International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

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International Journal of Educational Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedures

Organisational career growth: implications for future perceived

employability in students who work
Peter A. Creed a, b, *, Michelle Hood a, b, Louella Bagley a, Paula Brough a, b,
Andrea Bialocerkowski c, M.Anthony Machin d, Sonya Winterbotham d
a
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Australia
b
Centre for Work, Organisation, and Well Being, Griffith University, Australia
c
School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Australia
d
School of Psychology and Counselling, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Little is known about the role that work organisations play in the career development of working
Organisational career growth students. We tested a serial effects model (N = 235; mean age 23 years; 70% female) with an­
Perceived employability tecedents to organisational career growth (self-management, supervisor support, work demands,
Work-study conflict
job-fit, job-relevance), and immediate (work-study conflict/facilitation) and future-focused out­
Work-study facilitation
Supervisor support
comes (perceived employability). Results indicated supervisor support and job relevance were
Job relevance related to more organisational career growth (59% of variance), which was related directly, and
indirectly via work-study conflict (21%) and facilitation (24%), to perceived employability
(24%). Work-study conflict and facilitation were highlighted as potential mechanisms for
explaining the organisational career growth/employability relationship. The study extends
research on organisational career growth to working students and has implications for theory and
practice.

Working-while-studying is now the norm for tertiary students, both in Australia and internationally (Owen et al., 2018; Polidano &
Zakirova, 2011). The proportion of tertiary students working in Australia grew from 20% in 1971 (Australian Bureau of Statistics,
2009) to nearly 90% in 2018 (Department of Education & Training, 2018). This same trend is evident in other developed countries,
such as UK (British Broadcasting Commission, 2015) and the USA (Davis, 2012). Students work to pay for living expenses (i.e., push
factors) as well as being drawn to employment for social reasons and to increase their independence (i.e., pull factors; Richardson et al.,
2014).
The downside of working is that there is less time for student study, social, and recovery activities (Park & Sprung, 2015).
Working-while-studying is associated with poorer academic engagement (Creed et al., 2015) and results (Benner & Curl, 2018), higher
levels of dropping out (Schneider & Yin, 2011), and poorer mental health (Benner & Curl, 2018). Working longer hours is dispro­
portionately more problematic: those studying full-time and working between 16 and 24 hours per week have reduced university
completion rates compared to those who work less than 16 hours per week, and working 24 or more hours nearly doubles this effect
(Polidano & Zakirova, 2011).
Students, however, can benefit from working, as they increase financial independence, generate discretionary spending
(Richardson et al., 2014), and grow generic work skills that can be useful in later jobs (Broadbridge & Swanson, 2006; Curtis & Shani,

* Corresponding author at: School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
E-mail address: p.creed@griffith.edu.au (P.A. Creed).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2022.101950
Received 17 May 2021; Received in revised form 14 February 2022; Accepted 15 February 2022
Available online 19 February 2022
0883-0355/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
P.A. Creed et al. International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

2002). If a student is employed in a job relevant to their study, they also benefit by gaining task-specific skills, developing networking
opportunities, and being treated more favourably when applying for jobs after graduation, which eases their transition into the
full-time labour force (Polidano & Zakirova, 2011).
Despite the large number of students working, the work-study area is under-researched, especially in relation to how working
affects planning and actions related to the individual’s career and future work life (Owen et al., 2018; Richardson et al., 2014). We
contribute to this literature by investigating the role of organisational career growth (OCG), which refers to the perceived opportu­
nities within ones’ current organisation for individual career development (Jans, 1989; Weng & McElroy, 2012). Our aim was to
understand better the influence of work organisations on students who are driven and/or drawn to work while studying.
Specifically, we tested a serial, indirect effects model (Fig. 1) that included both person and contextual antecedents to OCG (i.e.,
self-management, supervisor support, work demands, job-fit, and job relevance to field of study), as well as immediate (i.e., work-study
conflict and facilitation) and future-focused outcomes (i.e., perceived employability). Previous OCG research has focused on adult
working populations, testing, for example, relationships with organisational commitment, turnover intention, job satisfaction, and
employee performance (Japor, 2021). To the best of our knowledge, the role of OCG has not been examined in working students (which
we defined as having paid employment while studying at the time of our investigation). Additionally, we responded to calls for a better
understanding of the underlying mechanisms that explain the links between OCG and outcomes, address the gap in the literature as to
the antecedents of OCG (Spagnoli, 2020; Spagnoli et al., 2019), and advance theory by examining how OCG is manifested in working
students.

1. Organisational Career Growth (OCG)

OCG refers to the individual’s perception that their current work organization offers opportunities to meet career goals by
developing professional skills and knowledge and providing rewards related to career advancement, such as pay rises and promotion
(Weng et al., 2010). We focused on the developmental aspect of OCG, as university students are working mostly in casual or short-term
jobs that offer few promotional opportunities (Gilfillan, 2018), which is consistent with Bedeian et al.’s (1991) position that OCG refers
to the “expected utility of [the] present job for attaining valued career outcomes” (p. 331).
Employee perceptions that workplaces provide career growth opportunities are beneficial for organisations as they foster
engagement and commitment (Japor, 2021; Weng & McElroy, 2012), improve performance (Spagnoli, 2020), and reduce turnover
intentions (Bedeian et al., 1991). OCG also is beneficial for employees as it contributes to meeting their career-related goals, for
example, by being offered tasks or responsibilities that extend abilities and skills and given mentoring and formal training (Weer &
Greenhaus, 2020), which, in turn, improve job satisfaction (Spagnoli, 2020) and contribute to them feeling wanted and supported at
work (Japor, 2021). Specific to the current study, OCG has been found to be related to perceived employability in adult workers
(Wittekind et al., 2010) and organisational support generally is related to less work/non-work conflict and increased facilitation (Zhao
et al., 2020).
Organisations that employ students also are likely to benefit by providing career development opportunities; for example, when
these are offered, student workers should be more likely to feel an affinity with their workplace and be more satisfied, obliging, and
productive as a result. Students also should benefit from career growth opportunities, for when these are available, students should be
more likely to see their studies as being relevant and be more optimistic about their occupational future. Consistent with this, Butler
(2007) showed that when students could exercise and practice the skills learned at college while they were at work, they reported
greater work-study facilitation, were more satisfied with their study, and put more effort into it. Other studies have reported that
student skills development at work is associated with elevated world-of-work confidence and enhanced perceived employability
(Swanson et al., 2006). However, these relationships have not been tested directly by focusing specifically on the perceived

