The growth of the aging population has warranted increased training and education to prepare professionals with the specific knowledge needed to best serve older adults. Gerontology, as an academic discipline, provides professionals with the conceptual knowledge and the skills necessary to address the complexities of working with a diverse aging population. Little research has been done of the characteristics of professionals both with and without formal education in gerontology that are working with the aging population. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of career motivation, job satisfaction, attitudes about aging, career commitment, and professional identity among those working with older adults. An exploration of the characteristics of gerontological professionals has implications for the development of best practice approaches in student and staff recruitment, retention, curriculum design, and training practices. Participants were recruited from volunteers invited from a convenience sample of approximately 7,000 members signed up to receive emails from the Department of Gerontology at a Southeastern University, and a snowball approach with the link to the survey being distributed by various organizations and institutions (e.g., assisted living facilities, Southern Gerontological Society, Therapeutic Recreation Association). Professionals’ age and job satisfaction significantly predicted professional identity. Participants’ career motivation, job satisfaction, and exposure to formal gerontological education (MSE) significantly predicted career commitment. Self-identified professional identity in aging groups did not moderate the relationship between MSE predictors and career commitment. However, aging anxiety mediated the relationship between job satisfaction and career commitment. Finally, age and higher perception of the value of teamwork predicted both level of professional identity and job satisfaction. This study sheds lights on perspectives of professionals working with older adults and highlights areas for future research and training with this population.

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Changing workplace conditions have resulted in psychological contracts becoming more transactionally oriented. The current study addresses the question of how the `new' psychological contract affects organisational commitment. In particular, it seeks to analyse the relationship between the form of the psychological contract (relational/transactional) and type of organisational commitment (affective, continuance, normative).Data were collected from 210 randomly selected participants using the Psychological Contract Scale (PCS), and the Measure of Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment Scale (MACNCS). The Career Commitment Scale (CCS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered and information gathered regarding overall job satisfaction, age, gender, contract type, position held, industry sector and length of employment.The major findings from this study is that there are positive relationships between relational psychological contracts and affective commitment (â = .653, p < .05), continuance commitment (â = .222, p < .05) and normative commitment (â = .476, p <.001), and a negative relationship between transactional psychological contracts and affective commitment (â =148, p < .05), after controlling for various background and employment characteristics. This research increases the understanding of how employees commit to an organisation during times of unstable and changing employment conditions.

This study was an attempt to add to the existing research base, as well as fill in a gap in the literature with regard to speech language pathologists in public educational organizations in Texas. Variables explored in this study were recruitment, retention, career commitment, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, job overload, and turnover intent. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between recruitment, retention, career commitment, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, job overload, and the turnover intent of speech language pathologists in Texas. Additionally, this study sought to identify those factors that most influence the recruitment and retention of speech pathologists. A random sample of 500 speech pathologists was identified for participation in this study. Responses were elicited via Questionnaires, and consisted of eight sections: (a) demographic information and (b) seven previously validated and reliable instruments related to the variables identified in this study. All instruments were deemed appropriate for use in this study and were set to a six-point Likert scale. The data revealed that job responsibility, pay level, size of caseload, needing a job, and administrative support played a major role in the recruitment of speech language pathologists. On the other hand, job satisfaction, caseload, and job security were found to be the most influential in the retention of speech language pathologists. Furthermore, recruitment, retention, and job overload were found to have a significant positive relationship to turnover intent in speech pathologists, whereas career commitment, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction were found to have a significant negative relationship to turnover intent.

Early career attrition in student affairs is a topic of interest for hiring and supervising managers, graduate preparation programs, as well as new professionals. Contributions to the growing body of research on the topic potentially informs bets practices in curriculum development, hiring, onboarding, and professional development for new student affairs employees. This study involved 352 new student affairs professionals in the field's largest professional association. With Rhodes and Doering's integrated model of career change as a framework, the research study was designed to identify individual and environmental factors influencing new student affairs professionals' person-environment fit and, subsequently, career commitment. The result was an eight-factor structural equation model that included graduate curriculum, pay satisfaction, mentoring, student interaction, connection to institutional mission/vision, collegiality, and person-environment fit as independent variables, and career commitment as the dependent variable. The study suggests that these eight variables, to varying degrees, indirectly and directly influence career commitment in new student affairs professionals.

