collected over a 20-year period by the Finnish Public Employment Services (PES). The data were extracted from the PES client registry and comprise a nationally representative sample of 20,108 career counselling clients (aged 10–62 years; 62% women), who had completed a RIASEC-based, interest inventory Kiinnostukset [Interests] as part of career counselling offered by psychologists in the Finnish PES. Results from the Randomization Test of Hypothesized Order Relations (RTHOR), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and Cosine Function Models (CFM) showed that Finnish vocational interests conform satisfactorily to Holland’s RIASEC circumplex structure in terms of ordinal relationships. Overall, the degree of fit (RTHOR Correspondence Index = .67) was comparable to levels obtained from U.S.-based samples. Differences in model fit by gender or by level of education were not statistically significant. Furthermore, MDS analyses replicated the expected RIASEC circular ordering, although both MDS and CFM results suggest an approximate rather than perfect circumplex fit. Overall, our findings offer support for the continued use of Holland’s RIASEC model in Finnish career counselling and guidance practice.

Research on sustainable careers often overlooks professionals in under-represented regions. In dynamic labor markets, such as Latin America, there is limited evidence on how individuals build meaningful and healthy career paths over time. Guided by the sustainable careers model, this study addresses this gap by validating a Spanish version of the career sustainability scale and testing its predictive value in the Mexican context. Two studies were conducted, with cross-sectional survey data. Study 1 confirmed the scale’s four-factor structure and solid psychometric properties, via EFA/CFA, internal consistency, and measurement invariance by gender, and showed concurrent associations with job autonomy, work engagement, and intention to quit. Study 2 tested a moderated mediation model. Psychological capital mediated the effects of career sustainability on life satisfaction, psychological health, and task performance. Social isolation reduced the indirect effect only for psychological capital. These findings support a view of sustainable careers shaped by personal resources and social contexts and extend this research in Spanish-speaking settings, offering practical implications for well-being and performance in emerging labor markets.

This meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of online career counseling interventions on career-related psychological outcomes. Fourteen studies (N = 1,721) published between 2016 and 2025 and using experimental, quasi-experimental, and pre-experimental designs were synthesized with a random-effects model. Effect sizes were calculated as Hedges’s g. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran’s Q and the I² index, and publication bias was examined through funnel plots, Fail-safe N, and Duval and Tweedie’s trim-and-fill procedure. Results revealed a large overall effect (Hedges’s g = 1.650, 95% CI [1.171, 2.130]), indicating that online career counseling significantly improves outcomes such as career adaptability, career decision-making self-efficacy, job search self-efficacy, career confidence, career decision status, perceived employability, career calling, career development, and career awareness. Moderator analyses showed that cultural orientation and number of sessions explained variability in effect sizes, with stronger effects observed in collectivist contexts and in briefer interventions (6 or fewer sessions). Overall, findings suggest that online career counseling is a promising approach for enhancing career-related psychological development. However, substantial heterogeneity highlights the need for more rigorous comparative research to clarify the conditions under which these interventions are most effective.

The complex dynamics of racism and sexism in the workplace, particularly gendered racial microaggressions (GRMs), remain a critical concern for Black women. However, despite mounting research that experiencing GRMs predicts psychological distress and other adverse outcomes, the mechanisms through which GRMs influence workplace functioning and well-being remain understudied. Therefore, with a sample of working Black women (N = 156) from an online recruitment platform, we sought to identify mediators (sociopolitical participation and identity shifting) that explain the link from workplace GRMs to work well-being outcomes (workplace stress and work engagement). We also explored whether gendered racial identity centrality (GRI) and perceived organizational justice (POJ) moderated these indirect effects. Results indicated that identity shifting significantly mediated the relation between workplace GRMs and workplace stress, while sociopolitical participation significantly mediated GRMs and work engagement. GRI and POJ did not significantly moderate these paths. However, POJ was negatively associated with workplace stress and positively associated with work engagement, suggesting the importance of organizational fairness for Black women. Taken together, findings underscore the need for culturally responsive and equity-centered workplace practices that validate racial identity, reduce identity suppression, and encourage authentic sociopolitical expression.

