The foundations of career resilience

Abstract

In this chapter resilience is seen as a result of the relational empowerment of individuals. This implies not only the strengthening of individuals' ability to create growth-fostering relationships, but also the creation of a learning environment that enables this strengthening. We postulate that at the heart of career resilience is the ability to foster both an internal (i.e., meaningful felt conversation with oneself) and external dialogue (i.e., meaningful conversations with others about lived experience) in the process of developing a flexible, personal, and useful career narrative (i.e., career identity). First, we discuss a model for identity learning that forms the basis of our claim. Next, we explore how much room there is for identity learning in both educational settings and in work organizations. We conclude that there is little space for an actual dialogue in both environments. Given the current demands placed upon the workforce and the complexity, insecurity, and individualization of society, attention to fostering career resilience through dialogue should be one of the pillars of management in schools and in work organizations.