Courage, Career Adaptability, and Readiness as Resources to Improve Well-Being during the University-to-Work Transition in Italy

Abstract

College students approaching a university degree can experience a critical period in their career development path that could affect their well-being. The main aim of this study was to examine the role of courage, career adaptability, and professional readiness as protective factors toward life satisfaction and flourishing during the university-to-work transition. These psychosocial resources could be useful to cope with the recent transformations of the labor market. The study involved 352 Italian university students (M = 100; F = 252), aged from 21 to 29 years (M = 23.57; SD = 2.37), attending the last year of their degree course. The results of the mediation analysis showed that courage plays a mediating role between career transition readiness and career adaptability, on one hand, with well-being indicators as outcomes. The results are discussed, providing some suggestions on practical implications for career interventions to support college students during the university-to-work transition.

The Concepts of Work and Decent Work in Relationship With Self-Efficacy and Career Adaptability: Research With Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Adolescence

“…However, a career education program based on the Life Design paradigm cannot disregard the role of positive dimensions such as career adaptability or self-efficacy. Both are dimensions linked to career choices and the well-being of individuals (Capri et al, 2012;Magnano et al, 2021a). Indeed, adolescents with higher levels of career adaptability have greater success in career transition phases (Patton et al, 2002;Creed et al, 2003;Germeijs and Verschueren, 2007;Neuenschwander and Garrett, 2008) and positive development (Gore et al, 2003;Skorikov, 2007;Skorikov and Vondracek, 2007).…”

Adaptation and Validation of the Subjective Risk Intelligence Scale for Italian Adolescents (SRIS-A)

“…Even though not many studies are available on courage from a psychological point of view [116], it was noted that courage promotes change and innovation [117], and correlates positively with self-efficacy, persistence, and resilience [118]. As highlighted in a very recent work [56], courage is an adaptive behavior that enables the students to manage uncertainty effectively, as the component of risk is intrinsically included in the courage definition (i.e., [119]).…”

“…Following the original study on the construction and validation of the SRIS [21], we measured a series of related constructs: problem solving self-efficacy, coping strategies, and courage. According to the previous studies, individuals with high levels of subjective risk intelligence more likely would activate problem-focused coping strategies (using less emotion-focused coping strategies), and more likely would act overcoming the fear [54], as courage, viewed as the capacity to perpetuate efforts despite fear [55], can help people reflect on the consequences of their actions and accept the risk of their actions [56].…”

“Be Perfect in Every Respect”: The Relationship Between Perfectionism, Career Adaptability and Career Decision-Making Difficulties of College Students

“…Besides, In the relationship between career adaptability and positive psychological characteristics, the research includes the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction of workers with intellectual disabilities [30] and parents of children with mild intellectual disabilities [31], optimism, resilience, and life satisfaction of adolescents [32]. On the relationship between career adaptability and personality, the research mainly includes self-esteem, EQ, active personality, personality characteristics, and the relationship between internal entrepreneurship and career adaptability [33][34][35]. In addition, some researchers have conducted follow-up research or intervention re-research on career adaptability [36,37].…”