Insecurity and intense competition for permanent academic positions appear to be common experiences for early career researchers across the globe. With academic precarity now firmly on the international research and policy agenda, this article looks comparatively at postdoc precarity in three European countries: Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. It…

A major challenge for refugees and asylum seekers is social and professional integration. Using constructivist and capability approaches, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 young refugees and asylum seekers enrolled in an integration program in French-speaking Switzerland about their career choices. Following consensual qualitative…

In Switzerland, access to non-academic occupations requires the completion of a vocational education and training (VET) program. Over two-thirds of adolescents choose to start a dual VET program after compulsory education. However, this path from school to work is not always linear, and changes can be a means of adjusting wrong career choices. In…

This study investigated the perception of role model attributes of women and men sport professors, how these attributes influence the choice of academic role models, and how such role models affect career objectives. The study draws on social cognitive (career) theory. Data were collected with a quantitative online survey (N = 792) targeted at…

More than half of PhD graduates work outside academia. Yet we know little of the nature of their post-PhD careers and the conditions influencing them. Further, research to date tends to focus on either individual factors (e.g., graduate perceptions of PhD skills used) or structural factors (e.g., organizational interest in hiring PhDs). Few…

The aim of this study was to validate the French version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) and to assess its measurement invariance across gender, age groups, countries, and student versus career counseling samples. We also examined the sensitivity of this instrument to discriminate a career counseling population from…

This paper addresses the subjective experiences of PhD holders from Switzerland and the UK who pursue careers beyond academia. Drawing on the concepts of organisational culture and culture shock, we examined the challenges that characterise this passage from academia to non-academic workplaces. With an exploratory aim, we analysed 32…

Vocational education and training (VET) programs are typically regarded as the means to enable successful school-to-work transitions. However, high rates of premature contract terminations in VET programs suggest that adolescents face difficulties during this transition. This paper aims to examine the determinants of persistence intention,…

The present study compares student teachers' career choice motives and their relationship with stress-inducing thoughts across five European countries. A previously established factorial structure for career choice motives embedded within self-determination theory was supported. The factors consist of intrinsic motives, such as interest in…

This study investigates student teachers' emotions about their upcoming team practicum. The theoretical foundation grounds in the FIT-Choice approach (Watt, H. M. G., and P. W. Richardson. 2008. "Motivations for Teaching: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings." "Learning and Instruction" 18: 405-98) and in…

Self-esteem, general self-efficacy, and career adaptability, which include career concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, are important resources for adolescents who are required to make important educational and professional choices. No studies have investigated how these resources codevelop over time and their impact on life satisfaction.…

This paper focuses on the professional journeys of 14 mid- and late-career teacher educators in seven countries in the subject area of physical education. Data was gathered through two rounds of semi-structured interviews and revealed a strong emphasis on the professional relationships impacting upon participants' entry to and development within…

This study aimed to examine the links between motivation to become a teacher, sense of responsibility, and classroom management style. An adapted version of the Factors Influencing Teaching (FIT)-Choice scale, a translated version of the Teacher Responsibility scale, and a vignette instrument inspired by the Problems in School Questionnaire were…

We empirically investigate whether the relationship between the fraction of filled apprenticeships in a particular occupation in the past and the fraction of prospective apprentices having very early intentions to train in this occupation has an impact on the decision to change the intended choice of occupation. We use a unique dataset from…

The aim of this article is to report the results of an empirical study on adolescents' interest, self-efficacy, and vocational interest in technology and design. Following the expectancy-value model, we wanted to know how context-specific interest in technology and perceived self-efficacy in solving technical tasks are developed at lower…