Do career adaptability and employee–employer fit relate to career resilience? A collaborative effort to depart from the state of “silos” to “mutuality” in academia

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience. Alongside, the mediating role of career-management fit was also tested on the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data were collected from the employees of higher-education institutes via an online survey questionnaire. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique using the SmartPLS application was employed for the data analyses.FindingsResults showed that career-management fit positively mediates the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience. Further, a direct positive relationship between career adaptability and career resilience was also substantiated.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretical implications, managerial implications, study limitations and future research directions are also discussed.Originality/valueThe authors put forward the field by probing the developmental strategy for career resilience. This is because, in academics, career-resilient individuals can better contribute towards academic growth and can also maintain a good life balance (Mishra and McDonald, 2017). Hence, this study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first to investigate the career-management fit as a pathway bridging career adaptability and career resilience.