The experience of career change driven by a sense of calling: an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach
Date
2016
Authors
Ahn, Jina, author
Dik, Bryan J., advisor
Rickard, Kathryn, committee member
Fisher, Gwen, committee member
Eakman, Aaron M., committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
The present study used a qualitative methodology to examine how a sense of calling is related to the career change process. Interviews were conducted with eight career changers who perceived their career transition as a way to fulfill a calling. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), eight categories were elicited: prior to career change, pre-transition period, process of discerning a calling, definition of calling, challenges of pursuing a calling-infused career, ways of dealing with challenges, impact of a calling-infused career change, and unique aspects of a calling-infused career change. Generally, interviewees were satisfied with their calling-infused career transitions and reported greater levels of well-being in the area of work and personal life. In-depth self-exploration and making meaning from challenging experiences were addressed as a way to discern a calling. Interviewees defined calling as a source of fulfillment, a way to serve the greater good at work, a spiritual conviction that one is doing what one is meant to do, and a part of one’s identity. As unique characteristics of calling-infused career change, interviewees indicated that their career changes happened with altruistic motives and in the pursuit of intrinsic rewards. Interviewees also reported feeling blessed to be able to live out their calling and viewed pursuing a calling as an ongoing process.