Grass roots of occupational change: Understanding mobility in vocational careers

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Authors
Grote, Gudela
Hirschi, Andreas
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2020
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Journal of Vocational Behavior
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
122
Issue / Number
Pages / Duration
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Elsevier
Place of publication / Event location
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Most prior research on career mobility has focused on people changing jobs and organizations. We know little about processes involved in individuals changing occupations, although these changes cause high individual, organizational, and public costs. Moreover, occupations are increasingly acknowledged as important anchors in times of more boundaryless careers. The current study investigates the impact of early satisfaction with the trained occupation (VET satisfaction) on occupational change by analyzing 10-year longitudinal panel data gathered in Switzerland (N = 905). Results from regression analyses showed that VET satisfaction predicted occupational change up to ten years after graduation. VET satisfaction in turn was affected by work characteristics experienced during VET, and VET satisfaction mediated the relationship between work characteristics during VET and occupational change. Using a subsample (N = 464) for which data were available on jobs taken up after graduation, we showed that VET satisfaction explained occupational change over and above work satisfaction in jobs held after graduation, highlighting the formative role of early experience during VET. Our findings inform both theory and practice. To fully comprehend occupational change, established turnover models also need to reflect on early formative vocational experiences. Firms should pay attention to favorable work characteristics already during VET and adjust adverse conditions to reduce undesired occupational mobility.
Keywords
Vocational education and training (VET), Occupational change, Work design, Work characteristics, Work satisfaction
Subject (DDC)
Project
Event
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
ISSN
1095-9084
0001-8791
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
License
'http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/'
Citation
Medici, G., Tschopp, C., Grote, G., & Hirschi, A. (2020). Grass roots of occupational change: Understanding mobility in vocational careers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103480