Calling and careers: New insights and future directions

How calling emerges and develops during COVID-19: a qualitative study of medical students

INTRODUCTION

The presence of calling in medicine has been shown to be related to a preponderance of positive outcomes among medical students. However, only a few studies examined the antecedents of calling. Of this group, little is known about how a calling emerges and develops in a crisis situation. This study examines the processes underlying the emergence and development of calling when confronted with COVID-19.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with medical students (N = 28) from China from February to March 2020. Medical students reported their experiences about the emergence of calling, its antecedents, and its outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS

Four main themes were identified: (1) the definition of calling, (2) the trajectories of calling development, (3) the factors leading to the emergence of calling, and (4) the outcomes of the emergence of calling. Medical students conceptualized calling as both self- and other-oriented regarding serving the common good. Three calling paths were revealed: significantly enhanced, growing out of nothing, and remaining unchanged. Work sense-making and identity formation interact to facilitate the emergence of calling. The emergence of a calling affects career and study-related outcomes.

DISCUSSION

Our findings advance the concept of how the calling of medical students emerges and develops in response to life events through work sense-making and identity formation. Academic institutions and medical educators could leverage these events to facilitate calling discernment among medical students.

The Cinderella of positive psychology: spiritual well-being as an emerging dimension of flourishing in pastoral work

PURPOSE

The invaluable, yet challenging role of pastors in the community signifies the need to understand and care for their well-being. Well-being, conceptualized in the multidimensional construct of flourishing, does not explicitly include spiritual well-being, yet, it is the foundation of pastors' well-being. In this article we aim to describe pastors' spiritual well-being and in so doing, highlight its fundamental importance in pastors' flourishing in the ministry.

METHODS

Positioned in the interpretive pragmatic paradigm, data were gathered and analysed from three focus groups with 18 pastors in the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa. Interactive qualitative analysis was applied, and results were conceptually refined through narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

Four themes were constructed to describe pastors' spiritual well-being namely: i) an altruistic calling; ii) discipleship iii) seasons of the ministry; and iv) ethics.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the importance and essence of the spiritual aspects predominant to pastors' well-being. Attending to spiritual well-being will enhance their resilience and constructive coping and is integral to their way of flourishing at work. This proposes an extension of the flourishing framework to include spiritual well-being as an explicitly conceptualized sub-dimension for application to the study's Christian pastoral context.

Changes in Nurses' Sense of Calling During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

This study investigated changes in nurses' sense of calling during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as possible reasons for these changes. A total of 440 nurses in Turkey responded to a single open-ended question about their work attitudes and experiences. Emergent Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) was used to analyze the responses. Results demonstrated that nurses experienced both positive and negative changes to their sense of calling, sometimes simultaneously. The most frequently cited reasons for positive changes were nurses' perceived job significance, their desire to serve humanity, and a sense of meaningful work. In contrast, terms describing their reasons for experiencing negative changes include exhaustion, underpaid, unappreciated, overwork, disengagement, risky, stress, and anxiety. This study provides the first evidence on how a sense of calling experienced by Turkish nurses has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for theory, research, and practice are explored.

Calling for a meaningful contribution? Bridging contributing to society with motivation theory

This paper examines the concept of "contributing to society" in the context of meaningful work and calling. While previous studies have identified it as a significant dimension within these concepts, little attention has been paid to trying to conceptualize it. Also, with "self-oriented" fulfillment being an important aspect of the experience of meaningfulness, the understanding of contribution to society might be more complex than being simply an "other-oriented" concept. In response to this conceptual unclarity, we define contributing to society as a belief individuals hold about whether tasks positively impact work beneficiaries. We integrate this with Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) to determine the expected task value of such belief. Our argument is that fulfillment of a contribution depends on three factors: (1) the expectation of a contribution based on someone's calling and expected meaningfulness; (2) the extent to which the employee is invested in the task, the costs of such task, whether the beneficiary and impact value and the utility for the self and beneficiary match the preference; (3) the extent to which this contribution is sufficient considering someone's expectation. Therefore, the expected task value can differ between individuals concerning the number and types of beneficiaries and the extent and value of the impact. Moreover, in this way contributions to society should also be perceived from a self-oriented perspective to be fulfilling. This original concept offers a theoretical framework and a research agenda that proposes new avenues of inquiry for calling, meaningful work, contributing to society, and related fields such as job design, and public policy.

Ethics and the Future of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the Special Issue

The world of work over the past 3 years has been characterized by a great reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving an even more central role to scholarly discussions of ethics and the future of work. Such discussions have the potential to inform whether, when, and which work is viewed and experienced as meaningful. Yet, thus far, debates concerning ethics, meaningful work, and the future of work have largely pursued separate trajectories. Not only is bridging these research spheres important for the advancement of meaningful work as a field of study but doing so can potentially inform the organizations and societies of the future. In proposing this Special Issue, we were inspired to address these intersections, and we are grateful to have this platform for advancing an integrative conversation, together with the authors of the seven selected scholarly contributions. Each article in this issue takes a unique approach to addressing these topics, with some emphasizing ethics while others focus on the future aspects of meaningful work. Taken together, the papers indicate future research directions with regard to: (a) the meaning of meaningful work, (b) the future of meaningful work, and (c) how we can study the ethics of meaningful work in the future. We hope these insights will spark further relevant scholarly and practitioner conversations.

