Hello everyone. I am Kohei Ozaki. I joined the Yamada Laboratory as a master’s student. While working as a public high school teacher, I am pursuing my research as a working student. My research theme is the design of inquiry-based learning that evokes career awareness in high schools. Nice to meet you.
In this article, I would like to introduce a paper I read in the English Literature Seminar and my thoughts on it.
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Paper Title: Career adaptivity, adaptability, and adapting: A conceptual and empirical investigation
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Journal: Journal of Vocational Behavior
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Volume: 87, Pages: 1-10
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Year: 2015
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Authors: Andreas Hirschi, Anne Herrmann, Anita C. Keller
Purpose and Overview of the Paper: The primary purpose of this paper is to empirically verify how the assessment of “career adaptability,” a key measure in Savickas’ career construction theory, relates to “adaptivity” (a more psychological measure) and “adapting responses” (a more behavioral measure).
The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) is an important concept in career research, referring to the psychosocial strengths that condition self-regulation when dealing with tasks, transitions, and trauma. It is measured in terms of “concern, control, curiosity, and confidence.” Previous research has seen the CAAS translated into 10 languages and widely utilized.
This study aims to clarify the relationship between the adaptability scale and the following measures, which are thought to correlate with career adaptability:
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Adaptivity (Adaptive readiness): A psychological trait showing appropriate responses to vocational development tasks, transitions, and work trauma, often operationalized as proactivity or flexibility. (Measures: Core Self-Evaluations (CSE), Proactivity).
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Adapting (Adapting responses): Performing adaptive behaviors to deal with changing situations, such as career planning and exploration. It also includes beliefs and barriers (difficulty in career decision-making). (Measures: Vocational Planning, Vocational Identity, Career Exploration, Occupational Self-Efficacy).
Hypotheses:
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Career adaptability is related to adapting responses but is empirically distinct.
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Career adaptability has an indirect influence, mediating between adaptivity and adapting responses.
Methods:
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Cross-sectional analysis: Data was collected from 1,260 German university students using questionnaires.
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Longitudinal analysis: A follow-up survey was conducted with 363 respondents to track adapting response indicators.
Results:
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Cross-sectional: As per Hypothesis 1, the correlation between adaptability and all 8 factors of adapting responses was highly significant. However, an 8-factor model fit significantly better than a 4-factor model combining corresponding scales, showing they are empirically distinct.
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Longitudinal: Path analysis confirmed that “concern” and “control” are significant mediators between adaptivity indicators and career planning/decision-making difficulties.
My Thoughts: I read this paper while reviewing career education literature to design inquiry-based learning. Since the study states that adaptability and adapting behaviors do not always show a clear match, I learned that “an increase in career adaptability scale does not necessarily mean a state where one can always take appropriate career-forming actions throughout life.” I feel that learning design and data analysis must include qualitative aspects, not just a single scale. This research was on university students, but it expanded the questions I need to consider for my own research, such as how to evaluate adapting behaviors in primary and secondary education.




