How Career and Non-Work Goal Progress Affect Dual Earners’ Satisfaction: A Whole-Life Perspective

Abraham, E., Verbruggen, M., & Hirschi, A. (2024). How Career and Non-Work Goal Progress Affect Dual Earners’ Satisfaction: A Whole-Life Perspective. Journal of Career Development, 08948453241230907.

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Abstract

Many career self-management models assume that career goal progress promotes satisfaction, but research on the topic has yielded mixed results. Adopting a whole-life perspective, this study examines how career and non-work goal progress relate to career, non-work, and life satisfaction and explores crossover effects and gender differences between dual-earner partners. We tested our research model using Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling on a two-wave dataset of 190 heterosexual dual earners (i.e., 95 couples). Career goal progress was not related to any of the satisfaction indicators. For men, non-work goal progress was marginally positively related to career and non-work satisfaction and positively related to life satisfaction. For women, non-work goal progress was not related to any satisfaction indicator. Between partners, men’s non-work goal progress was positively related to women’s non-work and life satisfaction, whereas women’s career goal progress was negatively related to men’s life satisfaction. Implications for research and career practice are discussed.

Keywords: career goal progress, non-work goal progress, dual-earner couples, career self-management, satisfaction, gender

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Calling as a double-edged sword for work-nonwork enrichment and conflict among older workers

Hirschi, A., Keller, A. C., & Spurk, D. (2019). Calling as a double-edged sword for work-nonwork enrichment and conflict among older workers. Journal of Vocational Behavior. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.004

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Having a calling has been linked to various positive outcomes, but the potential negative effects of having a calling have not yet received comparable attention. Moreover, research thus far has neglected to examine how callings affect the work–nonwork interface. Based on the work–home resources model, and work–family enrichment theory, we presumed that having a calling can increase as well as deplete personal resources at work, which, in turn, promote work–nonwork enrichment and conflict among older workers. We investigated these assumptions among 599 employees, aged between 50 and 60 years, by examining within-individual changes in presence of calling, positive affect at work, workaholism, work–nonwork enrichment, and work–nonwork conflict over a period of one year, with two measurement points. Results indicated that an increase in the presence of a calling was positively related to increased levels of positive affect at work, which, in turn, was positively related to increased work–nonwork enrichment. However, an increase in the presence of a calling was also positively related to increased workaholism, which was positively related to increased work–nonwork conflict. The findings suggest that having a calling is meaningfully related to the work–nonwork interface among older workers in both positive and negative ways. 

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A psychological description of the Swiss labor market from 1991 to 2014: Occupational interest types, gender, salary, and skill level

Ghetta, A., Hirschi, A., Herrmann, A., & Rossier, J. (2018). A Psychological Description of the Swiss Labor Market from 1991 to 2014: Occupational Interest Types, Gender, Salary, and Skill Level. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 77, 83-94. doi:10.1024/1421-0185/a000206

Abstract

This study aimed at conducting a representative analysis of the Swiss labor market from 1991 to 2014 by applying Holland’s (1997) classification of occupations according to six vocational interest types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC). Results based on data of the Swiss Labor Force Survey showed that realistic occupations consistently represented the largest share of jobs over this period, albeit with a declining tendency. Increased numbers of people were employed in social and enterprising types of work. The lowest numbers were found in artistic and investigative occupations. Gender segregation along the six RIASEC occupational types could be found on the Swiss labor market as well, with most men working in realistic, and most women in social, occupations. Further, we observed large salary differences between the six occupational types, even when controlling for required skill level. In line with findings concerning gender pay inequalities, men earned more than women in each RIASEC occupational type in each year. We moreover found that RIASEC occupations differed meaningfully with regard to skill level, and that required skill level increased across all RIASEC occupations over the examined 23-year period.

Keywords: Swiss labor market, occupational interest types, RIASEC, gender, salary, skill level

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Work values as predictors of entrepreneurial career intentions: A longitudinal analysis of gender effects

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Hirschi, A. & Fischer, S. (2013). Work values as predictors of entrepreneurial career intentions: A longitudinal analysis of gender effects. Career Development International, 18(3), 216-231. doi:10.1108/CDI-04-2012-0047