Career doubt in a dual-domain model of coping and progress for academic and career goals

Career self-efficacy as a mediator between career-specific parental behaviors and school career support on career doubt

This study evaluates whether career-specific parental behaviors and school career supports predict career doubt via the mediation of career self-efficacy. 227 participants aged between 18 and 25 completed an online questionnaire. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis showed that school career support was significantly related to career doubt via the mediation of career self-efficacy. However, the hypothesized mediation of career self-efficacy between career-specific parental behaviors and career doubt was not supported. Limitation and implications are discussed.

When is a career transition successful? a systematic literature review and outlook (1980-2022)

A definition of career transitions was initially proposed by Louis in 1980. The pace of career transitions has since increased, unraveling traditional linear career pathways. Despite this, we have inadequate knowledge about what defines successful career transitions. Hence, we conducted a systematic review of the scholarship to understand how career transition success is operationalized and to identify research gaps and directions. We identified and reviewed 244 articles published from 1980 to 2022. We found that career transition success outcomes studied fall under the self-referent category, with the outcomes in the other-referent category absent. Further, most studies rely on a mix of objective and subjective success criteria, with no study considering possible interactions between the two. The review revealed a fragmented scholarship of career transition success and an urgency to broaden investigations of career transition success criteria given rapidly evolving employment trends globally.

Some days are more satisfying than others: A daily-diary study on optimism, pessimism, coping, and academic satisfaction

BACKGROUND

Feelings of satisfaction fluctuate across time and situations, and focusing on within-person experiences opens up the door to a better understanding of the daily lives of university students.

AIMS

Our overarching goal was to situate academic satisfaction not only as a relatively enduring characteristic but also as a transient state that fluctuates across days in the lives of student. In the present study, we explored how optimism and pessimism related to inter-individual differences in academic satisfaction. We also investigated the association between coping and academic satisfaction at both the between- and within-person levels.

SAMPLE

A sample of 235 undergraduate students (M_age  = 19.14) participated in this study.

METHOD

Students completed baseline measures of optimism and pessimism. They were then asked to complete daily-diary measures of academic coping strategies and academic satisfaction during six consecutive days.

RESULTS

At the between-person level, results from multilevel mediation analyses demonstrated that optimism was associated with greater academic satisfaction and that task-oriented coping was a significant mediator of this association. At the within-person level, our analyses revealed that the daily satisfaction of students varies according to the coping strategies used on those specific days. Almost half of the variance in academic satisfaction can be attributable to daily fluctuations.

CONCLUSIONS

This source of within-person variance is non-negligible and supports the need to also conceive academic satisfaction as a question of when. These findings illustrate the importance of considering the role of personality and daily coping to better conceptualize and understand academic satisfaction of university students.