Living a calling in precarious employment: an integrative review of consequences on professional and personal lives
Keywords:
Autonomy; Career Management; Job Insecurity; Wellbeing at Work
Abstract
The working life trend in recent years has been precarious employment. At the same time, people seek callings and more meaningfulness from work. Therefore, the purpose of this integrative review study is to identify, describe, and synthesize studies on precarious employment and having a calling. An integrative review method was used. Data from eight papers were analyzed using the constant comparison method. Precarious employment and having a calling was a sparsely studied area. Precarious employment was related to job insecurity, poor working conditions, and financial burdens. More subjective characteristics were poor career management and development possibilities, limited autonomy, and tensions concerning workers’ identities. However, some workers chose precarity and financial insecurity to be able to fulfill their calling. Having a calling was related to low-paid professions. Precarious employment offers poor job security, career opportunities, working conditions, and low levels of autonomy. These negatively affect workers’ careers, wellbeing and health and make it hard for them to maintain their calling. Employers should pay attention to the quality of working life and better recognize calling as an important resource in work. Occupational health care can support workers having a calling and who are in precarious employment.
References
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[37] Coulson S (2012) Collaborating in a competitive world: musicians’ working lives and understandings of entrepreneurship. Work, Employment and Society 26(2): 246–261.
[38] Morgan G and Wood J (2014) Creative accommodations: the fractured transitions and precarious lives of young musicians. Journal of Cultural Economy 7(1): 64–78.
[39] Bennett D and Hennekam S (2018) Self-authorship and creative industries workers’ career decision-making. Human Relations 71(11): 1454–1477.
[40] Robb AE, Due C and Venning A (2018) Exploring psychological wellbeing in a sample of Australian actors. Australian Psychologist 53(1): 77–86.
[41] Smith NT and Thwaites R (2019) The composition of precarity: ‘emerging’ composers’ experiences of opportunity culture in contemporary classical music. British Journal of Sociology 70(2): 589–609.
[42] Cinque S, Nyberg D and Starkey K (2020) ‘Living at the border of poverty’: how theater actors maintain their calling through narrative identity work. Human Relations 00: 1–26.
[43] Lysova EI and Khapova SN (2019) Enacting creative calling when established career structures are not in place: the case of the Dutch video game industry. Journal of Vocational Behavior 114: 31–43.
[44] Zhang C, Hirschi A, Herrmann A, et al. (2015) Self-directed career attitude as predictor of career and life satisfaction in Chinese employees: calling as mediator and job insecurity as moderator. Career Development International 20(7): 703–716.
[45] van der Cingel M and Brouwer J (2021) What makes a nurse today? A debate on the nursing professional identity and its need for change. Nursing Philosophy 22(2): e12343.
[46] Rokkonen, L. (2020) Precarious motherhood: narratives from the fringes of paid labour (Publication No. 235, Dissertations in Social Sciences and Business Studies). Doctoral dissertation, University of Eastern Finland.
[47] England P (2005) Emerging theories of care work. Annual Review of Sociology 31: 381–399.
[2] Hirschi A (2011) Callings in career: A typological approach to essential and optional components. Journal of Vocational Behavior 79(1): 60–73.
[3] Lavoie-Tremblay M, O’Brien-Pallas L, Gélinas C, et al. (2008) Addressing the turnover issue among new nurses from a generational viewpoint. Journal of Nursing Management 16(6): 724–733.
[4] International Labour Organization (2019) World employment social outlook. Trends 2019. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_670542.pdf.
[5] Puig-Barrachina V, Vanroelen C, Vives A, et al. (2013) Measuring employment precariousness in the European Working Conditions Survey: the social distribution in Europe. Work 49(1): 143–161.
[6] Bodin T, Çağlayan Ç, Garde AH, et al. (2020) Precarious employment in occupational health—an OMEGA-NET working group position paper. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health 46(3): 321–329.
[7] Allmang S and Franke T (2020) ‘Just a job?’ An assessment of precarious employment trajectories by gender among young people in the U.S. Advances in Social Work 20(1): 152–171.
[8] Buchholz S, Hofacker D, Mills M, et al. (2009) Life courses in the globalization process: The development of social inequalities in modern societies. European Sociological Review 25(1):53–71.
[9] Jonsson J, Matilla-Santander N, Kreshpaj B, et al. (2020) Precarious employment and general, mental and physical health in Stockholm, Sweden: a cross-sectional study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 49(2): 228–236.
[10] Rönnblad T, Grönholm E, Jonsson J, et al. (2019) Precarious employment and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health 45(5): 429–443.
[11] Vanroelen C (2019) Employment quality: an overlooked determinant of workers’ health and well-being? Annals of Work Exposures and Health 63(6): 619–623.
[12] Behach J, Vives A, Tarafa G, et al. (2016) What should we know about precarious employment and health in 2025? Framing the agenda for the next decade of research. International Journal of Epidemiology 45(1): 232–238.
[13] Vives A, Amable M, Ferrer M, et al. (2010) The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES): psychometric properties of a new tool for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 67(8): 548–555.
[14] Pyöriä P and Ojala S (2016) Precarious work and intrinsic job quality: evidence from Finland, 1984–2013. Economic and Labour Relations Review 27(3): 349–367.
[15] Sutela H, Pärnänen A and Keyriläinen M (2019) Digital working life. Working conditions survey results 1977–2018. Statistics Finland. Available at: https://www.stat.fi/tup/julkaisut/tiedostot/julkaisuluettelo/ytym_1977-2018_2019_21473_net.pdf.
