Reciprocal relation between authenticity and calling among Chinese university students: A latent change score approach

Trajectories of Calling in the Transition From University to Work: A Growth Mixture Analysis

“…Such research would be important because there is an increasing recognition that callings are not static (e.g., Dobrow, 2013; Hirschi et al, 2019). For example, Zhang et al (2018) found that Chinese university students experienced a decrease in calling over time. Dobrow’s (2013) 7-year longitudinal study with music students found that their callings were decreasing over the time span from high school to post-college life (e.g., starting graduate school or work).…”

“…Personality is broadly recognized as playing an important role in career development and vocational behavior (Brown & Hirschi, 2013). However, although some research has paid attention to the relation of personality and change of calling (e.g., Zhang et al, 2018), existing theoretical models do not address how personality traits might effect changes in calling (e.g., Duffy et al, 2018; Hall & Chandler, 2005). In the current study, we test the proposition that personality traits might have an important effect on how callings change over time.…”

“…In addition, China’s education is typically seen as examination-oriented (Dello-Iacovo, 2009), emphasizing more high academic achievement, and less exploring the self and personal interests. This may be harmful to Chinese university students’ career choice in the transition from university to work and to their calling because a calling was found to be predicted by a clear self-awareness (Zhang et al, 2018). As a result, the transition from university to work can be extremely important and challenging for Chinese university graduates and their perception of calling.…”

“…Several longitudinal studies of calling have demonstrated that high levels of calling are difficult to sustain. For example, Zhang et al (2018) observed that callings of Chinese university students decreased over time and Dobrow’s (2013) similarly found that that the callings of music students decreased between high school to after college. This decrease may be particularly pronounced in the transition from university to work because the challenges and constraints faced by many university students after entering the work world (Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2008) might disturb their career goal attainment and affect their identity, which may decrease their sense of calling.…”

“…Finally, some university graduates with low levels of callings might experience an increase in calling. Such an increase might be promoted by an increase in career goal attainment and reshaped identity (Hall & Chandler, 2005), such as professional identity clarity during this transition, authentic self-awareness and living tendency, and/or positive work experiences (Dalla Rosa et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2018). For this group of university graduates, the university-to-work transition would thus be a positive and meaningful experience where they can explore and implement their self into the work role (Hall & Chandler, 2005; Super et al, 1996) and thereby also discern and implement a sense of calling.…”