Fig. 1. Hypothesised model: Higher levels of self-management, supervisor support, a job that fits with other demands, fewer job demands, and
working in a job relevant to degree are related to more OCG, which, in turn is related to less work-study conflict and more work-study facilitation,
which relate to greater optimism for future employability.

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contribution by the workplace to student career enhancement.

The link between OCG and individual and organisational outcomes has been explained by several theories, including the theory of
work adjustment (i.e., as person-job fit improves so does work adjustment, which leads to improved performance and satisfaction;
Swanson & Schneider, 2013), and the theory of met expectations (i.e., outcomes improve when organisations meet the psychological
contract for growth; Rousseau, 2004). From an individual employee’s perspective, theories such as goal setting and facilitation (i.e.,
individuals develop important life goals, regulate their behaviours to achieve them, and have expectations that social institutions, like
work, contribute to advancing them, and when this occurs, they generate positive attitudes and behaviours; Fitzsimons & Shah, 2008;
Lord et al., 2010) and human capital theory (i.e., knowledge and skills development lead to positive outcomes; Becker, 1993) have
been applied. These explanations are relevant to students as they work to earn money that benefits them in the short-term, and they
learn skills that will advantage them later in life (Broadbridge & Swanson, 2006).
We assessed three potential outcomes of OCG for working students. We expected that perceived OCG would contribute to reducing
the conflict that work has with study (i.e., reduce work-study conflict), facilitate greater connections between work and study (i.e.,
enhance work-study facilitation), and generate more positive occupational expectations for the future (i.e., increase perceptions of
future employability). These hypotheses were based on theoretically-based arguments that experiencing workplace-driven career
development opportunities is motivating for students and generates optimism for future outcomes (Butler, 2007; Japor, 2021;
Rousseau, 2004).

2. Perceived Employability

For young people, employability refers to “how employable they perceive themselves to be in the future after training, education,
and personal development” (Gunawan et al., 2019, pp. 610-611). Appraisals of future employability are important mechanisms that
drive the processes of goal setting, planning, and action, and generate hopes and fears for what lies ahead (Creed & Klisch, 2005).
Future-focused goals are standards against which current achievements and progress are compared, and they stimulate regulatory
processes when discrepancies between goal progress and standards are identified (Lord et al., 2010). For example, when young people
appraise their future employability to be below what they had hoped, concern and dissatisfaction drive strategies to reduce the
discrepancy (e.g., lower goals/increase effort). Consistent with this, Yizhong et al. (2017) showed that, over time, as optimism
regarding being employed after graduation declined, job-seeking confidence reduced, and there was an increase in protective stra­
tegies (e.g., reducing intentions and actual job seeking behaviours) and a re-appraisal of attitudes and goals regarding job seeking.
Thus, perceived employability is an important outcome to consider for young people. Supporting this contention, those with higher
perceived future employment also report more study commitment, effort, and performance; they engage in more career planning and
goal management; report better wellbeing (Gunawan et al., 2019, 2020; Lodi et al., 2020; Praskova & Johnston, 2020); and have less
career indecision (Creed, Sawitri, et al., 2020). Specific to the current study, and providing support for our first hypothesis, perceived
employability is higher for students who report a greater range of workplace experiences (e.g., paid work, internships; Jackson &
Wilton, 2016) and being more satisfied with them (Chen et al., 2018); this latter point suggesting that quality of the organisational
experience is relevant for improving employability. From this, Hypothesis 1 was:

H1: OCG is related positively to perceived employability.

3. Work-study conflict and facilitation

Role conflict occurs when the demands from one life role negatively affect functioning in a second role (Greenhaus & Beutell,
1985). For example, the demands from working can have a negative impact on students’ study activities, as work can be draining of
time, energy, and motivation. Role facilitation, on the other hand, occurs when skills, attitudes, and behaviours learned in one role
enhance the satisfaction and performance in another. Students, for example, can learn time management skills at work that will benefit
them when they study (Zimmerman & Hammer, 2010). Role conflict largely generates negative outcomes, as the person has limited
personal resources, which, when expended in one role, are not available for other roles (Buda & Lenaghan, 2003). The role facilitation
model, on the other hand, assumes that enrichment experiences in one role expands personal resources, which then become available
for other roles (Sieber, 1974).
Student work-study conflict is associated with less academic commitment, poorer grades, reduced leisure time, and poorer well­
being (Cinamon, 2016; Derous & Ryan, 2008); whereas, work-study facilitation is related to more positive consequences, such as
improved grades, study commitment, and wellbeing (Cinamon, 2016; Creed et al., 2019; see Choo et al., 2019 for review). To the best
of our knowledge, no studies have tested the relationship between work-study conflict and facilitation and employability in students.
However, in support of such links, work-family conflict is related to more job insecurity (Nauman et al., 2020) and less perceived
employability in adults (Wille et al., 2013), while work-family facilitation is associated with more perceived opportunities to remain in
the workforce (Henry & Desmette, 2018). Specific to students, Chu et al. (2018) found that work-study congruence, or the “fit” be­
tween work and study (e.g., for time and effort demands and meeting study needs), which has been shown to be related negatively to
work-nonwork conflict and positively to work-nonwork facilitation (Chen et al., 2009), was related to more positive views of future
employability.
There is theoretical support for the relationships between OCG and work-study conflict and facilitation. Work-study conflict and
facilitation models propose that conflict and facilitation are dependent on work demands and resources, including career development
opportunities that students experience (Owen et al., 2018). More generally, OCG reflects one aspect of person-job fit (McElroy &