Home care is a vital component of the United States healthcare delivery system. The demand for home care has steadily increased over the past decade and it is projected that this increase will continue over the next several decades. Moreover, the utilization of Medicaid waiver home and community-based care services has expanded to provide an alternative to the more costly institutional placement. In order to meet this growing demand while maintaining the cost-savings, the system relies primarily on the minimally trained, healthcare paraprofessionals known as Personal Care Assistants (PCAs). The present study examined the career commitment and job satisfaction of PCAs who provide Medicaid waiver home and community-based care services and participated in a 40-hour training intervention. Specifically, the study evaluated differences in pre- and post-training levels of career commitment as measured by the Career Commitment Measure (CCM), in terms of overall career commitment and the three subscales: career identity, career planning, and career resilience; and job satisfaction as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), in terms of overall job satisfaction and the two subscales: extrinsic job satisfaction and intrinsic job satisfaction, between age groups and groups based on extrinsic job satisfaction. Additionally, the study examined the interaction of age and extrinsic job satisfaction as a moderator on the influence of the training intervention to produce a change in career commitment and the three subscales of career commitment, career identity, career planning, and career resilience job satisfaction. The results of analyses were varied across groups and measures. Specifically, there were no statistically significant differences across age group in terms of changes in career commitment or job satisfaction as a consequence of the training; however, post-hoc examinations revealed statistically significant within group changes. A decrease in the overall, intrinsic, and extrinsic job satisfaction score from pre- to post-training for the 40-49 age group was found. Likewise, the 50-59 age group showed a statistically significant decrease in the extrinsic job satisfaction scores from pre- to post-training. The PCA’s level of extrinsic job satisfaction did have a statistically significant differential effect on changes in overall career commitment and career planning scores as a consequence of the training. The exploration of the interaction of age and extrinsic job satisfaction to influence changes in career commitment as a consequence of the training found statistically significant main effects with respect to levels of extrinsic job satisfaction for overall career commitment, career identity, career planning, and career resilience. However, no main effects for age and no interaction effects were obtained. These study findings have important implications for future research, and the development of training curricula and evaluation. Results provide critical information about this largely overlooked group of healthcare paraprofessionals, which have practical application in more effectively improving job satisfaction through training initiatives, thereby increasing the recruitment and retention of the paraprofessional healthcare workforce.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of gender, relationship status, romantic relationship satisfaction, and career commitment in three components of subjective well-being, namely life satisfaction, negative affect, and positive affect among senior university students. The sample of the study was composed of 400 (172 females, 228 males) fourth grade students from five faculties of Middle East Technical University. The participants were administered four instruments, namely Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS), and Commitment to Career Choices Scale (CCCS). Three separate simultaneous multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive power of the independent variables that are relationship status, romantic relationship satisfaction, the dimensions of career commitment that are vocational exploration and commitment and tendency to foreclose on the independent variables that are positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that gender, relationship satisfaction, and vocational exploration and commitment significantly predicted life satisfaction of the students. In addition, results yielded that romantic relationship satisfaction, vocational exploration and commitment, and tendency to foreclose significantly predicted negative affect of the students. Finally, vocational exploration and commitment and relationship status were significant predictors of positive affect of students.

p. 110 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-26T17:16:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 22222.pdf: 655502 bytes, checksum: 936e3dc425f37a58214f1d2d82836e7a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima(tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2013-04-08T16:46:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 22222.pdf: 655502 bytes, checksum: 936e3dc425f37a58214f1d2d82836e7a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-08T16:46:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 22222.pdf: 655502 bytes, checksum: 936e3dc425f37a58214f1d2d82836e7a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / O presente estudo buscou analisar os impactos das fusões e aquisições sobre o comprometimento organizacional dos empregados, que vêm participando na trajetória dessas mudanças: focaliza Intervenção do Banco Central do Brasil em agosto de 1995, no Banco Econômico S/A, que passou pela fusão com o Banco Excel S/A - Excel Econômico, pela aquisição do Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, espanhol, até a última aquisição pelo Bradesco. Compara as distintas estratégias de enfrentamento desse fenômeno e, adicionalmente avalia os impactos das constantes mudanças que a empresa enfrentou nos últimos 8 anos. Assim, ao investigar efeitos de aquisições e mudanças sobre o comprometimento organizacional, utilizou-se o modelo tríplice de Meyer; Allen (1991), com suas bases afetiva, normativas e instrumentais. Aplicou-se um questionário aos empregados – entrevista estruturada, com tratamentos estatístico das respostas e a preocupação na análise dos dados em articular as mudanças de um banco para outro com os níveis de comprometimento. Os resultados apontam níveis altos tanto do comprometimento instrumental quanto do afetivo, e reforçam a importância cada vez maior do comprometimento com a carreira (consigo mesmo) no que diz respeito à qualificação, empregabilidade e visão de mercado. A ênfase no comprometimento com a carreira, revelou a dimensão que o trabalho e o emprego assumem na vida das pessoas, reafirmada principalmente a partir do momento em que os “sobreviventes” vão permanecendo no processo. Espera-se que esta pesquisa dentro dos limites previstos, contribua para outras discussões que aprofundem o comprometimento com o trabalho. / Salvador