Called to stay? The moderating roles of feedback from others and role clarity in the relationship between experiencing a calling and organizational embeddedness

Purpose

Organizational embeddedness of employees who are experiencing their work as a calling is of high relevance. Understanding what promotes staying in organizations can provide benefits for individuals with a calling while at the same time helping organizations to retain those valuable employees. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how and when experiencing work as a calling relates to organizational embeddedness (OE). Based on assumptions from the theory of work adjustment (TWA), the authors hypothesized a conditional effects model with feedback from others and role clarity as moderating variables.

Design/methodology/approach

For this longitudinal study, the authors collected data at two measurement time points (N = 553). To tests the hypotheses, the authors performed hierarchical regression analysis. Additionally, the authors conducted simple slope tests to calculate the effects of calling on OE, depending on the different levels of the moderators.

Findings

The results indicated that higher levels of experiencing a calling are associated with higher levels of OE 18 months later while controlling for the initial levels of OE. Additionally, the moderation analysis revealed that feedback from others and role clarity strengthened the relationship between experiencing a calling and OE. Interestingly, for individuals with low feedback from others and low role clarity, experiencing a calling was not related to OE.

Originality/value

Addressing recent research calls that highlight more research on boundary conditions and diverse theoretical perspectives, this study contributes to the literature on calling and organizational retention and provides a more individual and career-related view of potential predictors of OE.

How Does Person-Environment Fit Relate to Career Calling? The Role of Psychological Contracts and Organizational Career Management

Purpose

The formation of one's career calling involves endowing work with meaning and realizing oneself in work, and it has become a focus of organizational behavior research in the past decade. Although there are many studies on the outcome variables of career calling, research on the antecedents of career calling formation is relatively scarce, and its mechanisms are unclear. Based on fit theory and social exchange theory, we analyzed the data of 373 employees and explored the relationship between person-environment fit (focusing on person-organization fit and person-job fit), psychological contract, career calling and organizational career management.

Methods

We adopted a multi-timepoint data collection method to analyze data from 373 employees from an internet technology company. A mediated moderation model and hypotheses were tested using Mplus 8.3 software.

Results

The results showed that person-organization fit and person-job fit were positively related to career calling, and the psychological contract played a partial mediating role. The moderating effect of organizational career management on person-organization fit, person-job fit and the psychological contract was also confirmed. Moreover, the mediating effect of the psychological contract was stronger when organizational career management was higher.

Conclusion

We examined the important influence of individual-level and organizational-level factors on the formation of career calling. The findings highlight the important role and mechanism of person-environment fit in the formation of career calling through psychological factors, which has managerial implications for how to develop employees' career calling.

Teacher career calling reduces burnout: The mediation effects of work engagement and psychological capital

Burnout is a serious problem in the teaching profession. Research suggests that career calling could be regarded as a protective factor against burnout; however, the mediating mechanism underlying this relationship remains to be explored. The purpose of this study was to test the mediating roles of work engagement and teachers' psychological capital. A total of 3,300 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that the relationship between career calling and burnout was mediated by work engagement and teacher psychological capital. These findings provide insights for preventing burnout among teacher groups.

Can resilience promote calling among Chinese nurses in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic? The mediating role of thriving at work and moderating role of ethical leadership

Background

Nurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU) clung tenaciously to their job during the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of enduring stressed psychological and physical effects as a result of providing nursing care for the infected patients, which indicates that they possessed a high degree of professionalism and career calling. The aim of this study was to explain the associations between resilience, thriving at work, and ethical leadership influencing the calling of ICU nurses.

Methods

From December 2020 to January 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-sectional survey of 15 provinces in China was conducted using an online questionnaire. A total of 340 ICU nurses (effective response rate: 64.89%) completed sufficient responses to be used in the study. Sociodemographic factors, job demographic factors, resilience, calling, thriving at work, and ethical leadership were assessed using the questionnaire. General linear modeling (GLM), hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analysis, and generalized additive model (GAM) were performed to examine all the considered research hypotheses.

Results

Resilience was positively and significantly associated with calling. Moreover, thriving at work partially mediated the relationship between resilience and calling. The indirect effect of resilience on calling was 0.204 (p < 0.0001), and the direct effect of resilience on calling through thriving at work was 0.215 (p < 0.0001). The total effect of resilience on calling was 0.419 (p < 0.0001). In addition, ethical leadership played a moderating role in the relationship between resilience and calling (β = 0.16, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Greater resilience can positively predict increased calling among Chinese ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, thriving at work is a mechanism that partly transmits the positive effects of resilience on calling. Overall, nurses possessing greater resilience tend to maintain thriving at work in the face of such adversity, further resulting in subsequently increased calling. Besides, findings suggest that there is stronger influence of resilience on calling among nurses working in an organization managed by an ethical leader. The current findings may offer two insights for nursing practitioners and policymakers in the postpandemic world. First, resilience training and intervention are necessary to foster nurses' sense of thriving at work in the nursing industry, further promoting career calling. Second, better training and effort on the development of ethical leadership for leaders in nursing practice are essential to encourage followers to engage in social learning of ethical behaviors and abiding by normatively appropriate conduct, further enacting prosocial values and expressing moral emotions.