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Weng, 2016), which is associated with less conflict and more facilitation in adults (Pan & Yeh, 2012; Zhenga & Hahmb, 2019), with
similar relationships found for students, with work-study fit related to less conflict and greater facilitation (Chu et al., 2018). Addi­
tionally, supervisor support for career development in adults is related to better synergies between work and study and between
facilitation of study progress and learning (Gagnon & Packard, 2012). With students, organisational support is related to work-study
facilitation, work autonomy, and the capacity to craft one’s job (Cinamon, 2018; Creed et al., 2019). This reasoning informs Hy­
potheses 2 and 3:

H2: OCG is related negatively to work-study conflict (H2a) and positively to work-study facilitation (H2b), and
H3: Work-study conflict is related negatively (H3a), and facilitation is related positively (H3b), to perceived employability.

4. Indirect effects

As OCG was expected to be related to less work-study conflict and greater facilitation, which, in turn, were anticipated to be related
to higher perceived employability, we also assessed whether higher OCG was related to perceived employability indirectly via work-
study conflict and facilitation. Theoretical support for this indirect association stems from dynamic goal setting/self-regulation models,
which propose that positive work experiences lead to setting and managing higher goals by regulating self- and environmental-
constraints and by drawing on personal and situational resources. In these models, shorter-term goals (such as managing work and
study) contribute to attaining higher-order, longer-term goals (e.g., employability; Lord et al., 2010; Owen et al., 2018). We found no
studies that tested these specific indirect relationships, but, consistent with these propositions, and supporting Hypothesis 4, students’
positive workplace experiences were related to greater career commitment via less work-study conflict (Markel & Frone, 1998) and
related to better study performance and satisfaction via work-study facilitation (Butler, 2007).

H4: OCG is related to greater perceived employability via less work-study conflict and higher facilitation.

5. Facilitating Organisational Career Growth

OCG relies both on what the individual brings to the situation and the career growth opportunities perceived to be available in the
organisation (Wang et al., 2014). Thus, we assessed both person and contextual antecedents. We operationalised the individual’s
contribution as self-management, which refers to the self-reflection, motivation, and strategies that allow people to make progress
towards their desired goals (Houghton et al., 2012). Higher levels of self-management lead individuals to identify and utilise more
growth opportunities, which, in turn, bring performance and wellbeing benefits (Breevaart et al., 2014). Specific to the current study,
student self-management is related to greater study engagement (Merino-Tejedor et al., 2016), fewer career concerns (Creed et al.,
2009), more perceptions of available development opportunities, and higher perceived employability (Jackson & Wilton, 2017).
In addition, we examined four aspects of the workplace as antecedents to OCG: supervisor support, job demands, work/non-work
balance, and job relevance to study program. Supervisor support is the extent to which employees believe their supervisor values their
contribution and are concerned with their wellbeing (Drummond et al., 2017). Supervisor support has the effect of generating
employee trust and respect, which motivates individuals to want to succeed at work and set and engage in more learning goals and
activities (Robertson & Tse, 2014). It is also associated with less work/non-work conflict, greater work/non-work facilitation (Creed
et al., 2019), and higher perceived employability (Bozionelos et al., 2020).
Job demands refer to the mental, physical, and emotional effort required on the job that is draining for the individual (Bakker et al.,
2005). Demanding job characteristics deplete personal resources, which are then not available for personal and professional devel­
opment and planning for the future (Demerouti & Bakker, 2011). Additionally, there is support for job demands being related to
work/study conflict and facilitation in university students (Owen et al., 2018) and demands are related to perceived employability
(Clements & Kamau, 2018).
Work/non-work balance refers to the mutual compatibility between workplace demands and demands from other aspects of the
employee’s life (Brough et al., 2020). Creating a balance between these conflicting demands and interests has implications for per­
formance and wellbeing (Wong et al., 2020), including for working students (Chu et al., 2021). Work/non-work balance increases
commitment and frees up emotional, mental, and physical resources that can then be applied to other activities, such as setting
learning goals and seeking career growth opportunities (Wong et al., 2020). Work-study balance is related to less work-study conflict,
more facilitation (Chu et al., 2021), and higher perceived employability in students (Chu et al., 2019).
Finally, job relevance, which refers to the value of the student’s work experiences to their study area (e.g., skills learned, and
expectations and aspirations developed, for their future occupation; Butler, 2007), is an important consideration as it can affect
engagement both at work and at university. Job relevance is related to skills acquisition, such as increased confidence, ability to deal
with people (Curtis & Shani, 2002), seeking further skills growth, and learning at work (Butler, 2007) and university (Wolniak &
Engberg, 2019) Owen et al. (2018). proposed connections between job relevance and work-study conflict and facilitation, and Butler
(2007) has shown that job relevance is related to higher work-study facilitation. It is related also to greater perceived employability in
both adults (Wittekind et al., 2010) and students (Karli, 2016).
At a more general, theoretical level, positive work experiences are related to both automatic and more conscious self-regulatory
processes that operate to optimise outcomes for the individual, whereas negative experiences restrict positive responses. Students
who perceive higher levels of OCG, for example, are likely to be more motivated to work harder for themselves, as well as for their
organisation (Kraimer et al, 2011). Positive responses for working students include being open to, and taking advantage of, knowledge

