Self-career management intervention needs: a study with PhD grant holders

Abstract

The present investigation consists of an exploratory study which looks to assess the needs for intervention in self-career management. The participants consisted of 62 graduates from the Universidade do Minho, currently research grant holders, of both sexes (40, 64.5% women), aged between 22 and 49 years old (M=29.73; DP=6.15). The assessment was conducted using the questionnaire, “A minha inscrição no Seminário Gestão Pessoal da Carreira versão B: motivações e receios (My enrollment in Self-Career Management Seminar version B: motivations and concerns).” This is composed of five questions which address the expectations, motivations and concerns associated with the participation in the seminar. The use of the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2004) revealed reduced levels of concern on the participants pertaining to self-awareness, adaptability to the labor market, as well as management of life roles. In contrast, the need for reevaluation of the vocational path, in the sense of reflecting about choices, behaviors and past decisions, as well as the definition of future objectives and development of an integrated plan of action, constitute themselves as the main focus of concern. It is therefore suggested, as other authors have (e.g., Luzzo, 2000; Whiston & Buck, 2008), that the development of interventions should focus on an initial assessment of the specific needs of the target population.