Career Adaptability in the UK

Gill Frigerio, University of Warwick
Dr Toni Wright, Newman University
Annual Conference 2014
Career Adaptability is about helping students to equip
themselves to manage the challenges of life and work
in a changing labour market - considering their
personal capacities of concern, control, curiosity and
confidence.
The workshop reports on a collaborative project to
pilot the use of the associated Career Adapt-Abilities
Inventory (CAAI) in a variety of different HE contexts
e.g. online, targeted cohorts, work placement module
and student awards.
Hear our story of uniting a varied group of practitioners
to trial the use of career adaptability and the CAAI to
support students, identify need, allocate resources and
consider a step change in approaching employability
across a university.
The capability of an individual to make a series
of successful transitions where the labour
market, organisation of work and underlying
occupational and organisational knowledge
bases may be subject to considerable change’
(Bimrose et al, 2011)
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Adaptive Readiness (personality traits)
Adaptability Resources (psycho-social
competencies – can be developed)
Adapting (action when required )
Adaptation as outcome
Ready, willing & able
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CONCERN:
developing a positive optimistic
attitude to the future
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CONTROL:
exerting a degree of intrapersonal influence on their
situations
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CURIOSITY:
broadening horizons by
exploring social opportunities &
possibilities
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CONFIDENCE:
believing in yourself & ability to
achieve your goal
Adaptability
dimension
Concern
Attitudes and
beliefs
Planful
Competence
Planning
Coping
behaviours
Aware
Career
‘problem’
Indifference
Involved
Preparing
Control
Decisive
Decision
making
Assertive
Indecision
Disciplined
Willful
Curiosity
Inquisitive
Exploring
Experimenting Unrealism
Risk taking
Inquiring
Confidence
Efficacious
Problem
solving
Persistent
Inhibition
Striving
Industrious
Career Adaptability Dimensions (Savickas, 2013: 158)
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International life design group met in 2008 and 2010; 13
countries (not inc. UK) involved in study to develop and
validate the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale from the four
competency factors (CAAS). (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012)
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In the UK Bimrose and colleagues developed qualitative
descriptors. (Bimrose et al, 2011)
Birmingham, Warwick, Newman and HECSU, with help from
GCU
- UK collaborative project validated a UK version of the
questionnaire: CAAI-UK
Different people use different strengths to build their careers. No one is
good at everything, each of us emphasises some strengths more than
others. Please rate how strongly you have developed each of the
following abilities using the scale below.
Strongest Very strong Strong Somewhat strong Not strong
(5)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(1)
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Becoming aware of the education and career choices that I must make
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Actively engaging with my career
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Remaining positive
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Taking responsibility for my actions
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Acting in line with my values and principles
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Relying on myself
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Looking for opportunities to grow as a person
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Observing different ways of doing things
Adapted from Savickas & Porfeli (2012)
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From maturity to adaptability
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Consistent with professional values
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Relational (psycho-social) component
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Recursiveness and reflexivity
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Relevant at time of transition
Development
tool
Value- added
measure for
interventions
Resource
allocation/
prioritization
Benchmarking
Other?
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To explore how the CAAI-UK might be used
in different contexts & settings
DMU, Newman, Warwick, HECSU, Birmingham,
Glasgow Caledonian
Focus on placements, online tools, mature
learners, embedding in career education,
vehicle for institutional change
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Guidance notes for feedback sessions have been
developed
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Text using scores as a basis for signposting has been
developed
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Success and risk factors identified at both institutional and
practitioner level
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Career Adaptability provides a framework for discussion of
both institutional level and individual level drivers and
needs at the same time
Possibilities for the future: use in induction, personal
tutoring, post placement reflective tool, diagnostics
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Factors which supported the pilots: e.g. tutor
buy in, staff time and commitment
Factors which inhibited the pilots: e.g.
resources, staff change, practitioner comfort
levels, limited time to engage students and
student understanding of relevance
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More support for practitioners in working
with the concepts
A website to gather case studies and support
one another
Possible use with personal tutors
Ongoing piloting of online version
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/othercourses/
careerstudies/aboutus/collaborations/caip
Bimrose, J., Barnes, S-A., Brown, A. and Hughes, D. (2011) 'The role of career adaptability in
skills supply', Wath-upon-Dearne: UK Commission for Employment & Skills
Savickas, M.L. (1997) Career Adaptability: An Integrative construct for Life-Span, Life-Space
Theory, The Career Development Quarterly, 45, 3, pp.247-259
Savickas, M.L. & Porfeli, E.J. (2012) Career Adapt-Abilities Scale: Construction, reliability and
measurement equivalence across 13 countries, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 80,
pp.661 -673
Savickas, M. (2013) ‘Career Construction theory and practice’ in RW Lent and SD Brown
(eds) Career Development and Counseling: putting theory and research to work (2nd
edition) New Jersey: John Wiley and sons pp. 147-183.