[16] Emerson C (2017) Calling to nursing: concept analysis. Advances in Nursing Science 40(4): 384–394.
[17] Araújo-dos-Santos T, Oliveira Nunes D, Batista Pereira R, et al. (2020) Association between variables related to precariousness of work and leave of absence in the nursing field. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva 25(1):123–133.
[18] Fité-Serra AM, Gea-Sánchez M, Alconada-Romero Á, et al. (2019) Occupational precariousness of nursing staff in Catalonia’s public and private nursing homes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16(24): 1–7.
[19] Nigenda G, Serván-Mori E, Aristizabal P, et al. (2020) The correlates of precarious working conditions in the Mexican nursing labour market from 2005 to 2018: a repeated cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management 28(5): 1010–1020.
[20] Walsh BM, Burrus A, Kabat-Farr D, et al. (2020) Living a calling and perceived work ability in domestic violence services. Journal of Counseling Psychology 67(2): 241–250.
[21] Naidu-Chelani R (2019) Number of temp workers jumped by 50% in last 20 years, StatsCan says. CBC News. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/temporary-workers-employment-1.5135310.
[22] Pehkonen S (2020) The employment statistics do not show the plight of nurses. Statistics Finland. Available at: https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/tietotrendit/blogit/2020/tyossakayntitilaston-tiedoissa-hoitajien-ahdinko-ei-nay/?listing=simple.
[23] Wall S (2015) Dimensions of precariousness in an emerging sector of self-employment: a study of self-employed nurses. Gender, Work and Organization 22(3): 221–236.
[24] Ziedelis A (2019) Perceived calling and work engagement among nurses. Western Journal of Nursing Research 41(6): 816–833.
[25] Dobrow SR and Tosti-Kharas J (2011) Calling: The Development Of A Scale Measure. Personnel Psychology 64(4): 1001–1049.
[26] Shimizu AB, Dik BJ and Conner BT (2018) Conceptualizing calling: cluster and taxometric analyses. Journal of Vocational Behavior 114: 7–18.
[27] Douglass RP, Duffy RD and Autin KL (2015) Living a calling, nationality, and life satisfaction: a moderated, multiple mediator model. Journal of Career Assessment 24(2): 253–269.
[28] Duffy RD, Allan BA, Autin KL, et al. (2014) Living a calling and work well-being: a longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology 61(4): 605–615.
[29] Xu S, Tao L, Huang H, et al. (2020) Pediatric nurses’ turnover intention and its association with calling in China’s tertiary hospitals. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 52: e51–e56.
[30] Zhang C and Hirschi A (2021) Forget about the money? A latent profile analysis of calling and work motivation in Chinese employees. Career Development International 26(2): 105–118.
[31] Hirschi A, Keller AC and Spurk D (2019) Calling as a double-edged sword for work–nonwork enrichment and conflict among older workers. Journal of Vocational Behavior 114(2): 100–111.
[32] Meijers F and Lengelle R (2012) Narratives at work: the development of career identity. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling 40(2): 157–176.
[33] Aggarwal A, Sadhna P, Gupta S, et al. (2020) Gen Z entering the workforce: restructuring HR policies and practices for fostering the task performance and organizational commitment. Journal of Public Affairs 00: 1–18.
[34] Allan BA, Duffy RD and Collisson B (2018) Helping others increases meaningful work: evidence from three experiments. Journal of Counseling Psychology 65(2): 155–165.
[35] Whittemore R and Knafl K (2005) The integrative review: updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing 52(5): 546–553.
[36] Joanna Briggs Institute (2020) Critical appraisal tools for use in JBI systematic reviews. Available at: https://joannabriggs.org/critical-appraisal-tools.
[37] Coulson S (2012) Collaborating in a competitive world: musicians’ working lives and understandings of entrepreneurship. Work, Employment and Society 26(2): 246–261.
[38] Morgan G and Wood J (2014) Creative accommodations: the fractured transitions and precarious lives of young musicians. Journal of Cultural Economy 7(1): 64–78.
[39] Bennett D and Hennekam S (2018) Self-authorship and creative industries workers’ career decision-making. Human Relations 71(11): 1454–1477.
[40] Robb AE, Due C and Venning A (2018) Exploring psychological wellbeing in a sample of Australian actors. Australian Psychologist 53(1): 77–86.
[41] Smith NT and Thwaites R (2019) The composition of precarity: ‘emerging’ composers’ experiences of opportunity culture in contemporary classical music. British Journal of Sociology 70(2): 589–609.
[42] Cinque S, Nyberg D and Starkey K (2020) ‘Living at the border of poverty’: how theater actors maintain their calling through narrative identity work. Human Relations 00: 1–26.
[43] Lysova EI and Khapova SN (2019) Enacting creative calling when established career structures are not in place: the case of the Dutch video game industry. Journal of Vocational Behavior 114: 31–43.
[44] Zhang C, Hirschi A, Herrmann A, et al. (2015) Self-directed career attitude as predictor of career and life satisfaction in Chinese employees: calling as mediator and job insecurity as moderator. Career Development International 20(7): 703–716.
[45] van der Cingel M and Brouwer J (2021) What makes a nurse today? A debate on the nursing professional identity and its need for change. Nursing Philosophy 22(2): e12343.
[46] Rokkonen, L. (2020) Precarious motherhood: narratives from the fringes of paid labour (Publication No. 235, Dissertations in Social Sciences and Business Studies). Doctoral dissertation, University of Eastern Finland.
[47] England P (2005) Emerging theories of care work. Annual Review of Sociology 31: 381–399.
Published
2022-01-02
Section
Review Articles
