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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 12
Publication Date: December 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.812.11393. Argyropoulou, K. (2021). Sustainable Career Development: A New Challenge in Career Counselling in the Modern Era. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(12). 128-138.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Sustainable Career Development: A New Challenge in Career
Counselling in the Modern Era
Katerina Argyropoulou
Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Career Guidance and Counseling
Department of Educational Studies, School of Philosophy
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
ABSTRACT
Sustainable Career Development constitutes an interdisciplinary research area in
the field of counseling and career guidance that is based on Sustainable
Development. In this context, the aim of the manuscript is to report the importance
of providing career counselling to manage one's personal and professional growth
and development in a sustainable approach. In the framework of this effort, we are
presenting the Sustainable Career Development Scale and putting forward a
number of implications for career intervention, which relate to sustainability in
career.
Keywords: career guidance, career sustainability, career development, sustainable
careers
The current work contexts and workplaces are characterised by continuous changes that result
in unceasing transitions for workers and hence instability in their work lives (Di Fabio & Kenny,
2016). Additionally, the pandemic impacted the way work is performed throughout the world,
changed the way we live, posed threats to our health and is still having an even greater impact
to the economy (Hooley, Sultana & Thomsen, 2020). Work has an important psychological
function in the lives of individuals as it can contribute to the fulfilment of personal needs and
serves as a bridge between the individual and society, while promoting sustainable growth and
development. As a result, in the last decades of the 20th century, the term 'sustainability' began
to receive special mention. This term, although directly related to 'sustainability', is much
broader than its ecological dimension, as it is associated not only with conservation and
stability, but also with the dynamics of renewal, in which resource use the orientation of
technological developments and institutional changes are in harmony and enhance both the
existing and future quality of human life (Lawrence, Hall & Arthur, 2015). Based on this
approach, the field of sustainability constitutes an interdisciplinary framework of reflection
involving both the natural and applied sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities
(Rosen, 2017). In this context, sustainable career development is a new challenge in career
counselling in the modern era that marks an innovative framework of primary prevention,
which empowers individuals' ability to use their personal resources and strengths in their lives
and careers (Argyropoulou & Mouratoglou, 2021).
In the present article, based on a review of the recent literature, we are attempting to give a
spherical viewpoint regarding the importance of providing career counselling to manage one's
personal and professional growth and development in a sustainable approach. In the
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Nkansah, S. K., & Gyasi, R. B. (2021). Ambiguity as a Communicative Style: A Study of Rufftown Records. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 8(12). 116-127.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.812.11393
framework of this effort, we are presenting the Sustainable Career Development Scale and
putting forward a number of implications for career intervention, which relate to sustainability
in career.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF SUSTAINABLE CAREER DEVELOPMENT
The Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development highlights a meaningful and
sustainable life/career construction across different environments and time, with coherence,
direction, significance, purpose and a sense of belonging for people and therefore for their
communities (Di Fabio, 2017). In particular, the emphasis is placed on the harmonization of the
complexities related to individuals’ environments (personal, social, organizational, natural), as
well as on the flourishing of their talents and improvement of their well-being (Di Fabio &
Rosen, 2018). For instance, individuals with a "beyond-the-self" orientation are more open,
have higher levels of life satisfaction and more humanitarian tendencies/inclinations (Bronk &
Finch, 2010).
Sustainable careers refer to “the sequence of an individual’s different career experiences, reflected
through a variety of patterns of continuity over time, crossing several social spaces, and
characterized by individual agency, herewith providing meaning to the individual” (Van der
Heijden & De Vos, 2015). Therefore, the individual, social and wider environmental systems
influence career formation, creating opportunities, needs, constraints, challenges and
dilemmas (Nagy, Froidevaux & Hirschi, 2018). In this light, the individual is an active agent,
which in combination with the social and wider environmental system, influences career
sustainability. According to Savickas (2005) individuals are the central actors in their career
construction; however, the degree of their activeness is likely to depend on and interact with
several dimensions of their social environment (family norms, organizational policies,
occupational sector, country, and cultural factors) under a systemic perspective that extents
over time (De Vos, Van der Heijden & Akkermans, 2020).
