Leaving the Ivory Tower: Vocational Application Orientation of Early Career Academics

Abstract

This study reports on the development and validation of a new construct of application orientation (AO), which we defined as a vocational orientation concerning the interest for certain principles, values, and activities that are common for university graduates working in applied (i.e., industrial) fields. Using a multi-study program with different samples, the new construct was conceptualized (Study 1) and validated (Studies 2–4). In a qualitative content analysis with N = 102 professionals (all of them having an academic degree mostly in the STEM disciplines), four central facets of applied (i.e., industrial) work were identified (process orientation, customer focus, product focus, and economic focus). In a study with N = 200 university students and professionals with mixed disciplinary backgrounds (i.e., STEM but also non-STEM fields), the AO facets correlated with the RIASEC dimensions (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional; Holland, 1997) mostly as expected, and the AO facet product focus was predictive of the preference for applied work settings, supporting convergent validity assumptions. Discriminant validity of the AO facets was largely supported, examining average variance extracted by the AO factors compared to the RIASEC factors. In a known-groups validation study, AO was higher in N = 108 professionals from industry compared with N = 40 scientists (all from STEM fields) working at a university. In a sample of N = 128 early career scientists from the STEM fields, the AO facet product focus predicted applied work behavior in an assessment center.

The interplay of career involvement and goal conflicts: An eight‐wave study with STEM professionals

“…The present study was part of a larger project on the career paths of early career STEM scientists that started in 2014 (see also Alisic & Wiese, 2020; Burk et al, 2016; Burk & Wiese, 2018a, 2018b; Claus et al, 2020; Frei & Grund, 2020; Lerche et al, 2022a, 2022b; Noppeney et al, 2022). We recruited German‐speaking participants via the web pages of universities and research institutes, internet platforms, mailing lists, and human resource departments of private companies.…”

“…A between-person relationship would instead describe whether individuals with more goal conflicts are also less career involved when compared with individuals with fewer goal conflicts. A focus on within-person changes will thus allow to draw more accurate conclusions about the dynamic relationships of our constructs of interest.7 | METHOD7.1 | Sample and procedureThe present study was part of a larger project on the career paths of early career STEM scientists that started in 2014 (see alsoAlisic & Wiese, 2020;Burk et al, 2016;Burk & Wiese, 2018a, 2018bClaus et al, 2020;Frei & Grund, 2020;Lerche et al, 2022aLerche et al, , 2022bNoppeney et al, 2022). We recruited German-speaking participants viathe web pages of universities and research institutes, internet platforms, mailing lists, and human resource departments of private companies.…”

When doubts take over: a longitudinal study on emerging disengagement in the PhD process

“…Data were drawn from a larger project investigating career paths of early career scientists within the STEM fields which began in 2014 (see also Alisic & Wiese, 2020;Burk et al, 2016;Burk & Wiese, 2018a, 2018bClaus et al, 2020;Frei & Grund, 2020;Lerche et al, 2022Lerche et al, , 2023Noppeney et al, 2022aNoppeney et al, , 2022b. Participants were asked to complete a total of eight online questionnaires (T1 to T8) with approximately 6-month intervals which included information about their current career-related experiences (over a total time course of roughly 4 years).…”

At what age does vocational tendency begin?

“…His theory has had a wide impact on career counseling on both theoretical and practical grounds (Castelló & Cladellas, 2021). Each RIASEC dimension is characterized by specific personality-related attributes, for example, interests, values, and beliefs (Lerche, Burk, & Wiese, 2022). Often, only three dominant types of the six RIASEC types are used to identify a person (for example, the person is assigned a three-letter SAE code.…”