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Work Experiences and Well-Being in the First Years of Professional Work in Switzerland: A Ten-Year Follow-Up Study

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Psychological, Educational, and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development

Abstract

The ÆQUAS (a German acronym for “Work Experiences and Quality of Life in Switzerland”) study followed young workers in five occupations over their first 10 years in the labor market. Participants of the study reported on working conditions and well-being at five occasions. Overall, resources at work as well as well-being, health and personal resources remained stable or increased. Concurrently, task-related stressors increased as well. This result may reflect career progress (e.g., gaining more responsibilities may be accompanied by increasing time pressure) but development in task-related stressors as well as resources may also be related to specific occupations. Several trajectories had their turning point after the first or second year of being in the labor market, which may reflect a successful professional socialization. Even though a substantial number of participants did change their occupation over these 10 years (with benefits for their well-being), development over the first 10 years after vocational training implies a successful transition into labor market.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Switzerland two forms of VET at the post-secondary level are available: full-time training in vocational schools and the more common “dual” apprenticeship system where individuals have a practical training at work and professional education in vocational schools. VET is attended by more than 60 % of the Swiss adolescents. For a more detailed overview see Kälin et al. (2000) or Stalder and Nägele (2011).

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Acknowledgments

The research project ÆQUAS “Work Experience and Quality of Life in Switzerland: Work, Stress and Personality Development” was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation within the Swiss Priority Program “Switzerland: Towards the Future” (Grant No. 5004-047898 and Grant No. 5004-058450 to N. K. Semmer, J.-P. Dauwalder, and F. Tschan) and within the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) “Affective Sciences” (Grant No. 51A240-104897 to N. K. Semmer and F. Tschan). This book chapter was partially funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. 100014_144057/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Kälin, Anita C. Keller, Achim Elfering & Norbert K. Semmer

  2. Swiss National Center for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Kälin, Franziska Tschan, Achim Elfering & Norbert K. Semmer

  3. Institut de Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations, Université de Neuchâtel, Rez-de-chaussée, Emile-Argand 11, 2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Franziska Tschan

Authors
  1. Wolfgang Kälin
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  2. Anita C. Keller
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  3. Franziska Tschan
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  4. Achim Elfering
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  5. Norbert K. Semmer
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Kälin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Anita C. Keller

  2. Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Robin Samuel

  3. Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Manfred Max Bergman

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Norbert K. Semmer

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Kälin, W., Keller, A.C., Tschan, F., Elfering, A., Semmer, N.K. (2014). Work Experiences and Well-Being in the First Years of Professional Work in Switzerland: A Ten-Year Follow-Up Study. In: Keller, A., Samuel, R., Bergman, M., Semmer, N. (eds) Psychological, Educational, and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8911-0_8

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