Saturday 25 July 08:15
- 09:45
Hall: 02 - Teatrino
Chair:
Mazzetti Greta
Discussant:
González-Romá Vicente
Division: Division 1: Work and Organizational Psychology
This symposium brings together five international research teams to explore how psychological resources, values, and emotional processes foster sustainable and proactive employability during the transition from higher education to work. Drawing on frameworks such as the Job Demands-Resources model, the Career Sustainability Framework, and Proactive Motivation Theory, the contributions collectively illustrate how values, self-regulation, and affective mechanisms shape adaptive and meaningful career trajectories.
The opening paper (Panari et al.) examines how intrinsic and extrinsic work values influence perceived employability through protean career orientation, emphasizing the importance of value-driven self-management. The second study (Floris et al.) adopts a longitudinal approach to show how career resources such as self-exploration and clarity predict sustainable academic success. The third paper (Milani et al.) highlights the motivational power of positive affect in envisioning Future Work Selves and its role in enhancing career proactivity. The fourth contribution (Gerritsen et al.) presents a scalable intervention promoting proactive career behaviors during the school-to-work transition. Finally, the closing paper (Signore et al.) investigates how soft skills and psychological capital contribute to sustainable employability and readiness for decent work.
Together, these studies offer a comprehensive and integrative view of psychological mechanisms underpinning sustainable and self-directed career development. The symposium highlights implications for career education, guidance, and policy, emphasizing interventions that cultivate values alignment, emotional engagement, and soft skills to support lifelong employability and well-being.
