Psychological Educational And Sociological Perspectives On Success And Well Being In Career Development

This collection covers how success and well-being relate to each other in early career development in the domains of employment and education. It gives a conceptual overview of success and well-being as established in the psychological research tradition, complemented by educational and sociological approaches. The volume presents articles on success and well-being in applied contexts, such as well-being as an individual resource during school-to-work transition, or well-being and success at the workplace. Work psychologists, social psychologists, educational researchers, and sociologists will find this book valuable, as it provides unique insights into social and psychological processes afforded by the combination of disciplines, concepts, and a diversity of approaches.

This volume offers a new conceptualization of career wellbeing by viewing the construct as an individual’s long-term contentment with their career outcomes, career achievements, career changes and their sustainable employability amidst the complexities of the contemporary and emerging future digital-driven work environment. In support of this view of career wellbeing, the volume constructs theoretical frameworks for “future-fit” career wellbeing in the digital-driven work–life context. The chapters juxtaposition current research trends in terms of future potential directions for research on career wellbeing in Industry 4.0. The volume also critically evaluates the relevance, applicability and utility of the research findings and theoretical premises in various current versus potential Industry 4.0 settings for individuals across the life-span. It offers valuable suggestions for practice and interventions.

Written in a conversational style yet empirically grounded, this book reviews what we know about the science of happiness. It is the first text to closely examine the social psychological processes as well as individualistic approaches that affect happiness. It explores how our social, cultural, and economic environment, the personal choices we make, and our evolutionary heritage shape our happiness. Topics that are inherently interesting to students such as how income and unemployment, marriage, children, and relationships, health, work, religion, economic growth, and personal safety affect happiness, are reviewed. Research from psychology, economics, and sociology is examined providing an interdisciplinary perspective of this fascinating field. Social issues such as income inequality and the effects of advertising, materialism, and competition are also explored. Highlights include: Covers both the socio-structural issues and individual differences that impact our happiness providing the most comprehensive coverage of any text available. Emphasizes a social psychological approach that considers factors such as income, economics, culture, work, materialism, relationships, religion, and more, often ignored in other texts. Relates the material to students’ lives by posing questions throughout the text to further spark interest in the subject matter. Highlights the latest research and the methodologies used to obtain it to help students better understand how to interpret results. Reviews the evidence that shows that happiness can change over time and how to increase it. Examines how positive emotions and how we interpret events impacts our well-being, along with empirically verified interventions and possible societal changes that can improve happiness. Features a chapter on evolutionary psychology that suggests that there are limits to happiness but how it can be enhanced by pursuing behaviors associated with the successes of our ancestors. Intersperses summary paragraphs throughout the chapters to facilitate learning. Provides discussion questions, activities, assignments, and suggested videos, websites, examples, and additional readings in the instructor’s resources to stimulate critical thinking and class discussion. Features web based instructor’s resources including PowerPoints, sample syllabi, lecture tips and suggestions, and more. Intended for as a text upper-division courses in the psychology of happiness or positive psychology or as a supplement in courses in social or health psychology or psychology of adjustment.

This Research Agenda for Social Wellbeing introduces scholars and planners to the importance of a ‘wellbeing lens’ for the study and promotion of social flourishing. It demonstrates the importance of wellbeing as a public good, not just a property of individuals.

This book generates a comprehensive account of ways in which practice-based learning has been conceptualized in the Francophone context. Learning for occupations, and the educational and practice-based experiences supporting it are the subject of increased interest and attention globally. Governments, professional bodies, workplaces and workers are now looking for experiences that support the initial and ongoing development of occupational capacities. Consequently, more attention is being given to workplaces as sites for this learning. This focus on learning through work has long been emphasised in the Francophone world, which has developed distinct traditions and conceptions of associations between work and learning. These include ergonomics and professional didactics. Yet, whilst being accepted and of long standing in the Francophone world, these conceptions and traditions, and the practices supporting them are little known about or understood in the Anglophone world, which is the dominant medium for scientific and educational discussion. This book addresses this problem through drawing on accounts from France, Switzerland and Canada that make accessible and elaborate these traditions, conceptions and practices through examples of their applications to occupationally related learning. These accounts offer variations and culturally-specific developments of these traditions, but collectively emphasize a preoccupation with how both work and learning need to be understood through situated considerations of persons enacting their work practice. In this way, they offer noteworthy and worthwhile contributions to contemporary global considerations of learning through work.

Italy is not a country for young people. Why? This book provides a unique and in-depth collection of empirical and theoretical material providing multiple answers to this question whilst investigating the living conditions of young people in Italy today. By bringing together a variety of approaches and methods, the authors of this collection analyze Italian youth through the lenses of three dimensions: ‘Activism, participation and citizenship’, ‘Work, Employment and Careers’ and ‘Moves, Transitions and Representations’. These dimensions are the analytical building blocks for challenging stereotypes and unveiling misinterpretations and taken-for-granted assumptions that portray young people in Italy as selfish, ‘choosy’, and unwilling to make sacrifices, commit and manage an independent life. These prejudices often underplay the role of constraints they are facing in the transition to adulthood. Studying Italian youth, therefore, not only allows us to capture their peculiar characteristics but also to reflect more broadly on the conceptual toolbox we need in order to understand contemporary youth more generally. By doing so, the volume aims to contribute to international discussion on the youth condition in Europe. The Introduction of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Building on the success of the 2003 Handbook of the Life Course, this second volume identifies future directions for life course research and policy. The introductory essay and the chapters that make up the five sections of this book, show consensus on strategic “next steps” in life course studies. These next steps are explored in detail in each section: Section I, on life course theory, provides fresh perspectives on well-established topics, including cohorts, life stages, and legal and regulatory contexts. It challenges life course scholars to move beyond common individualistic paradigms. Section II highlights changes in major institutional and organizational contexts of the life course. It draws on conceptual advances and recent empirical findings to identify promising avenues for research that illuminate the interplay between structure and agency. It examines trends in family, school, and workplace, as well as contexts that deserve heightened attention, including the military, the criminal justice system, and natural and man-made disaster. The remaining three sections consider advances and suggest strategic opportunities in the study of health and development throughout the life course. They explore methodological innovations, including qualitative and three-generational longitudinal research designs, causal analysis, growth curves, and the study of place. Finally, they show ways to build bridges between life course research and public policy.

Gender inequalities in education – in terms of systematic variations in access to educational institutions, in competencies, school marks, and educational certificates along the axis of gender – have tremendously changed over the course of the 20th century. Although this does not apply to all stages and areas of the educational career, it is particularly obvious looking at upper secondary education. Before the major boost of educational expansion in the 1960s, women’s participation in upper secondary general education, and their chances to successfully finish this educational pathway, have been lower than men’s. However, towards the end of the 20th century, women were outperforming men in many European countries and beyond. The international contributions to this book attempt to shed light on the mechanisms behind gender inequalities and the changes made to reduce this inequality. Topics explored by the contributors include gender in science education in the UK; women’s education in Luxembourg in the 19th and 20th century; the ‘gender gap’ debates and their rhetoric in the UK and Finland; sociological perspectives on the gender-equality discourse in Finland; changing gender differences in West Germany in the 20th century; the interplay of subjective well-being and educational attainment in Switzerland; and a psychological perspective on gender identities, gender-related perceptions, students’ motivation, intelligence, personality, and the interaction between student and teacher gender. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Research.