The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Career Shock on Women's Career Development

STUDY 1: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AS A CAREER SHOCK: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S CAREER EXPERIENCESWomen were disproportionately impacted by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to men, especially in the workforce and with tasks associated with traditional gender norms, such as caring for children. For some women, these experiences resulted in a career shock, or an experience that prompts an individual to reflect on their career development process. Using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology, 11 women were interviewed for the current study about their experiences with COVID-19 as a career shock to learn about how the pandemic influenced their career decision-making. Results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a career shock for participants, although for many their career goals did not change. Participants described their experiences in terms of their careers, broadly, the factors that were both within and outside of their control, foreseeability of the career shock and its consequences, their sociocultural roles and identities, self-efficacy, and the valence with which they perceived the career shock and related outcomes. The role of the COVID-19 as a career shock is also discussed within Social Cognitive Career Theory. Implications for future research and recommendations for clinicians and practitioners are discussed.STUDY 2: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE CAREER DECISION-MAKING SELF-EFFICACY SCALE FOR WORKING ADULTSA changing global workforce has resulted in increased transitions, skill development, and adaptation among the U.S. workforce, requiring workers to engage in career reflection and make decisions relevant to their careers goals. However, for this process to be meaningful, workers must have confidence that they can make career-related decisions. Career decision-making self-efficacy has been shown to predict career outcomes at the individual level and thus has been used widely in Social Cognitive Career Theory research. However, existing measures have been normed on college students whose exploration around initial career choices differs from that of working adults who are already established in a career. This study aimed to develop and validate a measure of career decision-making self-efficacy appropriate for use with working adults. Exploratory factor analysis from an initial sample of working adult yielded a three-factor model containing 13 items that were developed for this study or modified from an existing measure of career transitions. In a second sample of working adults, confirmatory factor analysis findings indicated that retaining the three-factor model was appropriate, resulting in the retention of the original 13 items. Implications for future research and limitations of the current study are discussed.  STUDY 3: THE INFLUENCE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AS A CAREER SHOCK ON WOMEN’S CAREER SATISFACTIONThis study examined the relationship between experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic as a career shock and women’s career satisfaction. A diverse sample of 285 women who had either left the workforce or changed jobs during the pandemic were sampled. To explain the relationship, work-family/family-work conflict was postulated as predictor and career decision-making self-efficacy was hypothesized as a mediator. When participants reported negative experiences of career shocks during the COVID-19 pandemic, the hypothesized model was a good fit to the data, but not statistically significant. When participants reported positive experiences of career shocks during the COVID-19 pandemic, the model was a poor fit to the data but was statistically significant. There were also statistically significant relationships between positive experiences of career shocks during the COVID-19 pandemic and career decision-making self-efficacy, and career decision-making self-efficacy and career satisfaction. No group differences were identified. Implications for future research and recommendations for clinicians and career practitioners are also discussed.