Despite an increase in graduate school enrollment for students with marginalized identities, disparities in graduate school entrance persist, particularly for first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students of color. Although pilot research has offered preliminary support for interventions designed to assist students in the postgraduate application process, rigorous research allowing for causal inference remains limited. Using a randomized control design, this study sought to extend pilot research on one such graduate school application intervention, Bridging the Graduate Application Process (GAP), through assessing its effectiveness compared to an attention control (AC) condition and waitlist control (WLC) condition. A total of 188 participants recruited from Midwestern universities completed baseline assessments and were included in an intent-to-treat analysis using a linear mixed-effects model to assess changes in postgraduate school application self-efficacy scores across the three intervention conditions at pretest and posttest. A per protocol analysis was also conducted to determine the efficacy of the intervention using participants who completed the condition originally allocated. Results suggest statistically significant improvements in application self-efficacy in the experimental group compared to both the AC and WLC conditions. These findings provide robust support for GAP as a promising intervention to increase sociocognitive resources and promote equity in the graduate application process.

While research has supported the role of career wisdom in fostering well-being and adjustment, it is important to expand the understanding of the role and mechanisms through which career wisdom facilitates career development. Using a sample of U.S. employed adults (n = 995), the current study employed a three-wave design to examine the time-lagged predictions of career wisdom for subsequent job performance—including task and contextual performance, as well as counterproductive work behaviors—through living a calling. The results demonstrated that living a calling (Time 2) mediated the positive predictions of career wisdom (Time 1) for subsequent task and contextual performance (Time 3). However, living a calling did not mediate the negative predictions of career wisdom for subsequent counterproductive work behavior (Time 3); instead, career wisdom directly predicted counterproductive work behavior. This study extends the evidence base for the utility of career wisdom and the dual-process theory of career decision making, highlighting career wisdom as an important resource for managing ambiguous career challenges exemplified by living a calling. Implications, future research directions, and limitations are discussed.

From the perspective of Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), critical consciousness (CC) is hypothesized to mitigate the effects of contextual barriers on individual variables and access to decent work. This study examined the moderating effects of the dimensions of CC (Critical Reflection, Critical Motivation, and Critical Action) on the relationships between contextual variables (economic constraints and marginalization), individual variables (volition and career adaptability), and access to decent work in a sample of Brazilian workers. The sample comprised 555 participants, predominantly women (62.5%), with a mean age of 35.8 years (SD = 14.3). Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and conditional moderation. The results indicated that: (a) Critical Reflection intensified the negative effects of contextual barriers, suggesting an ambivalent role for this dimension; (b) Critical Motivation exerted a protective effect, attenuating the influence of economic constraints on decent work; and (c) Critical Action demonstrated ambivalent effects, enhancing adaptability in the face of constraints but also amplifying the impact of marginalization on volition. Explanations for these findings are discussed, along with study limitations and recommendations for future research to further investigate the role of CC in PWT, both in Brazil and internationally.

This study examined how university graduates’ work values relate to their career adjustment outcomes during the university-to-work transition from a proactive perspective. Using a four-wave time-lagged design that tracked 455 Chinese university graduates from two weeks before graduation to 18 months after entering the workforce, structural equation modeling results showed that the variety dimension of openness-to-change values was positively related to a job-growth mindset, which was in turn associated with subsequent proactive career behaviors and, ultimately, higher person-job fit and job satisfaction. In contrast, the comfort dimension of conservation values showed a negative association with this sequence. By demonstrating a temporally ordered pathway from value orientations to context-specific beliefs, proactive behavior, and adjustment, these findings provide insight into value-based proactive processes underlying career adjustment during the university-to-work transition.