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P.A. Creed et al. International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

and skills development opportunities, perceiving fewer limiting constraints, identifying more facilitating options, and feeling more
confident and optimistic about dealing with future challenges and achieving desired outcomes (Lord et al., 2010; Weng & Zhu, 2020).
From the above, we hypothesised:
Self-management, supervisor support, work/non-work balance, and job relevance are related positively, and job demands related negatively,
to OCG (H5), associated with work-study conflict (H6a) and facilitation (H6b) via OCG, and associated with perceived employability via OCG
and work-study conflict and facilitation (H7).
Better understanding the role of OCG should inform interventions for working students regarding how best to benefit from their
work experiences and placements and inform employers and organisations of the benefits of offering developmental opportunities for
their student workers. Additionally, confirming the relationship between OCG and student outcomes should stimulate researchers to
explore which work management policies and practices might be most beneficial to both students and employers and to examine the
boundary conditions that influence why some students and organisations benefit more from OCG than others (e.g., socio-demographic
and individual differences; Weng & Zhu, 2020).

6. Method

As we were seeking self-report data on student experiences and planned to test indirect relationships among variables, we
employed survey methodology, which has established guidelines for collecting high quality data (Kelley, 2003).

6.1. Participants

A total of 278 university students responded to an online survey. Forty-three were omitted as they did not complete the ques­
tionnaire, failed attention-check questions, or gave patterned responses, which left 235 students (85% retention): 166 (70.6%) female;
mean age 22.8 years (SD=5.2); working an average of 21.38 hours per week (SD=10.61; range 1 to 35+). All were undergraduate
students completing a first-year introductory course, most were enrolled full-time (71%), and the vast majority were domestic students
(93.2%), who were enrolled in a diverse range of undergraduate programs, including social and natural sciences, education, business,
accounting, law, and nursing.

6.2. Measures

Unless otherwise indicated, a 6-point response format (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree) was used, where higher scores indicated
higher levels of a construct.

6.2.1. Organisational career growth

We adjusted the 4-item Organisational Career Goal Progress Scale (Weng & Hu, 2009) to assesses the influence of a person’s current
workplace on their career development. The items were “My present job…moves me closer to my career goals/is relevant to my career
goals/lays a good foundation for my career objectives/provides me with good development opportunities that will be relevant for my
later career”. Sound reliability has been reported (α=.85) and validity supported with positive associations with organisational
commitment and promotion speed (Weng & Hu, 2009). Our alpha was .95.

6.2.2. Perceived future employability

We used four high factor-loading items from the Perceived Future Employability Scale (Gunawan et al., 2018), which assesses
young people’s employability perceptions once they finish their education. The four items were “I will have developed a network of
contacts who can help identify potential work opportunities”, “Future employers will be impressed with the relevant work experience I
have accumulated”, “Prospective employers will be able to see from what I have achieved that I am well motivated”, and “I will have
developed the ability to find out about job opportunities in my chosen field”. Validity was supported by positive associations with
career ambition and study commitment. The original alpha was .95; for this 4-item index it was .87.

6.2.3. Self-management
The 9-item Self-Leadership Questionnaire (Houghton et al., 2012) assesses strategies people employ to function more effectively.
Items were “I make a point to keep track of how well I’m doing at a task”, “I work toward specific goals I have set for myself”, “I
establish specific goals for my own performance”, “I visualize myself successfully performing a task before I do it”, “When I have
successfully completed a task, I often reward myself with something I like”, “Sometimes I talk to myself (out loud or in my head) to
work through difficult situations”, “I try to mentally evaluate the accuracy of my own beliefs about situations I am having problems
with”, “I think about my own beliefs and assumptions whenever I encounter a difficult situation”, and “Sometimes I picture in my mind
a successful performance before I actually do a task”. Previous alpha was .73) and validity was supported with positive correlations
with coping (Maykrantz & Houghton, 2020). Alpha was .85.

6.2.4. Supervisor support

We used five items from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988), which we adjusted to focus on
work supervisor support. The items were “Work supervisors…listen to your concerns/express support for your efforts to combine work
and study/share ideas or advice/help you to figure out how to solve a problem/are understanding or sympathetic”. The original scale

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 P.A. Creed et al.
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics, Zero-Order Correlations (Below Diagonal), and Correlations amongst Latent Variables (Above Diagonal); N = 235.
Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Organisational career growth 12.02 6.14 – 0.44*** 0.03 0.42*** 0.12 − 0.14* 0.74*** − 0.17* 0.73***
2. Employability 18.02 3.84 0.39*** – 0.47*** 0.40*** 0.29*** − 0.07 0.37*** − 0.08 0.46***
3. Self-management 41.96 6.26 0.03 0.44*** – 0.20** 0.25** 0.11 0.04 0.05 0.18*
4. Supervisor support 20.97 8.22 0.41*** 0.37*** 0.22** – 0.37*** − 0.25*** 0.32*** − 0.18* 0.50***
5. Work/non-work balance 20.82 5.42 0.14* 0.27*** 0.22** 0.35*** – − 0.35*** 0.08 − 0.64*** 0.29***
6. Job demands 14.81 5.00 − 0.14* − 0.09 0.08 − 0.24*** − 0.33*** – − 0.12 0.59*** 0.02
7. Job relevance 33.38 33.92 0.71*** 0.34*** 0.04 0.31*** 0.11 − 0.13 − 0.10 0.56***
6

