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
Career Adapt-ability
• Adaptive Readiness (personality traits)
• Adaptability Resources (psycho-social
competencies – can be developed)
• Adapting (action when required )
• Adaptation as outcome
Ready, willing & able
Career Adapt-abilities (Savickas, 1997)
• 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
Adaptability
dimension
Concern
Attitudes and
beliefs
Planful
Competence
Coping
behaviours
Aware
Planning
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)
HEA funded pilots project
• 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
Factors which impinged on the introduction
of a new concept and practice
• 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
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?