It takes more than agency: Linking support from teaching staff, career engagement, and movement capital among university students

Abstract

IntroductionCareer self-management behaviours are key to overcoming the challenges of entry into the labour market. Combining the Conservation of Resources and Career Self-management theories, this study delves into the concept of Career Engagement among Italian University students by examining its relationship with Support from teaching Staff and Movement Capital. We hypothesised a mediation model in which Support from Teaching Staff predicts Career Engagement which, in turn, fosters Movement Capital. As the pandemic led to the adoption of online learning solutions, we also explored whether and how the interaction between teachers and students during online classes moderates the said mediation relationship.Methods and resultsWe collected data from 276 Italian University students through an online questionnaire. Results supported the mediation hypothesis, corroborating the mediating role of Career Engagement. We also observed that this relationship is stronger at medium and higher levels of online interaction between teachers and students.DiscussionFindings contribute to existing evidence about the role of Career Engagement in facilitating career resources’ acquisition and extend the understanding of its contextual antecedents in Higher Education contexts. Results also align with the importance attributed to interaction in online learning environments. This work suggests ways to encourage career behaviours in Higher Education and equip prospective labour market entrants with career resources.

Invest in Your Mental Health, Support Your Career. Exploring the Impact of Mental Health Activities on Movement Capital and the Mediating Role of Flourishing and Career Engagement during the Transition to Work

“…Career engagement contributes to resource enhancement, such as perceived employability and career identity [58,74]. Recently, Petruzziello et al [75] argued that the transition to work calls upon multiple career behaviours to produce a compound of resources on which to capitalise. They posited that career-engagement behaviours foster career identity not only through self-and environmental exploration-which is widely known to result in career identity-but also by integrating information derived from networking and self-enhancement actions.…”

“…We used the Italian version of the career engagement scale [58] by Petruzziello et al [75]. The scale's nine items (e.g., "To what extent have you in the past two months .…”

Willingness to Compromise Scale: Italian Validation and Assessment of the Relationship with Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Career Adaptability during School-to-Work Transition

“…Moreover, non-adaptive transitions [3] affect developmental outcomes, such as the transition to adulthood [9,10], and health outcomes [11]. This situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has undermined the career aspirations of Italian university students [7,[12][13][14].…”