Career Orientations and Values of Young Adults: Integrating Protean and Traditional Perspectives

Abstract

The PhD examined the career orientations and values of young adults who are completing education from both traditional and protean career perspectives. There were three specific aims, which were to (a) examine evidence for the way protean career orientation (PCO) and processes operate in young adults who are completing their education, (b) identify and clarify the career values they espouse from the perspective of PCO and traditional career orientation (TCO), and (c) consider how PCO and TCO are integrated by young people. These aims were met through a series of three studies presented as manuscripts that have been submitted to international journals. To address the first aim, Study 1 tested a cross-sectional protean career model based on Hall et al. (2018) using a sample of 404 young adult students (MAge = 20.19 years, SD = 2.99; 72.2% women). PCO was expected to be related to outcomes (perceived employability, academic success, and organisational commitment) via protean career processes (i.e., underlying mechanisms of vocational identity awareness, career adaptability, and career agency). Identity awareness and career adaptability partially explained the relationship between PCO and future perceived employability and completely explained the relationships between PCO and academic success and university commitment. Contrary to protean theory, there were no significant indirect paths via career agency. The results provided partial support for the processes proposed in protean career theory when applied to young adult students. While Study 1 demonstrated support for PCO explaining individual and organisational outcomes in young adults, the aim of Study 2 was to explore the full range of young people’s career values using an interview-based, qualitative study (N = 24, MAge = 19.40 years, SD = 2.00; 50% women). Interview questions were designed to elicit the views, beliefs, and values of young people regarding factors considered in career decision-making, behaviours implemented to facilitate progress, and how they conceptualised career success. Responses were analysed using applied thematic analysis, with the themes derived from operationalisation of PCO and TCO constructs in the extant literature. All participants endorsed some protean values (e.g., freedom/autonomy, self-reliance, fit to self, personal satisfaction, and work-life balance). Additionally, 90% also expressed some traditional values (e.g., a desire for job security and organisational advancement). Thus, young adults endorsed TCO values around job security and structured opportunities for advancement, alongside PCO values of a desire for freedom, autonomy, and fit with their own values. As Study 2 showed that young people expressed both PCO and TCO values, the aim of Study 3 was to determine if these combined values coalesced into distinctive orientation groupings, and whether those groups differed on career maturity and organisational commitment. Scores on measures of PCO, protean career processes, and TCO were subjected to latent profile analysis (N = 468, MAge = 20.00 years, SD = 3.19; 73.9% women). Three distinct profiles were identified. The first was a “mixed” profile, demonstrated by 74.6% of the sample. This profile was characterised by average levels of PCO, protean career processes, and TCO, and was associated with more mature career development and greater organisational commitment than the other profiles. The second profile, “low traditional” (15.9% of the sample), had low TCO and average PCO and processes. This profile had similar career maturity to the mixed profile but lower organisational commitment. The third profile, “traditional and unidentified” (9.5% of the sample), which was characterised by average TCO, low PCO and protean processes, and especially low vocational identity awareness. This profile scored lower than the other profiles on career maturity and organisational commitment. Thus, consistent with results from Study 2, a mix of TCO and PCO was the most common profile in young adult students and was beneficial for both career development and commitment. Taken together, the results of the three studies have implications for career theory development. While partial support was found for the protean career theory, the role of career agency was not supported, and PCO and protean career processes did not explain high levels of the variance in the outcomes. The results highlighted that young adults endorsed both traditional and protean values, suggesting that career theory needs to accommodate both. There also were implications for practice. Practitioners, for example, should acknowledge that young adults hold a range of career orientations, values, and needs, and they should not be “squeezed” into a particular career self-concept.