Past research has found that callings have a significant impact on important individual and organizational outcomes, but research on the precursors of callings is limited. In the current study, we contribute to callings research by examining two potentially important calling antecedents for university students: mentoring relationships and insight experiences. Building on extant literature, we also explored how students’ perceptions of callings may relate to school- and career-related outcomes. Using a sample of 536 undergraduate students from one private and two public U.S. universities, we found that high-quality mentoring relationships and insight experiences were positively related to students’ perceptions of callings. We also found support for a relationship between students’ perceptions of callings and their school engagement and absenteeism, along with their career outcome expectations. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.
AllenT. D.EbyL. T. (2003). Relationship effectiveness for mentors: Factors associated with learning and quality. Journal of Management, 29, 469–486.
2.
AllenT. D.EbyL. T.PoteetM.LentzE.LimaL. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 127–136.
3.
AnayaG.ColeD. (2001). Latina/o student achievement: Exploring the influence of student-faculty interactions on college grades. Journal of College Student Development, 42, 3–13.
BundersonJ. S.ThompsonJ. A. (2009). The call of the wild: Zookeepers, callings, and the double-edged sword of deeply meaningful work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54, 32–57.
9.
CardadorT. M.DaneE.PrattM. G. (2011). Linking callings orientations to organizational attachment via organizational instrumentality. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 367–378.
10.
ConwayJ.LanceC. (2010). What reviewers should expect from authors regarding common method bias in organizational research. Journal of Business & Psychology, 25, 325–334.
11.
CreedP. A.KjoelaasS.HoodM. (2016). Testing a goal-orientation model of antecedents to career calling. Journal of Career Development, 43, 398–412.
12.
DaneE. (2020). Suddenly everything becomes clear: How people make sense of epiphanies surrounding their work and careers. Academy of Management Discoveries, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2018.0033
13.
DikB.DuffyR. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 424–445.
14.
DikB.DuffyR. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and a sense of calling in the workplace. In HillP.DikB. (Eds.), Psychology of religion and workplace spirituality (pp. 113–134). Information Age.
15.
DikB.EldridgeB.StegerM.DuffyR. (2012). Development and validation of the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire and Brief Calling Scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 20, 242–263.
16.
DikB.ShimizuA. (2019). Multiple meanings of calling: Next steps for studying an evolving construct. Journal of Career Assessment, 27, 323–336.
17.
Dobrow RizaS. (2013). Dynamics of calling: A longitudinal study of musicians. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34, 431–452.
18.
Dobrow RizaS.Tosti-KharasJ. (2011). Calling: The development of a scale measure. Personnel Psychology, 64, 1001–1049.
19.
Dobrow RizaS.WeismanH.HellerD.Tosti-KharasJ. (2019). Calling attention to 20 years of research: A comprehensive meta-analysis of calling. In Academy of Management Meeting, Boston, MA, August 9–13.
20.
DouglassR. P.DuffyR. D. (2015). Calling and career adaptability among undergraduate students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86, 58–65.
21.
DuffyR.DikB. (2013). Research on calling: What have we learned and where are we going?Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83, 428–436.
22.
DuffyR.DikB.DouglassR. P.EnglandJ. W.VelezB. L. (2018). Work as a calling: A theoretical model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65, 423–439.
23.
DuffyR.DouglassR.AutinK.EnglandJ.DikB. (2016). Does the dark side of a calling exist? Examining potential negative effects. Journal of Positive Psychology, 11, 634–646.
24.
DuffyR.SedlacekW. E. (2007). The presence of and search for a calling: Connections to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 590–601.
25.
DuffyR.SedlacekW. E. (2010). The salience of a career calling among college students: Exploring group differences and links to religiousness, life meaning, and life satisfaction. Career Development Quarterly, 59, 27–41.
26.
DurbinS.TomlinsonJ. (2014). Female part-time managers: Careers, mentors and role models. Gender, Work & Organization, 21, 308–320.
27.
EbyL.ButtsM.LockwoodA.SimonS. (2004). Protégés’ negative mentoring experiences: Construct development and nomological validation. Personnel Psychology, 57, 411–447.
28.
EhrhardtK.SharifM. M. (2019). Career implications for high quality relationships: An SCCT test. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34, 474–490.
29.
ElangovanA. R.PinderC. C.McLeanM. (2010). Callings and organizational behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 428–440.
30.
EnsherE. A.MurphyS. (2005). Power mentoring: How successful mentors and protégés make the most out of their relationships. Jossey-Bass.
31.
EnsherE. A.NielsonT. R.KadingW. (2017). Causes of career-defining moments: Development of a typology. Journal of Career Development, 44, 110–126.
32.
FisherL. (2014, August4). Unnecessary pressure to succeed and get dream job right out of college. Columbia Spectator. https://www.columbiaspectator.com/
33.