–
8. Work-study conflict 14.23 5.53 − 0.18** − 0.09 0.02 − 0.17** − 0.60*** 0.53*** − 0.11 – − 0.13
9. Work-study facilitation 14.35 4.88 0.64*** 0.38*** 0.15* 0.45*** 0.23** − 0.02 0.49*** − 0.09 –
10. Hours worked 21.38 10.61 0.01 − 0.05 − 0.09 0.03 − 0.34*** 0.35*** 0.04 0.41*** 0.11
11. Age 22.81 5.23 0.20** 0.25*** 0.04 0.17* − 0.07 − 0.07 0.22** 0.03 0.22**
12. Gender a – – − 0.05 − 0.12 − 0.01 − 0.07 − 0.05 0.15* − 0.03 0.10 − 0.09
a
0 = female, 1 = male;.

International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

*
p<.05,.
**
p<.01,.
***
p<.001.
P.A. Creed et al. International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

has sound psychometric properties when used with university students (Skromanis et al., 2018). Current alpha was .94.

6.2.5. Work/non-work balance

The 5-item Work-Study Congruence Scale (Chu et al., 2019) measures how well the work/non-work interface meets student’s
needs. Items were “The hours I work mean that there is a good balance between my work and study”, “My working hours do not
interfere with my university studies”, “I have sufficient time to study even though I am working”, “I am able to plan my study around
the demands from my workplace”, and “My work and study schedules are flexible enough for me to fit in the other important things in
my life”. Previous alpha was .86 and validity was supported by positive relationships with study engagement and wellbeing.
Alpha=.90.

6.2.6. Job demands

We used four items from the Job Demands Scale (Karasek, 1979), which was developed to assess demand characteristics at work.
The four items were “There is excessive work to do”, “Things are hectic”, “There isn’t enough time”, and “There are conflicting de­
mands” Butler (2007)., who employed a similar set of items reported an alpha of .81, and supported validity by showing that more job
demands were associated with working longer hours and more work-school conflict. Alpha was .88.

6.2.7. Job relevance

We asked participants to respond, using a 100-point sliding scale (Not relevant to Completely relevant), to the item “How relevant is
your work to the degree in which you are currently enrolled?”. Supporting validity, responses to this question were related positively to
OCG and future employability.

6.2.8. Work-study conflict

The 4-item Work-School Conflict Scale (Butler, 2007) assesses the extent to which work interferes with study. Items were “To what
extent…do your job demands and responsibilities interfere with your study?/do you spend less time studying because of your
job?/does your job take up time that you would rather spend at university or on study?/do you go to university tired because of your
job?”. Butler reported alpha of .88 and supported validity with negative associations with job control and study effort. Alpha was .91.

6.2.9. Work-study facilitation

We used four items from the Work-School Facilitation Scale (Butler, 2007). These were “To what extent…are the skills you develop
at work useful for things you have to do at university?/do the things you do at work help you deal with personal and practical issues at
university?/does talking to people at work help you deal with problems at university?/do the things you do at work make you a more
interesting person?”. Butler reported alpha of .85 and found facilitation related to study effort. Alpha was .85.

6.3. Procedure

Data were collected from one public, multi-campus, research intensive university in South-East Queensland, Australia. The uni­
versity has a student body of ~50,000 and teaches a comprehensive range of courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Australia is a multicultural country with a population of nearly 25.5 million people. It has a well-developed economy, ranked 12th
largest in the world. Its school system is highly rated, consistently ranking in the top five OECD countries on international student
assessment, and its 43 world-class universities cater for approximately 1.5 million domestic and international students. The study was
approved by the university’s ethics committee. Students were contacted via a message on the website of a large, multi-disciplinary,
introductory course and provided with a link to an online survey. The main inclusion criterion was that students were in paid
employment as well as studying at the time of the survey. Students could opt to enter a prize draw for a $50 store voucher. All data were
collected during 2019.

7. Results

We used latent variable modelling (AMOS V25; ML estimation) to test all hypotheses, with latent variables denoted by their
observed variables. We evaluated a measurement model and then tested several structural models. With a sample <250 and >30
observed variables, Hair et al. (2010) indicated a good fit is indicated by χ2(a non-significant p, suggesting that the model tested reflects
the observed data, is desired, but a significant p is expected when samples are larger and models are complex, i.e., >12 variables), χ2/df
(<3.0), CFI (>.92), and RMSEA (<.08). The measurement model yielded a good fit to the data, χ2(489) = 758.75, p<.001; χ2/df = 1.55,
CFI = .96, and RMSEA = .05 [.04, .06], indicating that all observed variables could be represented by their observed variables,
supporting construct validity of the model. Factor loadings (standardised regression weights) ranged from .56 to .97 and correlations
among the latent variables paralleled those for the scale totals. See Table 1.

