What makes work empowering and meaningful? Work can be a great source of personal esteem and wellbeing. Unfortunately, at certain stages in careers, work can be disempowering and exhausting for some people. Why? What is it that tips the balance for work being positive or negative? ACCELL researchers are exploring how psychological flexibility influences a person’s career. We’re looking for evidence to answer some important questions:

• What are those useful ingredients that make a person confident to do their job tasks?
• What adds to a person’s satisfaction with their career choice and job?
• Is meaningful work important?
• What influences a person’s intention to stay in their job?
• How do all of these factors affect a person’s wellbeing?

The findings of our research are being used to guide the development of new strategies that help people to manage their careers. These strategies are particularly important for people who are making career decisions or changes, or are faced with challenges in their careers.

This current project is part of a broader program of research investigating the psychological and social qualities of people in occupations that are vital to the economic and social health and wellbeing of communities. You can read more about ACCELL’s focus on vital infrastructure workers and employability in our regular blog posts on this site.

We appreciate your interest and hope that you will contribute to our work. If you are aged 18 years or older, an Australian citizen, and are working in paid employment, we would value your participation in our anonymous online survey, which will take about 10 minutes to complete:  https://psi.usq.edu.au/ols/psych/surveys/SCCT18/external.php

About the lead researcher:

Dr Nancey Hoare is an ACCELL researcher who works with the School of Psychology and Counselling at the University of Southern Queensland. Contact: nancey.hoare@usq.edu.au