In contexts of forced migration, individuals often face involuntary career changes due to the non-recognition of prior qualifications, legal restrictions, or structural barriers. These transitions are frequently marked by limited opportunities, ruptured professional identities, and the challenge of reorienting one's life course under pressure. Yet, forms of agency persist, even in partial or relational forms, as individuals navigate and respond to these uncertain,
involuntary transitions. Drawing on the work of Hitlin and Elder (2007) and Chang et al. (2022), we conceptualize agency as differentiated (existential, pragmatic, identity, life course), relational (shared or non-shared), and temporal. Shared agency can arise through support, collaboration, or accommodation with professionals and institutions, while non-shared agency emerges when others are disengaged, overly directive, or structurally absent. Agency is also temporally embedded: it fluctuates, accumulates, or recedes depending on changing conditions. While career transitions among people undergoing migration have received increasing attention, most studies tend to focus either on structural barriers or on individual strategies, often neglecting how agency unfolds over time and through relationships.
This presentation builds on a four-wave longitudinal qualitative study (2020-2025) conducted in Switzerland with four migrants who were forced to change professions due to diploma non-recognition and institutional barriers. We conducted semi-structured interviews at yearly intervals and used temporal thematic analysis to trace which dimensions of agency occur and how shared and non-shared agency emerge, evolve, and sometimes erode over time, and across transition phases. We conclude by discussing implications for counseling psychology and vocational guidance. Findings emphasize the need to move beyond individualistic, present-focused interventions. Supporting involuntary career change after migration requires dialogical spaces that honor temporal complexity, identity disruption, and collective dynamics. Counselors should consider agency in its various dimensions, relations, and shifting rhythms to help individuals sequence meaningful, short-term, and long-term steps, even in uncertain conditions.