International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Millennials’ Career Attitudes: The roles of Career Anchors and Psychological Empowerment

Open access
This study examines the mediating effect Millennials’ psychological empowerment perceptions on the relationship between their career anchors (technical/functional competence, general managerial competence, autonomy/independence, security/stability, entrepreneurial creativity, service/dedication to a cause, pure challenge and life style) and career attitudes. Participants were 492 engineers who are working in different Information Technology companies. The results indicate a significant relationship between Millennials’ psychological empowerment and their protean career attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses show that the relationships between career anchors (autonomy, security, entrepreneurial creativity, service and pure challenge) and Millennials’ protean career attitudes are partially mediated by their psychological empowerment perceptions. The findings reveal that organizations should focus more on giving importance to empowerment mechanisms for Millennials that is the underlying effect between their career anchors and career attitudes.
Allred, B. B., Snow, C. C., & Miles, R. E. (1996). Characteristics of managerial careers in the 21st century. Academy of Management Executive, 10(4), 17-27.
Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. M. (1996). The Boundaryless Career: a New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. Oxford University Press, New York.
Aydogmus, C. (2016). Generation Y Employees: The role of Psychological Empowerment on the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Citizenship Behaviors. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 7(11), 114-128.
Aydogmus, C., Camgoz, S. M., Ergeneli, A., & Ekmekci, O. T. (2017). Perceptions of transformational leadership and job satisfaction: The roles of personality traits and psychological empowerment. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(1), 81-107.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W.H. Freeman, New York, NY.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
Baruch, Y. (2004). Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths: organizational and individual perspectives. Career Development International, 9(1), 58-73.
Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York, NY: Wiley.
Bridges, W. (1995). Job shift, How to prosper in a World without Jobs, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards.
Briscoe, J. P., & Hall, D. T. (2006). The interplay of boundaryless and protean careers: combinations and implications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69(1), 4-18.
Briscoe, J. P., Hall, D. T., & DeMuth, R. L. F. (2006). Protean and boundaryless careers: An empirical exploration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69(1), 30-47.
Burke, R. J., & Ng, E. (2006). The changing nature of work and organizations: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 16, 86-94.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. New York, NY: Routledge.
Cakmak-Otluoglu, K. O. (2012). Protean and boundaryless career attitudes and organizational commitment: The effects of perceived supervisor support. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 638-646.
Cao, L., Hirschi, A., & Deller, J. (2013). The positive effects of a protean career attitude for self-initiated expatriates: Cultural adjustment as a mediator. Career Development International, 18(1), 56-77.
Carless, S. A. (2004). Does psychological empowerment mediate the relationship between psychological climate and job satisfaction. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18(4), 405-425.
Chan, K. Y., Moon-ho, R. H., Chernyshenko, O. S., Bedford, O., Uy, M. A., Gomulya, D., & Phan, W. M. J. (2012). Entrepreneurship, professionalism, leadership: A framework and measure for understanding boundaryless careers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(1), 73-88.
Conger, J. A., & Kanungo, R. N. (1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review, 31, 471–482.
Coetzee, M. (2012). Distance learning students’ graduations as predictors of their job satisfaction and optimism about future career prospects. Journal of Social Sciences, 33(3), 305-313.
Coetzee, M., & Schreuder, A. M. G. (2008). A multi-cultural investigation of students’ career anchors at a South African higher education institution. South African Journal of Labor Relations, 32(2), 45-65.
Coetzee, M., & Schreuder, D. A. (2014). Career anchors as a meta-capacity in organizational career development. In Psycho-social career meta-capacities (pp. 139-154). Springer International Publishing.
Crawford, S. (1989). Technical Workers in an Advanced Society: the Work Careers and Politics of French Engineers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Silva, D. R. C., Trevisan, L. N., Veloso, E. F. R., & Dutra, J. S. (2016). Career anchors and values from diffe
In-Text Citation: (Aydogmus, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Aydogmus, C. (2018). Millennials’ Career Attitudes: The roles of Career Anchors and Psychological Empowerment. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(6), 1–21.