THE EFFECTS OF PROTEAN CAREER ORIENTATION ON CAREER SUCCESS OF ACADEMICS’ IN HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR OF KARACHI, PAKISTAN: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL

Abstract

Purpose The dynamic and complex working environment of 21sl century demands extraordinary efforts from faculty of higher education. No matter what, faculty members expected to be loyal to the organization, multitask and seek institutional support for the effective development and delivery of their skills. However, around the world with the increased implementation of ‘protean career orientation' the attitudes seem to have shifted, and the employees are registering a drop in commitment towards their organization. It is very important that this vicious circle has to be tackled keeping in mind the personal growth ofthe faculty which can leverage the academic institutions and quality education. The concept of career has come a long way from being traditional to protean; now generation X has been retired, generation Y has got much experience and generation Z have stepped into workforce with all new and unique needs and mindset. In this situation, adaptation to new concepts is the key to success especially in the field of higher education. This study aims to understand the mediation effect of psychological capital (hope, efficacy, resilience, optimism) between protean career orientation and career success (objective career success and subjective career success). This mediation effect is analyzed on academics’ in the higher education sector of Karachi, and primary data is collected from faculty members of private universities of Karachi. are Methodology & Design Based on the quantitative nature of this study, a quantitative descriptive research design has been used in this study. An online survey for primary data collection is used. Due to the large target population, a random sampling technique has been used, which is a non-probabilistic sampling. For calculation of the sample size, G*power 3.1.9.4 software is used. 254 faculty members of private universities of Karachi have participated in this survey. The collected data is analyzed by using Jamovi 1.2.27 software techniques. Besides the context of this study, another profound uniqueness of this research is that, this study assesses career success as formative construct as compared to past studies where career success was assessed as reflective construct. Findings This study reveals that academics’ psychological capital (hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) is not only a vital predictor of their career success (objective and subjective) it plays the role of positive mediator between protean career orientation (PCO) and career success. These findings can be used by the administration of universities for development of psychological capital of teachers to enhance career success and commitment towards their job and profession. Limitations Since the field of education is a pure service sector so, psychological capital and protean career orientation play a crucial role in teachers' performance and career success (Hasan, 2020). Protean career orientation and psychological capital is important for teachers at all levels. This study is limited to higher education only; the secondary and primary education sector is not included. The other limitations are the small sample size due to the time frame and COVID -19 Pandemic situation. This study can be longitudinal for improved results and can be done through a focused group of heads of departments of different university faculties which will eventually lead to fruitful results of career success through protean career orientation and psychological capital. Recommendations This study focused on positive individual traits only (i.e., hope, self-efficacy, resilience, optimism, self-directed, and value-driven) for analyzing career success. While addressing academics’ career success, there could be other positive psychological predictors as well. These predictors could be positive emotions, positive institutions, motivation, life satisfaction, happiness, general mental ability etc. Future research may apply the goal-setting theory to address career success. Furthermore, future study can also analyze the impact of different career resources (human capital, environment, motivation and career management behaviors etc.) on psychological capital and protean career orientation.