Saturday 25 July 09:50 - 11:20

Hall: 28 - Room 6 SPT

Chair and Discussant: Magnano Paola

Division: Division 16: Counseling Psychology

The concept of a sustainable career has gained significant attention in recent academic literature, extending beyond simple professional success to include aspects of happiness, health, and productivity (De Vos et al., 2020), as well as social empowerment (Russo et al., 2023). In this view of a sustainable career (De Vos et al., 2020), the individual is regarded as the central element—someone who actively manages their own career and adapts in response to other stakeholders and contexts (private life, work environment, job sector, broader labour market, society, and culture; De Vos et al., 2017). In sustainable careers, the concept of decent work is fundamental; initially defined as productive work conducted in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity (ILO, 1999), its definition has been expanded by Duffy et al. (2016) to include people's experiences of their work lives across five dimensions: "(a) physically and interpersonally safe working conditions; (b) hours that allow for free time and adequate rest; (c) organisational values that align with family and social values; (d) adequate compensation; and (e) access to sufficient healthcare" (Duffy et al., 2016, 130). Recently, the idea of decent work has been connected with sustainable development (Chhabra et al., 2022), highlighting that work can serve as an opportunity not only for the individual but also for creating sustainable contexts (Guichard, 2022; Zammitti et al., 2023a). The symposium will showcase studies carried out across diverse cultural settings, emphasising ways to enhance sustainable careers among university students—exploring their perceptions and representations, using narrative methods in career counselling, and raising awareness of the features of decent work.