Career Construction Theory (CCT) posits that an individual’s vocational development occurs as a product of their readiness, resources, and responses to the environment in which they are situated. Thus, an individual’s ability to adapt to environmental demands is predicated on a number of complex and interwoven inter- and intrapersonal factors. This is particularly relevant to the community college student population who, relative to their 4-year university counterparts, experience disparate rates of educational barriers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use CCT as a theoretical framework for investigating the relations among agentic characteristics (personal growth initiative and grit), barriers (perceptions of academic and educational barriers and coping with barriers), and career adaptability in a sample of diverse community college students. Data from a sample of 309 community college students indicated that perceptions of barriers significantly predicted career adaptability through coping with barriers, grit, and personal growth initiative. Serial mediation was supported for the effect of perceptions of barriers on career adaptability through personal growth initiative and coping with barriers. Results also indicated that the proposed model accounted for 55% of the variance in career adaptability. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Personal growth initiative (PGI) is an individual's active and intentional desire to grow in personally important areas. In the past 20 years, a body of literature has emerged examining PGI's relationship to mental health. We conducted the first meta‐analyses to synthesize this literature. Two meta‐analyses examined the relationship between PGI total scores and distress (k = 22) and wellness (k = 37). Both average effect sizes were significant. We also examined the potential impact of nine moderators. The type of outcome assessed was a significant moderator for PGI and distress, and the PGI measure used was a significant moderator for PGI and wellness, accounting for 61% and 15% of the overall variance, respectively. Meta‐analyses examining the relationship between the four PGI subscales (Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior) and distress (k = 4) and wellness (k = 7) yielded similar results to the total score analyses.

Popular measures of masculinity and femininity ideologies have been validated primarily with cisgender (cis) samples. The present study assessed the measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of two versions of the Male Role Norms Inventory (MRNI; Short and Very Brief Forms), and the Femininity Ideology Scale-Short Form, across gender broadly conceived to include cis, transgender (trans), and nonbinary gender identities. Participants (N = 1233, 34.3 % trans) were recruited from community and college samples in the United States. Correlated factors models of the MRNI-SF and FIS-SF evidenced the best fit to data in the total sample. The MRNI-SF only provided a good fit for cis individuals, and some items from the MRNI-VB and the FIS-SF were significant sources of local misfit among trans and non-binary participants. After removing these items, however, acceptable fit was achieved for each gender group. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFA's) revealed (a) broad support for configural invariance for the MRNI-VB (9/9 gender comparisons) and the FIS-SF (8/9), as well as general support for metric invariance for the MRNI-VB (7/9) and the FIS-SF (7/9). More advanced levels of invariance (scalar and residuals) were generally not supported for the MRNI-VB but were supported for the FIS-SF. The effect size of measurement non-invariance among all possible gender comparisons was generally small, with a few exceptions. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVAS) revealed that cis men endorsed traditional gender ideologies to the greatest extent, followed by cis women, followed by trans participants. The results are discussed in relationship to prior literature, future research directions, applications to practice, and limitations.

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Navigating employment and familial obligations has challenged women since their mass entry into public work. The demands of competing obligations can negatively impact women’s personal and vocational well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the challenge of balancing work and family roles as women faced expanded physical, caretaking, and mental labor, often resulting in role strain. This study explored how women in counseling psychology experienced role strain and its resulting impact on vocational well-being during the pandemic. Demand for counseling psychology services rose during the pandemic, potentially increasing role strain. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with six counseling psychologists who identified as women, employed full-time, and mothers to at least one child aged 12 or younger. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, and five themes emerged: gender expectations, multiple roles, vocational well-being, consequences, and profession differences. Implications for practitioners working with mothers in these roles are provided.