Page 181 - Working-and-ageing-Guidance-and-counselling-for-mature-learning

3062_EN_C1_Layout 1 11/23/11 4:22 PM Page 175

CHAPTER 9
Changing patterns of guidance, learning and careers of older workers in Europe 175

generally successful careers, anxieties were expressed about the risks
connected to overall dynamics and change associated with career
development and with organisational changes and structural constraints
– people recognised that navigating a career path could be fraught with
difficulties;
(b) personal agency and career narratives: proactiveness and responding to
opportunities is important but there is also value in helping individuals
develop a coherent career narrative: where they have been; where they
are; and where they are going). Many individuals are actively shaping their
personal work biographies (but they also value help to do this);
(c) engagement with CVT: individual traits can be influential here, but in any
case a proactive approach to career development, self-management
behaviour and experiences of learning influence engagement and
persistence with CVT and lifelong learning. People can reinforce their
satisfaction (and in some cases even overcome dissatisfaction) with work
by engaging in CVET (which people often believe has value in itself – even
when not strictly necessary for current or likely future job performance);
(d) active career management: much continuous vocational learning is
influenced by motivational factors (such as willingness to make the most
of learning opportunities at work). By engaging with CVT, many individuals
have learned how to manage their careers and progress their future plans
(this could be either through self-directed learning or where formal CVT
opens up other potential career pathways). One key factor in continued
career success for older workers in a changed context is a positive
disposition towards learning and development;
(e) space for career development: a proactive approach to career
development is associated with employees being given encouragement,
time and space to engage in self-directed learning and critical reflection;
learning from others and through networks; organisations that emphasise
breadth of competence development; timely and appropriate feedback
and support for development of employeesʼ learner identities.

9.2.3. Structural constraints on personal agency
In transition economies such as Poland and Romania the shift towards
personal responsibility for career development was a major turning point for
older workers brought up under centrally-planned economies. In Romania one
legacy of the earlier system was in some areas there was a feeling that school-
based training resulting in formal certification was the most ʻpowerfulʼ form of
training. On the other hand, the emergent economy was making use of