Is Career Adaptability Only for the Privileged? Examining Career Barriers and Occupational Engagement as Predictors of Career Adaptability

Abstract

Many vocational theories have proposed models for the development of career adaptability over time, explored the generalizable value of career adaptability as a group of individual traits, and the highlighted positive career outcomes that correlate with increased career adaptability. However, contemporary vocational theorists have pointed to the problematic overemphasis on individual interventions to foster volition, and concurrent lack of research examining systemic barriers to career decision making. Pending greater social change, the development of career adaptability is a goal of most modern vocational theories. Occupational engagement promotes experiential learning through immersion in activities that provide information about the world of work, which should foster more informed and adaptable career decisions regardless of station in life. Minimal or no research has previously explored the statistical relationship between occupational engagement and career adaptability, the ability of occupational engagement to predict variance in career adaptability levels, and whether this relationship would be significant after accounting for the influence of expected career barriers. The interaction effect of occupational engagement and expected career barriers was also examined. The current study used survey research data from 198 Americans between the ages of 18 and 40, recruited via Amazon’s MTurk platform, to address these gaps in the empirical literature. Results indicated occupational engagement was positively correlated with career adaptability. The expectation of career barriers predicted a small, but significant amount of variance in career adaptability, and occupational engagement predicted a significant portion of career adaptability after accounting for the influence of career barriers. Finally, the negative relationship between expected career barriers and career adaptability was moderated by occupational engagement. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.