Gender as a Contextual Moderator of Career Adaptation in Pakistani University Students: Three-Wave Associations Among Career Adaptability, Career Construction Behaviors, and Career Commitment

Little is known about which career actions link adaptability to commitment, and whether this works alike for men and women. Drawing on the Career Construction Model of Adaptation (CCMA), this study examined the association between career adaptability (Time 1) and career commitment (Time 3) through career construction behaviors (crystallizing, exploring, deciding, and preparing; Time 2) in a collectivistic, resource-constrained setting. Based on 469 Pakistani undergraduates, the research also examined whether gender, as a proxy for unmeasured contextual conditions, moderated the direct pathway between adaptability and commitment, and the indirect pathways through the parallel mediators. Open-ended responses on students’ hurdles and pressures in pursuing their preferred careers provided context for the findings. Career adaptability was positively associated with all four career construction behaviors, which were also positively associated with career commitment. Indirect associations through all four behaviors were significant. Career adaptation may operate through more than one behavioral pathway. Gender moderated the associations between adaptability and crystallizing, deciding, and preparing, which were stronger for men. Exploring was linked to commitment for men but not for women. The indirect association through exploring differed significantly by gender. Career support should consider gender-related differences, particularly in how it helps students act on career exploration.