7.1. Model testing

First, we assessed the hypothesised model in Fig. 1, and then assessed additional models to test the direct and indirect paths implicit
in that figure (Kline, 2015). To identify the significant indirect paths, we used AMOS bootstrapping (5,000 samples), a re-sampling
with replacement technique that generates multiple samples, from which distributions of test statistics (e.g., mean, standard error)

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are generated. These statistics are then used to draw inferences about the population from which the original sample is drawn.
Bootstrapping improves power and accuracy as it does not rely on normal distribution theory. It is a useful technique for testing
complex path analyses that cannot be assessed using standard linear regression procedures and is especially useful for evaluating
indirect linkages (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). The bootstrapped standard errors are used to construct 95% bias-corrected confidence
intervals (CIs; corrected for both sample bias and skewness using a bias-correction factor). An indirect effect exists when the CIs for the
indirect path between a predictor and outcome via the mediator do not straddle zero (full indirect effect when the direct path between
the predictor and outcome is not significant when the indirect path is included; partial indirect effect when the direct path is not
significant).
We used the χ2Diff statistic to test differences among the various nested models assessed (a nested model includes same variables but
different pathways or constraints; Kline, 2015). This statistic is calculated by subtracting the χ2 statistics (χ2 and df) of one model from
another and determining (e.g., from tables) if this resulting χ2 is significantly different from zero. A non-significant χ2 indicates that the
two models do not differ on fit, meaning the most parsimonious model (e.g., with fewer paths included) should be retained. Last, as
hours worked was related to conflict (.41, p<.001) and age related to OCG (.20, p<.01), facilitation (.22, p<.01) and employability
(.25, p<.001), we controlled for these two variables in all models.
The model reported in Fig. 1 (i.e., self-management, support, balance, demands, and relevance → OCG → conflict and facilitation
→ employability) also generated a good fit, χ2(562) = 1041.14, p<.001, χ2/df = 1.83, CFI = .92, RMSEA = .06 [.05, .07]. Support
(standardised beta weight, β, = .22, p<.001) and relevance (.67, p<.001), but not self-management (-.03, p=.50), balance (-.01,
p=.86), and demands (-.01, p=.89) were related to OCG (partially supporting H5). OCG was related to conflict (-.18, p<.005) and
facilitation (.74, p<.001), supporting H2a and H2b. In turn, facilitation (.44, p<.001), but not conflict (-.02, p = .78), related to
employability, supporting H3b, but not H3a. Additionally, hours worked related to conflict (.43, p<.001), and age related to
employability (.16, p = .01). The model explained 59% of the variance in OCG, 21% in conflict, 55% in facilitation, and 24% in
employability. See Fig. 2.
To assess if self-management, support, balance, demands, and relevance were related indirectly to employability via OCG, conflict,
and facilitation, we tested a direct effects model (i.e., paths from self-management, support, balance, demands, and relevance to
employability), and then tested an indirect effects models (i.e., direct effects model plus indirect paths to OCG, to conflict and
facilitation, and then to employability). In the direct effects model, χ2(550) = 883.55, p<.001, χ2/df = 1.61, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .05
[.04, .06], self-management (.40, p<.001), but not support (.12, p=.10), balance (.13, p=.06), demands (.03, p=.65), and relevance
(.07, p=.43), related to employability.
From the direct and indirect effects model, χ2(546) = 824.32, p<.001, χ2/df = 1.51, CFI = .96, RMSEA = .05 [.04, .06], which was a
significant improvement on the direct effects model, χ2Diff(4) = 59.23, p<.001, only relevance was related indirectly to employability
(CIs: .07 to .36; indirect effects = .20), and, as the direct path between relevance and employability was not significant in this model
(.05, p=.54), the indirect effect can be said to be full. The paths from conflict (.14, p=.16) and facilitation (.05, p=.66) to employability
were not significant, indicating that the indirect pathway was from relevance to OCG to employability. This result partially supported
H7.
Using the same steps, we tested if self-management, support, balance, demands, and relevance were related indirectly to conflict
and facilitation via OCG. Using the same direct effects model as above, self-management (.13, p=.02), balance (-.53, p<.001) and
demands (.37, p<.001), but not support (.09, p=.08) and relevance (-.05, p=.33), related to conflict. Support (.35, p<.001), balance
(.14, p=.04), demands (.17, p=.01), and job relevance (.46, p<.001), but not self-management (.03, p=.59), related to facilitation.
From the direct and indirect effects model, support related indirectly via OCG to both conflict (CIs: -.08 to -.01; indirect effects = -.03)
and facilitation (CIs: .06 to .22; indirect =.13), and relevance related to facilitation (CIs: .30 to .55; indirect = .41). As the path from

Fig. 2. Direct and indirect effects: Solid lines represent results from structural model; dashed lines indicate direct effects; numbers in italics refer to
indirect paths. Standardised beta weights reported. N = 235.

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P.A. Creed et al. International Journal of Educational Research 112 (2022) 101950

support to facilitation (.22, p<.001) was significant, this indirect effect was partial (partially supporting H6b). As the original path
from support to conflict, and the direct path from relevance to facilitation (.05, p=.47), were not significant, both of these indirect
effects were full (partially supporting H6a).
Similarly, we tested if OCG related to employability via conflict and facilitation. From the direct effects model for these re­
lationships, χ2(555) = 947.48, p<.001, χ2/df = 1.71, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .05 [.04, .06], OCG related to employability (.40, p<.001),
supporting H1. From the direct and indirect effects model, χ2(551) = 878.63, p<.001, χ2/df = 1.60, CFI = .94, RMSEA = .05 [.04, .06],
an improvement on the direct effects model, χ2Diff(4) = 68.85, p<.001, OCG related indirectly to employability via conflict and
facilitation (CIs: .05 to .49; indirect effects = .23). The direct path from OCG was not significant (.12, p=.24), indicating a full indirect
relationship; primarily via facilitation, as conflict was not related initially to employability, partially supporting H4.
In summary, after controlling for hours worked and age, support and job relevance were related positively to OCG (59% variance
explained; H5), which was related to less conflict (21%; H2a) and more facilitation (55%; H2b), and facilitation was related to greater
perceived employability (24%; H3b). There was one (full) indirect effect from job relevance to employability, and self-management
was related directly to greater employability (H7). Also, balance was related directly to less, and job demands were related to
more, conflict, and there was a (full) indirect effect from support to conflict via OCG (H6a). Support and balance were related directly
to more facilitation, and there was a (partial) indirect path from support to facilitation and a (full) indirect effect from job relevance to
facilitation, both via OCG (H6b). Finally, there was a (full) indirect relationship, via conflict and facilitation, between OCG and
employability (H1 and H4).

