g. Interviews with 35 international students, in their first-year post-graduation, surfaced a range of emotional experiences that they associated with their coping strategies to gain employability and job search skills. The analysis highlighted three main themes related to international students’ emotional experiences and reactions: (a) ‘navigating warning signs and detours without a map;’ (b) ‘adapting to travelling solo and missing travel companions;’ and (c) ‘letting go of the destination and cultivating trust and hopefulness in the journey’. Implications for career support and future research are discussed.

28:T427,

Although stimulating career imagination is important, little research has focused on its characteristics, and no measure of career imagination domains has yet been developed. To address this issue, the aim of this work was to develop a new instrument to measure career imagination. In Study 1 (n = 457), the CIS was developed, and an EFA was conducted. In Study II (n = 520), a CFA was performed to test the four-factor structure (Frequency, Emotional Valence, Complexity, Directedness). Gender invariance was assessed. In Study III (n = 380), convergent and discriminant validity were tested with positive/negative affect, imaginative capacity, and vision about future. The results indicate good model fit and reliability of the four-factor structure and gender invariance. Validity was confirmed. These findings will help researchers expand their understanding of career imagination by providing a validated measure that will support studies of its antecedents, outcomes, and role in career development.

29:T4a4,

As career distress becomes increasingly prevalent among young adults (ages 18–25), it is crucial—yet still insufficiently understood—to explore how future work self salience may help alleviate such distress. Guided by goal-setting theory, this longitudinal study examines the mechanisms through which future work self salience influences career distress. Drawing on two-wave data from 524 college students, structural equation modeling indicated that future work self salience was negatively associated with career distress, with goal engagement mediating this relationship. Furthermore, calling motivation moderated both the direct effect of future work self salience on goal engagement and the indirect effect on career distress via goal engagement. Specifically, the positive link between future work self salience and goal engagement—and its subsequent alleviating effect on career distress—was stronger for individuals with higher levels of calling motivation. This study provides longitudinal evidence for a motivational pathway linking future-oriented self-concepts to reduced career distress, offering practical implications for personalized career interventions.

2a:T41b,

The sustainability of careers has become a topic of relevance in the shift from a traditional concept of career to more self-directed, boundaryless careers. In this context, it’s recognized that, while employees manage their careers, organizations should support their development. The present study aims to analyze the dynamics of reciprocal relationships between two components of the primary indicators of sustainable careers, namely, well-being (i.e., purpose in life) and performance (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior), and the moderating role of gender on those relationships. Two hundred and nine participants responded to the questionnaire three different times. A reinforcing relationship was found between these variables for women when the spiral analyzed started with organizational citizenship behavior, whereas men did not show any of the proposed relationships. Therefore, this study enhances understanding of the different workplace experiences of men and women, their well-being, performance, and career development.

2b:T5e6,