Career adaptability and subjective well-being among higher education students

The transition to college and, later, to the labor market are among the transitions with the greatest impact on adult life. The literature supports the relevance of investigating the constructs of career adaptability and subjective well-being. The main goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between career adaptability and subjective well-being in a sample of higher education students. The sample included 201 participants aged between 18 and 55 years old (M = 21.13, SD = 4.51), most of whom female (n = 156, 77.6%) and of Portuguese nationality (n = 198 , 98.5%). Participants answered online to a sociodemographic and academic characterization questionnaire, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Portugal Higher Education Form, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the reduced version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The results suggested positive and statistically significant correlations between career adaptability (dimensions and total scale), satisfaction with life and positive affect. The career adaptability total score and its control dimension were negatively and statistically significantly correlated with negative affect. Satisfaction with life was positively correlated with positive affect, but negatively correlated with negative affect. Overall, the results are discussed based on the literature and the conclusions from this study are presented regarding implications for research and practice.