Grounded in the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), prior studies have examined whether social support buffers the negative effects of contextual constraints. However, findings remain inconsistent, with some patterns contradicting PWT’s buffering proposition and instead aligning with Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. To explore whether patterns consistent with these two perspectives emerge within specific subgroups, the present study adopts a person-centered approach. We examined configurations of three constraints (economic constraints, university prestige-based marginalization, and age-based marginalization) and three sources of career support (college, family, and friends) among Korean job seekers. Latent profile analysis identified four profiles: (a) advantaged-but-institutionally-unsupported, (b) disadvantaged-but-institutionally-supported, (c) disadvantaged-and-unsupported, and (d) advantaged-and-supported. Subgroup comparisons revealed that the advantaged-and-supported group showed the most positive career development outcomes, whereas the disadvantaged-and-unsupported group showed the most negative outcomes, consistent with COR’s resource gain and loss spirals. Notably, the disadvantaged-but-institutionally-supported group showed higher occupational engagement and job search behaviors than the advantaged-but-institutionally-unsupported group. These findings suggest that patterns consistent with PWT’s buffering proposition may emerge in subgroups characterized by moderate constraints and college-based career support. However, no profile with extreme constraints and high support was identified, underscoring the need to ensure equitable access to institutional support for individuals facing substantial constraints.

Digital platforms have reshaped labour markets worldwide, increasing gig work opportunities, particularly for motorbike delivery riders in South Africa, a country grappling with high unemployment. However, these self-employed workers often face a lack of job security, benefits, and protections due to informality, weak labour laws, and deep socioeconomic inequality, highlighting the contrast with the International Labour Organisation’s decent work principles. This research explores the work experiences of platform-based motorbike delivery riders in South Africa, aiming to improve our understanding of platform-based work and decent work experiences in the gig economy. Within a constructivist paradigm, this study adopted a qualitative descriptive design to investigate the experiences of motorbike delivery riders in Gauteng, South Africa, with ten participants each undergoing two interviews. The data were analysed through hybrid thematic analysis. Findings reveal that precarious gig conditions and structural inequalities influence rider’s experiences of decent work, which can be categorised into three interconnected decent work themes: (1) safety and healthcare, (2) income security, and (3) work–life balance. This research underscores the need for context-sensitive applications of the psychology of working theory, acknowledging the complex interplay of economic constraints, access to decent work, and the fulfilment of psychological needs in the gig economy.

Career sustainability has become a popular topic of inquiry in the career, educational, organizational, and management literatures. Interest in the topic has been heightened by a confluence of economic, social, political, and technological developments that are affecting many workers and challenging traditional notions of what constitutes a viable career or work path. Career sustainability has been defined and measured in a variety of ways, yielding an active but fragmented research literature. It has been difficult, for example, to reach consensus on whether sustainability refers primarily to employability (obtaining, maintaining, and/or regaining employment) or whether it implies attainment of higher-level outcomes indicative of flourishing. It is possible to conceptualize both employability and flourishing as parts of a larger system of influences, resting on an economic base, that enables or deters career development. Yet employability would appear to represent the more fundamental challenge for many workers. Extending the social cognitive career framework, I focus on the resources and behaviors that may foster (a) employability, (b) preparedness for work instability and transitions, and (c) coping with periods of unemployment. A selective review of findings is presented, along with conceptual models intended to stimulate practice-relevant inquiry.

Combining work and study is challenging for most students, especially when they are in more precarious work contexts. Identifying which students struggle with this would better inform interventions and advance theory. Using a sample of working tertiary students (N = 415) and a person-centered research approach (latent profile analysis), we identified five different sub-groups of students based on indicators of precarious employment– high precariousness (7.3%), inflexible with poor conditions (25.0%), average (27.4%), flexible (14.3%), and low precariousness (26.0%). These subgroups differed on study, career development, mental health, and biographic factors. The high precariousness group reported more need for recovery from work and lower study engagement, career agency, wellbeing, subjective social status, and financial comfort compared to the low precariousness group. Implications for educators and employers, as well as theory, are discussed.

