Career Adaptability – A strategic tool or just a nice idea?

Toni Wright - Newman University

Gill Frigerio - University of Warwick

Aims for this morning:

• Very brief reminder of Career Adapt-ability• Overview of Pilots Project• Career Adaptability in practice so far• Introducing new concepts and practices to

our services

• Adaptive Readiness (personality traits)• Adaptability Resources (psycho-social

competencies – can be developed)• Adapting (action when required )• Adaptation as outcome

Ready, willing & able

Career Adapt-ability

• CONCERN: developing a positive optimistic attitude to the future

• CONTROL: exerting a degree of intra-personal influence on their situations

• CURIOSITY: broadening horizons by exploring social opportunities & possibilities

• CONFIDENCE: believing in yourself & your ability to achieve your goal

Career Adapt-abilities (Savickas, 1997)

Adaptability dimension

Attitudes and beliefs

Competence Coping behaviours

Career ‘problem’

Concern Planful Planning Aware

Involved

Preparing

Indifference

Control Decisive Decision making Assertive

Disciplined

Willful

Indecision

Curiosity Inquisitive Exploring Experimenting

Risk taking

Inquiring

Unrealism

Confidence Efficacious Problem solving Persistent

Striving

Industrious

Inhibition

Career Adaptability Dimensions (Savickas, 2013: 158)

• Explored how Career-adaptability and the Inventory might be used in different contexts & settings

• DMU, Newman, Warwick, HECSU, Birmingham, Glasgow Caledonian

• Pilot implementations with placements, online tools, mature learners, targeting interventions, vehicle for institutional change

HEA funded pilots project

• Timing• Conceptual understanding and perceived relevance for

students• Institutional Resources – Little additional resource,

Changes in staffing• Practitioner Resources – not enough briefing and support

given; enormous commitment, interest and enthusiasm • Professional and academic staff buy in; interest and

enthusiasm

Factors which impinged on the introduction of a new concept and practice

From nice idea to strategic tool• Basis for dialogue between different

stakeholders• Holds the potential to bring together client

focussed perspectives and KPIs and outcomes drivers

Or• An attractive theory: challenging to integrate

with practice?