Social work literature has documented that social workers may be the victims of client violence. However, to date, no studies have documented the nationwide prevalence of client violence towards social work students. This study examined direct and indirect incidents of physical assault, threats of physical harm, verbal abuse, threats of lawsuit, and property damage. The randomly selected national sample of social work students were selected from the National Association of Social Workers (N = 595). Findings revealed that 41.7% of social work students directly experienced client violence during their practicum. The highest rate of the violence reported by students was verbal abuse (37.5%) while the lowest rate of reported violence was physical assault (3.5%). Being male was the most significant predictor of social work students' exposure to client violence. Other factors related to increased violence were found, such as ethnicity and degree program. This study also examined whether students received safety training in 17 content areas and where they received the training. Fewer than 50% of students received training in most training content areas, regardless of where training was received. Furthermore, increased safety training in the field agency was significantly related to increased threats of physical harm and overall client violence. When training from all venues was totaled, increased training was significantly related to increased verbal abuse, property damage, and overall direct client violence. This study found that when students experience client violence directly or indirectly, they have increased fear of future violence in social work practice. Implications for social work programs, field agencies and educators and social work students are discussed. Training content and strategies are suggested.

Esta pesquisa investigou a influência do comprometimento com a carreira e do entrincheiramento na carreira no processo de ensino, mais especificamente, no esforço instrucional e no comprometimento com o preparo de aula, entre professores pertencentes à Carreira de Magistério do Ensino Básico, Técnico e Tecnológico. A pesquisa tem como finalidade colaborar no desenvolvimento de escalas com as quais a realidade pode ser apreendida objetivamente, provendo informação para decisões e ações em Gestão de Pessoas. A pesquisa é do tipo survey. Os dados coletados foram tratados estatisticamente, realizando Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (MEE). Quando a MEE foi inexequível, aplicou-se Correlação e Regressão. As escalas de Comprometimento com a Carreira, de Carson e Bedeian (1994), e de Entrincheiramento na Carreira, de Carson, Carson e Bedeian (1995), foram testadas em uma base de dados coletados de 105 professores e obtiveram resultados semelhantes aos de outros estudos. A pesquisa colabora com a validação de outra escala, Esforço Instrucional de Rowe (2008). Os resultados sobre a escala de Esforço Instrucional foram divergentes com o estudo original, sugerindo que a escala ainda pode ter outras dimensões e exigir mais testes. Também propõe e pré-testa uma nova escala, de Comprometimento com o Preparo de Aula, para validação de expressão. A validade de expressão foi assegurada, ou seja, a escala de Comprometimento com o Preparo de Aula pode ser submetida a testes mais abrangentes. A pesquisa identificou relação de influência entre os construtos Comprometimento com a Carreira e Comprometimento com o Preparo de Aula, em destaque, o poder preditivo da dimensão Identidade sobre todas as dimensões do construto Comprometimento com o Preparo de Aula. Concluiu-se que o potencial das escalas de Esforço Instrucional e Comprometimento com o Preparo de Aula no auxílio da gestão escolar justifica a continuidade de aprimoramento e testes dessas escalas. E que o processo de ensino, percebido como Entrada em uma Visão Sistêmica, precisa de mais estudos e maiores reflexões para que se garanta a oferta de ensino de qualidade. / This study investigated the influence of career commitment and entrenchment career in the teaching process, specifically in instructional effort and class preparation commitment, including teachers belonging to the Teaching Career in Basic Education, Technical and Technological Advice. The research aims to collaborate in the development of scales with which reality can be grasped objectively, providing information for decisions and actions in Human Resource Management. The research is a survey. The collected data were statistically analyzed by performing Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). When the SEM was unachievable, applied Correlation and Regression. The Career Commitment scale, Carson and Bedeian (1994), and the Entrenchment Career scale, Carson, Carson and Bedeian (1995), were tested in a database collected from 105 teachers and obtained similar results to those of other studies. This research contributes to the validation of another scale, Instructional Effort, Rowe (2008). The results were conflicting with the original study about Instructional Effort scale, suggesting that the scale can also have other dimensions and require additional testing. It also proposes and pre-testing a new scale, Class Preparation Commitment, for expression validation. The validity of expression was guaranteed, so the Class Preparation Commitment scale may be subjected to more extensive testing. The research identified relationship of influence between the constructs Career Commitment and Class Preparation Commitment, highlighted the predictive power of Identity dimension on all dimensions of the construct Class Preparation Commitment. It was concluded that the potential of Instructional Effort scale and Class Preparation Commitment scale in helping the school justifies the continued enhancement and testing of these scales. And the educational process, perceived as Input in a Systemic View, needs further study and further reflection in order to guarantee the quality educational provision