The present research is focused on the measurement properties of the Decent Work Scale (DWS) in Australia and adds to the cumulative evidence of the measure’s international utility for psychological research into the role of work in people’s lives. The study contributes new evidence via a survey of a sample of workers ( N = 201) who completed the DWS and criterion measures of career-related factors including job satisfaction, work engagement, and withdrawal intentions. Correlated factors, higher order, and bifactor models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. All models were satisfactory and the bifactor model evinced preferable fit. The DWS Values Congruence subscale predicted all criterion measures. Workers’ incomes and ratings of their occupations’ prestige had no main effects or interaction effect on the DWS subscales. Recommendations for future research include testing the DWS’s relations with measures of mental health which are known correlates of career-related outcomes.

No abstract

Hunger and undernourishment are global problems of pandemic proportion.Fortunately, there is evidence of improved supply of food to those most in need and positive progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Among the human population, the number of undernourished peoples has declined from more than 1 billion (18.6 %) in 1990-92, to 794 600 (10.9%) in 2014-16 (Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, & World Food Program, 2015). Yet, undernourishment continues to maim and kill children at staggering rates, causing growth restriction, stunting, wasting that has life-long effects, and 45% of child deathsapproximately three million children under five years of age (Black et al., 2013; World Food Program, 2017). The annual financial cost of undernutrition is approximately US$3.5 trillion (World Food Program, 2017).Poverty, conflict, policies, production, population, and climate change, are potent causes of undernourishment and its staggering rates of disability and death. All these intertwined factors have cognitive and behavioural correlates. It is peoples' attitudes, beliefs, interests, decisions, and actions that contribute to the problems of global hunger. Vice versa, it is people who are solving the problems of global hunger by improving production and access to food. Thus, as people are both the cause and cure of hunger, the question to be answered is whether psychology can contribute to mitigating the causes and effects of hunger, and, moreover, enhancing agricultural production and access to nutrition. Can psychology deploy its rich resources of research and practice to positively influence people's attitudes, beliefs, interests, decisions, and actions in ways that make a contribution to attaining Zero Hunger? To that end, in this paper, the Vocational Psychology of Agriculture-Farming Food and Fibre (VPA-FFF; McIlveen, 2015) is extended as an ethical and scientific program that directs research, education, and policy. PSYCHOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 3 Please do not distribute this draft manuscript. It is under review for inclusion in the forthcoming second edition of the International Handbook of Career Guidance (Athanasou & Perera, 2018).The VPA is contextualized amidst current initiatives in psychology to progress the Sustainable Development Goals with respect to the Psychology of Working (Blustein, 2006(Blustein, , 2013 and decent work (Blustein, Olle, Connors-Kellgren, & Diamonti, 2016). The VPA extends the Psychology of Working into the domain of farming food and fibre, and assumes decent work as a fundamental plank of its conceptual platform. The Ethical Paradigm of the Vocational Psychology of AgricultureThe notion decent work is defined in Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights and enshrines just and favourable conditions of work, fair remuneration that ensures decent living standards, safe and healthy working conditions, equality of opportunity within the workplace, limitations on working hours, rest...

This paper aims to identify and synthesise research related to industry perspectives of industry school partnerships (ISPs) with primary and secondary students globally. A systematic review of ISP studies published between 2001 and 2021 that included industry perspectives was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. This focused systematically ordered review of industry perspectives of ISPs elicited four key findings: Limited research specifically focusing on industry participants’ perceptions of career and knowledge sharing ISPs exist. The most common reasons for participation included promoting careers and/or their industry, and enhancing community goodwill. The most common barriers or challenges in participating included time, budget and process constraints, and understanding the partnership’s impact. Communication, trust, relationships, and setting clear goals are often important features highlighted for successful partnerships. The recommendations from this review will be used to design, deliver and evaluate ISPs which aim to benefit agricultural industry participants. Future research will apply the findings from this review to a rural case site in Victoria, Australia, focused on agricultural ISPs aimed at increasing students’ aspirations for a career in the sector. This is vital as agriculture is an important industry in this region, yet many students are unaware of the range of career opportunities available to them.

PurposeAustralia's agricultural industry has become highly dependent on young low-cost, overseas “working holiday” visa workers known as “backpackers”, who are notoriously subject to exploitative workplace practices. This study aimed to explore backpackers' experiences in terms of how job demands, job resources and personal resources influence their appraisals of working in agriculture.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were used to explore the work experiences of N = 21 backpackers employed under the Australian Working Holiday visa (subclass 417). Data were analyzed by thematic analysis and organized in terms of job demands and resources.FindingsThis study revealed job demands commonly experienced by agricultural backpacker workers (e.g. precarity, physically strenuous work, low pay), and job resources (e.g. adequate training, feedback) and personal resources (e.g. attitude, language) that buffer the demands. The findings indicate that backpackers' appraisals of their experiences and performance decline when demands outweigh resources.Originality/valueThis study offers an emic perspective on the work of an understudied segment of the agricultural workforce. The findings have implications for improving work practices and policies aimed at attracting and retaining this important labor source in the future.