FrenchJ. R.DomeneJ. F. (2010). Sense of “calling”: An organizing principle for the lives and values of young women in university. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 44, 1–14.
34.
GarciaE.WeissE. (2018, September25). Student absenteeism: Who misses school and how missing school matters for performance. https://www.epi.org
35.
GrahamS.CockrielI. (1996). Indexes to assess social and personal development and the impact of college. College Student Journal, 30, 502–515.
36.
Grant-ValloneE. J.EnsherE. A. (2017). Re-crafting careers for mid-career faculty: A qualitative study. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 17, 10–24.
37.
Haney-LoehleinD.McKennaR.RobieC.AustinK.EckerD. (2015). The power of perceived experience: Events that shape work as a calling. Career Development Quarterly, 63, 16–30.
38.
HansenJ.JacksonA.PedersenT. (2017). Career development courses and educational out-comes: Do career courses make a difference?Journal of Career Development, 44, 209–223.
39.
HirschiA. (2012). Callings and work engagement: Moderated mediation model of work meaningfulness, occupational identity, and occupational self-efficacy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 479–485.
40.
HirschiA.HerrmannA. (2013). Calling and career preparation: Investigating developmental patterns and temporal precedence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83, 51–60.
41.
HunterI.DikB. J.BanningJ. H. (2010). College students’ perceptions of calling in work and life: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 178–186.
42.
JohnsonW. (2007). Student-faculty mentorship outcomes. In AllenT. D.EbyL. T. (Eds.), The Blackwell handbook of mentoring. (pp. 18–210). Blackwell.
43.
KieferC.ConstableM. (2013). The art of insight. Berrett-Koehler.
44.
KimS.ShinD.VoughH.HewlinP.VandenbergheC. (2018). How do callings relate to job performance? The role of organizational commitment and ideological contract fulfillment. Human Relations, 71, 1319–1347.
45.
KnouseS. B.FontenotG. (2008). Benefits of the business college internship: A research review. Journal of Employment Counseling, 45, 61–66.
46.
KouniosJ.BeemanM. (2014). The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 71–93.
47.
LentR.BrownS. (2013). Social cognitive model of career self-management: Toward a unifying view of adaptive career behavior across the life span. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60, 557–568.
48.
LynessK. S.RaginsB. R. (2010). Diversity and careers: An examination of the career experiences, processes, and outcomes of a multicultural workforce. SHRM Foundation Report. Publisher is Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
49.
MarburgerD. (2006). Does mandatory attendance improve student performance?The Journal of Economic Education, 37, 148–155.
50.
MercurioZ. (2017, November28). Think millennials are purpose-driven? Meet Generation Z. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com
51.
PraskovaA.CreedP. A.HoodM. (2015). The development and initial validation of a career calling scale for emerging adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 23, 91–106.
RaginsB. R. (2017). From the ordinary to the extraordinary: High-quality mentoring relationships at work. Organizational Dynamics, 45, 228–244.
54.
RaginsB. R.CottonJ. L.MillerJ. S. (2000). Marginal mentoring: The effects of type of mentor, quality of relationship, and program design on work and career attitudes. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 1177–1194.
55.
RaginsB. R.EhrhardtK.LynessK. S.MurphyD. D.CapmanJ. (2017). Anchoring relationships at work: High-quality mentors and other supportive work relationships as buffers to ambient racial discrimination. Personnel Psychology, 70, 211–256.
56.
RaginsB. R.McFarlinD. B. (1990). Perceptions of mentor roles in cross-gender mentoring relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 37, 321–339.
57.
RothmannS.Hamukang’anduL. (2013). Callings, work role fit, psychological meaningfulness and work engagement among teachers in Zambia. South African Journal of Education, 33, 1–16.
58.
ShellenbargerS. (2019, May9). The most anxious generation goes to work. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com
59.
SubramaniamK.KouniosJ.ParrishT. B.Jung-BeemanM. (2009). A brain mechanism for facilitation of insight by positive affect. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, 415–432.
60.
ThompsonJ. A.BundersonJ. S. (2019). Research on work as a calling…and how to make it matter. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology & Organizational Behavior, 6, 421–443.
WrzesniewskiA.McCauleyC.RozinP.SchwartzB. (1997). Jobs, careers, and callings: People’s relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 21–33.
63.
XieB.XiaM.XinX.ZhouW. (2016). Linking calling to work engagement and subjective career success: The perspective of career construction theory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 94, 70–78.
64.
YadenD. B.NewbergA. B. (2015). Road to Damascus moments: Calling experiences as prospective epiphanies. In YadenD. B.McCallT. D.EllensJ. H. (Eds.), Being called: Scientific, secular, and sacred perspectives (pp. 27–46). Praeger.