Proactive Personality and Career Adaptability of Chinese Female Pre-Service Teachers in Primary Schools: The Role of Calling

Career adaptability has attracted extensive attention from international scholars as one of the important factors predicting the future sustainability of individuals. Proactive personality and calling have a positive influence on individual career development and life satisfaction, with reference to promoting the sustainable development of individuals. This study focuses on the positive effects of career adaptability and calling on shaping female primary school pre-service teachers and provides suggestions for training excellent elementary school teachers and building quality primary education. This study investigated the relationship between proactive personality, calling, and career adaptability among 707 female pre-service elementary school teachers in Chinese universities. The results showed that proactive personality positively predicts calling and that proactive personality and calling positively predict career adaptability. Calling partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and career adaptability. Therefore, it is possible to enhance calling by cultivating the proactive personality of female pre-service teachers in elementary schools, thus further promoting the career adaptability of this group. On this basis, effective strategies should be adopted in the future to improve the career adaptability of female pre-service teachers in elementary schools for the sustainable development of this group.

How does COVID-19 pandemic strength influence work fatigue? The mediating role of occupational calling

Drawing on event system theory, this study explored the mechanism by which COVID-19 pandemic strength (including criticality, disruption, and novelty) influences work fatigue through the mediating role of occupational calling. A two-wave field study was conducted with 857 Chinese police officers using COVID-19 pandemic strength, occupational calling, and work fatigue questionnaires. The results showed that COVID-19 pandemic criticality had a positive effect on work fatigue and occupational calling, and that occupational calling mediated the direct link between COVID-19 pandemic criticality and work fatigue. Additionally, the first and second stages of the mediating effect were jointly moderated by COVID-19 pandemic disruption and novelty. When COVID-19 pandemic disruption and novelty were high, the positive relationship between COVID-19 pandemic criticality and occupational calling, and the mediating role of occupational calling, were stronger. The negative relationship between occupational calling and work fatigue was strengthened when COVID-19 pandemic disruption was high and novelty was low.

Do Unnecessary Tasks Impair Performance Because They Harm Living a Calling? Testing a Mediation in a Three-Wave Study

This three-wave study explored whether living a calling (at work) mediated the relation between unnecessary tasks (time wasting work tasks) and socio-contextual performance at work (cynicism, organizational citizenship behavior). Participants were 518 Finnish white- and blue-collar employees, who were followed up in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The results of structural equation modeling showed that unnecessary tasks at Time 1 related negatively to living a calling at Time 2, which, in turn, related to cynicism and organizational citizenship behavior at T3. Thus, living a calling mediated the relation between unnecessary tasks and the outcomes. We found no evidence for the moderator role of living a calling between unnecessary tasks and the outcomes. Unnecessary tasks should be minimized in organizations to promote living a calling and subsequent positive outcomes predicted by calling.

The Curvilinear Relationship Between Career Calling and Work Fatigue: A Moderated Mediating Model

Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and event system theory (EST), this study constructed a moderated mediating model to investigate the direct effect of career calling on work fatigue, the mediating effect of role overload, and the moderating effect of COVID-19 event disruption in the above relationships. We administered an online questionnaire to 488 Chinese police officers who participated in frontline work to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed a U-shaped curvilinear relationship of career calling with physical fatigue, mental fatigue, emotional fatigue, and role overload. Moreover, role overload partially mediated these curvilinear relationships. In addition, COVID-19 event disruption positively moderated the direct curvilinear effect of career calling on role overload, physical fatigue, and emotional fatigue, as well as the first stage of the mediating effect in the relationship between career calling and physical, mental, and emotional fatigue through role overload. Furthermore, the direct U-shaped curvilinear effects and the indirect effects were more significant when COVID-19 event disruption was high.

The Role of Life Planning in Finding Purpose and Living Out One’s Career Calling Among Indonesian Emerging Adults

The ability to plan effectively has been reported to have a positive effect on one’s life satisfaction, sense of direction, and future positive experiences. As emerging adults begin to discover what they want to be, they must also choose what kind of career they will pursue. The current perspective on career development views planning one’s career as a part of one’s larger life planning. Surprisingly, research examining how planning contributes to one’s presence of purpose and career is still lacking. The aim of this research is to assess the effect of planning on one’s career calling and purpose. The results show that planning positively predicted the presence of purpose and living out one’s career calling. Planning was not a significant predictor of the search for purpose, while the search for purpose negatively predicted the presence of purpose.