Development and Validation of a Career Sustainability Scale

Abstract

While prescriptions based on anecdotal data and theoretical accounts of career sustainability abound, empirical research has been hampered by the lack of a scale to measure career sustainability. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to develop and validate a new measure of career sustainability. In Study 1, we relied on Chin, Li, Jiao, Addo, and Jawahar’s framework to develop a measure of career sustainability. We then conducted two studies to provide preliminary construct validity evidence. In Study 2, we show that scores on Career Sustainability Scale are related to career plateaus and career satisfaction in predictable ways. In Study 3, we show that career sustainability is positively related to psychological well-being, and this relationship is stronger for gig workers who are freelancers than for conventional workers. We discuss implications for research and practice and hope that our new measure facilitates empirical research on career sustainability.