In the field of career counseling, communication difficulties between practitioners, researchers, and theorists have been observed for many years. Part of this problem may be related to the lack of a common model of the career counseling process. To fill this research gap, this conceptual article introduces the 5As model, an overarching, integrative, and transtheoretical model that consists of five phases (Attending, Analyzing, Agreeing, Activating, and Accompanying) and 14 steps. The relevance of this model for theoretical and research purposes is detailed. The 5As model helps draw attention to overlooked yet serious challenges and opportunities for the field.

With the rapid expansion of gig economy, platform work has become a major force shaping contemporary labor markets. In China, rural-migrant food-delivery riders constitute a dynamic yet underrepresented group, often lacking access to decent work. Grounded in Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) and Work Precarity Framework, this study primarily examined their subjective experiences of decent work and future aspirations. As a secondary aim, we explored their view of work. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants, and data were analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Our findings revealed sources of dissatisfaction such as income instability and risky working conditions, alongside sources of satisfaction like flexible schedules and positive colleague relationships. While some were trapped in precarious employment and harbored turnover intentions, others had developed concrete strategies to improve their circumstances, such as transitioning to ride-hailing driving or pursuing promotion to manager roles. Finally, participants framed work as a means to meet survival needs, foster professional growth, and contrubute to others. This study marks the first application of PWT and precarious work scholarship to understanding how rural-migrant food-delivery riders navigate precarious work within gig economy. Directions for future research and implications for policymakers, platform operators, and career counselors are discussed.

Career decision-making is a critical developmental task for college students, yet many experience low self-efficacy, anxiety, and uncertainty during this process. Xin-Yang is a set of ideologies that is a manifestation of individuals’ values and has traits that are similar to and different from Western spirituality. It is culturally grounded psychological resources and may support career development; however, empirical evidence remains limited. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of Xin-Yang based group intervention on career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) among Chinese college students. A total of 109 students were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or an active comparison group that received mindfulness psychoeducation. Measures of Xin-Yang and CDMSE were collected at baseline, post-intervention, and at 1- and 3-month follow-ups. A two-slope piecewise growth model assessed changes in CDMSE, career decision-making difficulties, and Xin-Yang over time. Participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in two CDMSE dimensions—Problem Solving and Self-Appraisal—and reductions in the Anxiety dimension of career indecision at post-intervention and follow-ups. Both groups improved in other CDMSE dimensions and the Self-Identity Concept dimension of career decision-making difficulties. Additionally, the intervention group demonstrated increasing trends in two Xin-Yang dimensions: Mental Guidance and Relationship to Others.

Identifying distinct career indecision profiles allows for the tailoring of counseling interventions to address each client’s specific needs. While Levin, Lipshits-Braziler, and Gati (2024) established a general seven-profile typology across 16 countries, cultural and socioeconomic variations necessitate replicating this model while exploring potential context-specific profiles within a specific country. Accordingly, this study explored career indecision types among Turkish undergraduate students (N = 1,377) and examined profile differences in relation to background characteristics and career-related outcomes. Latent profile analysis replicated six profiles from the general typology with some nuances: Unrealistic–Indecisive, Generally Uninformed, Uninformed–Conflicted, Internally Conflicted, Externally Conflicted, and Unmotivated. Additionally, a context-specific seventh profile—Generally Conflicted—emerged. Results indicated that gender and socioeconomic status were significant predictors of profile membership, whereas age had a minimal impact. Furthermore, profiles differed significantly in career decidedness, self-efficacy, locus of control, and ambiguity intolerance. These findings are discussed within the Turkish socioeconomic and cultural framework, as well as the broader international literature. The findings provide a basis for implementing targeted counseling strategies and outline key directions for future research.