8. Discussion

This study contributed to the body of literature on working students, first, by identifying pathways by which OCG is related to
perceived employability and, second, by testing hypothesised antecedents to OCG in working students. Acquiring suitable, stable
employment is the ultimate goal for many tertiary students and can be a major driving force to achieve good grades, gain work
experience, undertake volunteer work, and take on additional training and development activities (Richardson et al., 2014). Deter­
mining the contributing factors to that motivation will benefit policy makers in government and educational institutions, inform those
who help students manage their work and study, and contribute to students themselves being able to better manage their conflicting
demands. Understanding the role played by the student’s work organisation is an important aspect of this.
First, OCG was related positively to employability, suggesting that the quality of experiences at work plays an important role in
developing positive career and work expectations in working students. This “quality of experience” might be expressed in the amount
and type of formal development activities offered, as well as in informal opportunities, such as being encouraged to take on more
challenging and responsible tasks and being involved in decision-making within the organisation. The relationship between skills and
career development support and employability has been found in adult workers (Wittekind et al., 2010). For working students,
knowledge and skills development is an investment in current functioning, both at work and university, and also is a long-term in­
vestment in later life, including developing employment expectations.
The relationship between OCG and perceived employability was explained fully by the effects of work-study facilitation. This
suggests that perceiving opportunities to develop knowledge and skills at work, which enhances the flow-on benefits of work to study,
also operates to increase future employment expectations. Work-study facilitation results from learning skills (e.g., time management,
assertiveness), improving mood (e.g., developing confidence, feeling positive), reframing the job (e.g., seeing it as relevant), and
building a social network that can provide support when needed; all of which can foster a more positive study attitude and improve
affort (Zimmerman & Hammer, 2010). In combination, these facilitation effects are consistent with goal facilitation (Fitzsimons &
Shah, 2008) and goal setting/self-regulatory theories (Lord et al., 2010), which propose that individuals are goal-directed, especially
directed by personally meaningful goals, and respond to environmental supports to generate/reinforce attitudes and drive
self-regulatory behaviours that operate to increase optimism, efficacy, and determination for the future, including perceiving
improved perceived employability (Donald et al., 2019).
Self-management also was related directly to perceived employability. Self-management refers to people’s self-regulatory pro­
cesses, such as self-reflection and goal setting, monitoring, and adjustment, all of which allow individuals to progress and ultimately
meet their goals. It implies proactivity, rather than inactivity (Houghton et al., 2012). Self-management is a precursor to perceived and
actual employability as it allows individuals to consider their values and appraise their skills and knowledge, which then drive atti­
tudinal and behavioural adjustments (Jackson & Wilton, 2017). Thus, self-management, along with OCG, is an important correlate of
perceived employability, confirming that both person qualities (i.e., self-management processes) and situational affordances (i.e.,
OCG) contribute directly to the career development of young adults (Lord et al., 2010).
Additionally, OCG was related to lower levels of work-study conflict (although conflict was unrelated to perceived employability,
contrary to some previous research; Chu et al., 2018); suggesting additional benefits occur when organisations implement develop­
ment opportunities. Work-study conflict reflects the depletion of internal (e.g., energy, enthusiasm) and external resources (e.g.,
support, time) resulting from work experiences that then carry-over to, and impede, the study role (Butler, 2007). This suggests an
important role for OCG, as a reduction in work-study conflict is desirable and likely to have positive effects on the student’s workplace
(e.g., increased productivity, reduced turnover) and the student (e.g., increased study focus, improved wellbeing). Reduced conflict
also might relate indirectly to improved employability (e.g., Medina-Garrido et al., 2021, found work-family conflict related to
increased intentions to leave the organisation via the effects of reduced well-being). Potential mediators in students are improved study
performance, commitment, and efficacy, which are all related to perceived employability (Agnihotri et al., 2020), although these
indirect paths need to be demonstrated.