Based on this conceptualization, sustainable careers are distinguished by a multidimensional
content that is not limited to a linear sequence of jobs, occupational activities and employment
situations, but is characterized by a developmental approach that involves the dynamic
interaction of the individual with the environment over time. Therefore, sustainable careers are
influenced by the individual's work experiences, opportunities and obstacles, broader socio- economic factors and living and interaction contexts (Argyropoulou, 2021). Additional
theoretical and empirical research indicates that sustainable careers could have beneficial
effects on individual growth by three core indicators health (dynamic fit of career with mental
and physical capacities), happiness (career satisfaction), and productivity (job performance or
career potential) (Van der Heijden, 2005). Building on this context, sustainable career
development constitutes a process of preserving and generating personal and social resources
in a primary preventive approach. To this regard, career sustainability is strongly related to the
way in which individuals utilise their resources and proactively shape their careers
(Akkermans & Tims, 2017).
Hence, taking into account the theoretical and empirical background of sustainability in career
the concept of sustainable career development has been proposed (Argyropoulou,
Mouratoglou, Antoniou, Mikedaki & Charokopaki, 2020), which marks a proactive perspective
in career development, as it supports the utilisation of both personal and social resources
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 12, December-2021
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(strengths) allowing individuals to fully "thrive" and make a meaningful contribution to society.
In other words, sustainable career development enhances the attribution of meaning and
purpose to the role of professional activity, with an awareness of its impact on the individual
and society as a whole. This means that individuals recognise that they are developing,
personally and professionally, seeking to maximize their potential and participating in the
process of career exploration by developing goals with a social content, environmental
knowledge (managing complex environments to meet personal needs and values, giving
meaning to life and a sense of purpose in life), positive relationships (establishing quality links
with others) and awareness of their personal responsibility towards others.
Therefore, career counselling can play a catalytic role in fostering sustainable career
development by creating an intervention framework that seeks to provide adolescents, youth
and adults with clearer self-awareness, a broader perspective on career-related information,
assigning greater value to their career path and promoting positive personal resources
(behavioral, psychological and spiritual skills) in their choice of career. Considering that the
integration of sustainability goals into guidance practices will require support from career
counselling practitioners in order to develop new approaches to meet the needs of sustainable
development (Guichard, 2018), we believe that the development of Sustainable Career
Development Scale can be considered as a scale for assessing the optimal response of
individuals in their interaction with their social spaces by building and utilizing their personal
resources and forces that are useful for their personal and career development, career
management and career agency.
SUSTAINABLE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SCALE
Method
The SCDS was developed on the basis of the following four theoretical dimensions:(a) the
subjective identity forms (SIFs) that refer to the sets of ways of being, acting and interacting in
relation to a certain view of oneself in a given context (Guichard, 2009); (b) the personal growth
and effective career adaptability (Savickas, 2005) in liquid contexts; (c) the social responsibility
and authentic values (Di Fabio & Rosen, 2018; Di Fabio, Maree & Kenny, 2019) and (d) the
balance between life and career roles in terms of future personal–life/career projects (Di Fabio
& Tsuda, 2018). Specifically, multiple subjective forms of identity refer to the individual roles
that the person assumes and that, as a result, influence their life and career plans (Guichard,
2009). Self-awareness and environmental awareness contribute to the ability to manage
complex problems and decisions, by which the individual is called upon to respond to personal
needs based on personal and professional values, personal meaning and the life purpose he or
she has identified. Furthermore, the concept of social responsibility highlights the awareness
of personal responsibility towards society as a whole, while authentic values are linked to the
construction of authentic meanings and the importance of purpose for individuals and societies.
Finally, balancing life and career roles describes the harmonious and integrated integration of
work and time outside of it, so that the individual can realize his/her potential in all areas of
life in which he/she plays his/her own role.
The authors generated 38 novel items reflecting the aforementioned theoretical perspectives
and operational definitions from the literature and through a small number of exploratory
interviews with the intent to expand content coverage and create more items that are specific.
The psychometric methods described in detail in the results section were employed in our