Informal learning in the face of content occupational insecurity

: the influence of occupational self-efficacy and future focus

Abstract

Artificial intelligence applications are emerging in industries across the board, from healthcare and finance to marketing and education. Trends signify that these applications will cause economic disruption for years to come and rapidly overhaul how organisations operate. Worries about changes to the tasks and important features of one’s occupation are emerging, coined content occupation insecurity. The idea of informal learning to keep up with the occupational changes often associated with occupation insecurity is gaining prominence. This study consequently investigated if content occupation insecurity is associated with lower levels of informal learning, and whether this relationship is mediated by a decline in occupational self-efficacy and future focus. To assess the direct effect of content occupation insecurity on informal learning and the parallel mediation effects of occupational self-efficacy and future focus, a mediation analysis was conducted. The findings showed that the relationship between content occupation insecurity and informal learning is dictated by competing mediating pathways that result in contradictory directional effects. Both negative and positive effects were uncovered resulting in an insignificant total effect and suggesting that the impact of content occupation insecurity on informal learning is highly context dependent. Academic and managerial implications, as well as future recommendations, are offered based on these findings.

Date of Award	10 Jan 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Filipa de Almeida (Supervisor)