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Measuring Preference for Non-standard Work: Relationships with EPL Motivations, Efficacies, Perceived Employability, and Career Adaptability

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Entrepreneurship–Professionalism–Leadership

Abstract

We report the development of a new self-report measure of individual differences in Preferences for Non-Standard Work (PNSW), and an effort to explore relationships between PNSW and Entrepreneurial-Professional-Professional motivations and efficacies, alongside measures of perceived employability and career adaptabilities. Using data collected from a sample of 225 undergraduate students, confirmatory factor analysis showed that individuals can discriminate between five forms of nonstandard work as follows: independent contracting, outsourced work , temporary or part-time work, working in a “start-up”, and external deployment. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that while the preference for outsourced, temporary/part-time work and external deployments were not predicted by EPL motivations, efficacies, or career adaptability factors, entrepreneurial motivation and efficacy were significantly predictive of preferences for independent contracting and start-up work, as one would expect. The preference for start-up work was also weakly but significantly correlated with all four career adaptability factors, with overall career adaptability correlating significantly with start-up preference at r = 0.26. The findings are discussed in relation to understanding individual differences in Preferences for Non-Standard Work (PNSW), and the use of such measures in career counselling .

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Correspondence to Kang Yang Trevor Yu .

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Yu, K.Y.T., Chan, KY., Lin, J. (2020). Measuring Preference for Non-standard Work: Relationships with EPL Motivations, Efficacies, Perceived Employability, and Career Adaptability. In: Ho, M., Kennedy, J., Uy, M., Chan, KY. (eds) Entrepreneurship–Professionalism–Leadership. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3121-7_8

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