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Regarding antecedents, of those we studied, only the contextual variables of supervisor support and job relevance to study program
(but not balance, job demands, or self-management) were related to OCG. This suggests that contextual, workplace influences might be
more important to perceiving career development opportunities in the workplace than person characteristics (i.e., self-management).
This could reflect the types of jobs that working students have (i.e., insecure, routine work that leaves little room for initiative; Gil­
fillan, 2018) or their inexperience working in paid jobs (e.g., older students perceived more growth opportunities; Table 1). Students
also might give more weight to organisational cues on career development opportunities, with support from their supervisor and tasks
related to the degree program being especially salient. However, we assessed self-management only, and other person variables might
be influential and should be examined (e.g., political skill, self-efficacy, adaptability, and proactivity; Modem et al., 2021).
Supervisor support was found previously to be related to OCG in adults (Robertson & Tse, 2014) and we have shown that this
relationship exists for working students. This suggests that when supervisors create supportive environments for students that
demonstrate to them that the organisation considers their interests (e.g., value their input, listen to their concerns), they will perceive
that the organisation can contribute to their development and perceive opportunities at work for this. For job relevance to study
program, this relationship mirrors previous research that has demonstrated associations for this antecedent with better wellbeing,
learning, and interest in skills development (Butler, 2007; Curtis & Shani, 2002; Wolniak & Engberg, 2019). Students seek employment
for multiple reasons, including for the development of generic as well as industry-specific skills, and obtaining work that has resonance
for the student’s program of study is likely to be more motivating as it has potential links to their future profession and job acquisition
(Polidano & Zakirova, 2011).
OCG fully explained the relationships between job relevance and perceived employability, between supervisor support and work-
study conflict, and between job relevance and work-study facilitation. OCG also partially explained the relationship between super­
visor support and facilitation. These indirect effects provide explanations for how workplace resources (i.e., supervisor support and job
relevance) are related to the student benefits of less conflict, greater facilitation, and more optimistic expectations for the future. Few
studies have tested OCG as a mediator. One exception is Spagnoli et al. (2019) who found that it mediated the negative relationship
between organisational work-family support and work-family conflict in full-time employed adults. Additional research is needed to
identify how well OCG perceptions explain other relationships between job characteristics and individual and organisational out­
comes. We found that OCG did not explain the relationship between job demands and any of the outcome variables, and future research
needs to assess other demands to determine if OCG contributes to explaining their links to individual and workplace outcomes.
Counter-intuitively, we found a positive association between work demands and work-study facilitation in one of our models. We
had expected job demands to be related to less OCG and, in turn, to lower facilitation, but this was not supported. Other studies, which
also hypothesised negative associations, found positive ones (e.g., Butler, 2007; Wyland et al., 2016) Greenhaus and Powell (2006).
suggested that simply having a job stimulates skill and knowledge development, changes in perspective, and the development of social
capital, which then foster resource sharing across roles. Others have suggested that some demands are appraised as hindrances, while
others are appraised as challenges, with hindrances leading to negative outcomes and challenges resulting in benefits for the individual
(LePine et al., 2005). We did not differentiate between hindrances and challenges, and this might be a way for future research to
determine under what conditions job demands are associated with higher or lower work-study facilitation.
We also found that self-management was related to more work-study conflict in one of our models. We hypothesised that self-
management would relate positively to OCG and, in turn, be related to less work-study conflict (which was not supported) Grey
(1994). argued that individuals who score high on self-management respond more to external pressures and typically place more
pressure on themselves for achievement. Consistent with this, Sturges (2008) found that greater career self-management was related to
more work-family conflict. For students, self-induced and external pressure potentially generate conflict between work responsibilities
(e.g., for earning a needed income) and study demands (e.g., study time and effort), and, thus, contribute to work-study conflict. In
support of this, students who felt pressured to work also reported higher work-study conflict (Cinamon, 2018). However, further
research needs to assess this relationship to determine under what conditions self-management is related to more conflict.

8.1. Practical Implications

Several practical implications related to OCG can be drawn from the results of this study. First, for employers, offering OCG for
working students could potentially improve productivity and reduce staff turnover, as OCG was related to less work-study conflict and
greater facilitation, suggesting that students might be more satisfied in jobs that contribute to their development and better able to
manage their study alongside those jobs. Suggestions from our study for increasing OCG relate to providing/improving supervisor
support and highlighting the benefits that might accrue to the student from working in their organisation. However, we do not yet
know what are the best OCG practices for working students, and future research needs to address this.
Second, as OCG was related to less work-study conflict, greater facilitation, and more positive appraisals of future employability,
working where OCG can be accessed should also benefit students. Perceptions of OCG potentially stimulate students to view both their
work and study more positively, which can then generate agentic attitudes and behaviours at work and study that feed into more
positive future employment expectations (Lord et al., 2010. Additionally, OCG might actually trigger increased work and career
awareness that could generate a clearer career focus and inspire regulatory behaviours that serve to progress career goals (Japor,
2021).
Policy makers and practitioners working with students can encourage them to seek student work that has some relevance for their
degree studies and future occupational goals. If this is not possible, students should be encouraged to seek out links between their job
and skills and behaviours that they will be likely to need in the future (e.g., generic skills, networking) and reframe their working
experience using these links. Doing this will potentially bring both current and future tangible rewards, and, as demonstrated in this

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study, have flow-on effects to less work-study conflict, greater facilitation, and better future occupational perceptions. Students also
might seek work where the reputation of supervisors is positive, or failing this, be prepared to engage with their supervisors regarding
skills development, as this could benefit the student as well as the organisation.

8.2. Limitations and Conclusions

Our sample was drawn from one university in one country and the results need to be confirmed in other samples to increase
generalisability. Also, our sample contained disproportionately more young women than men, which was an artifact of data collection,
and while we found no strong effects for gender (see Table 1), other studies need to assess whether OCG perceptions differ, and have
different effects, for women and men. Our study was cross-sectional, thus, while the study was informed by process theories (e.g., goal
setting/self-regulation; Lord et al., 2010) and drew on previous empirical research, we were not able to make strong statements
regarding causality. Testing these relationships over time would allow different models to be assessed (e.g., reverse and reciprocal
causality), which could better tease out the causal directions.
In conclusion, this study investigated the role of OCG in university students who work while they study. Many students work
throughout their tertiary education, sometimes in multiple jobs and often for long hours, and it is important to understand how
workplace organisations contribute to their development. We found that perceptions of OCG, which are potentially enhanced by
supervisor support and working in a job that is relevant to the student’s degree/study area, were related directly, and indirectly via
work-study conflict and facilitation, to future perceived employability. Work-study conflict and facilitation, especially work-study
facilitation, were highlighted as potential mechanisms for explaining the OCG/perceived employability relationship.

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