Abstract
Intrapreneurial Self-Capital (ISC) (Di Fabio, 2014) is a promising career construct of the 21st century. It is a core of individual intrapreneurial resources that allow people to deal with frequent changes and transitions by producing innovative solutions when faced with constraints imposed by the environment. This chapter introduces the ISC construct, scale and training and also offers a brief review of the empirical research on ISC. Furthermore the chapter delineates how ISC can contribute to promoting inclusion and sustainable employment with reference to the sustainability of one’s personal career/life project. The contribution also presents a case study which briefly describes the application of the ISC training with a final-year postgraduate student at the University of Florence. The Life Adaptability Qualitative Assessment (LAQuA) was administered before and after the training to detect qualitative, meaningful changes in the participant’s narratives about career adaptability plus quantitative changes in employability and life project reflexivity. The results underscore ISC as a key resource and also offer new research and intervention perspectives for inclusion and sustainable employment for all.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bernaud, J. L. (2013). Career counseling and life meaning: A new perspective life designing for research and applications. In A. Di Fabio & K. Maree (Eds.), Psychology of career counseling: New challenges for a new era (pp. 19–39). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Bernaud, J.-L. (2015). Psychologie de L’accompagnement: Concepts et Outils pour Développer le Sens de la vie et du Travail. Paris, France: Dunod.
Bernaud, J.-L. (2018). Introduction à la psychologie existentielle. Paris, France: Dunod.
Betz, N. E., Klein, K. L., & Taylor, K. M. (1996). Evaluation of a short form of the career decision-making self-efficacy scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 4, 47–57.
Betz, N. E., & Taylor, K. M. (2000). Manual for the career decision making self-efficacy scale (CDMSES) and CDMSES–Short Form. Unpublished manuscript, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
Blustein, D. L., Kenny, M. E., Di Fabio, A., & Guichard, J. (2019). Expanding the impact of the psychology of working: Engaging psychology in the struggle for decent work and human rights. Journal of Career Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072718774002.
Brundtland Report (1987). Our common future. New York, NY: Butterworth.
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75.
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D. W., Oishi, S., et al. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143–156.
Di Fabio, A. (2014). Intrapreneurial self-capital: A new construct for the 21st century. Journal of Employment Counseling, 51, 98–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2014.00045.x.
Di Fabio, A. (2015). Life adaptability qualitative assessment (LAQuA): A narrative instrument for evaluating counseling intervention effectiveness. In J. G. Maree & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Exploring new horizons in career counselling: Turning challenges into opportunities (pp. 43–62). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Di Fabio, A. (2016a). Flourishing scale: Primo contributo alla validazione della versione italiana [Flourishing Scale: First contribution to the validation of the Italian version] Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.14605/cs911606.
Di Fabio, A. (2016b). Positive relational management for healthy organizations: Psychometric properties of a new scale for prevention for workers. In G. Giorgi, M. Shoss, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), From organizational welfare to business success: Higher performance in healthy organizational environments. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organizational Psychology, 7, 1523. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01523.
Di Fabio, A. (2017a). The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development for well-being in organizations. In G. Arcangeli, G. Giorgi, N. Mucci, J.-L. Bernaud, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Emerging and re-emerging organizational features, work transitions and occupational risk factors: The good, the bad, the right. An interdisciplinary perspective. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organizational Psychology, 8, 1534. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01534.
Di Fabio, A. (2017b). Positive healthy organizations: Promoting well-being, meaningfulness, and sustainability in organizations. In G. Arcangeli, G. Giorgi, N. Mucci, J.-L. Bernaud, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Emerging and re-emerging organizational features, work transitions and occupational risk factors: The good, the bad, the right. An interdisciplinary perspective. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organizational Psychology, 8, 1938. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01938.
Di Fabio, A. (2019). The challenge of sustainability in the construction and managing of personal project for a decent work and a decent life: Psychological contributions. In V. Cohen-Scali, J. Pouyaud, V. Drabik-Podgorna, M. Podgorni, G. Aisenson, J. Luc Bernaud, I. Moumoula, & J. Guichard (Eds.), Life-and career designing for sustainable development and decent work (pp. 173–194). Switzerland: Springer.
Di Fabio, A., & Bernaud, J.-L. (Eds.). (2014). The construction of the identity in 21st century: A festschrift for jean guichard. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Di Fabio, A., & Bernaud, J.-L. (Eds.). (2018). Narrative interventions in post-modern guidance and career counseling: Innovative qualitative approaches, accountability, and case studies. Switzerland: Springer.
Di Fabio, A., & Blustein, D. L. (2010). Emotional intelligence and decisional conflict styles: Some empirical evidence among Italian high school students. Journal of Career Assessment, 18(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072709350904.
Di Fabio, A., & Blustein, D. L. (Eds). (2016). From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88919-970-9.
Di Fabio, A., & Gori, A. (2016a). Measuring adolescent life satisfaction: Psychometric properties of the satisfaction with life scale in a sample of italian adolescents and young adults. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(5), 501–506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282915621223.
Di Fabio, A., & Gori, A. (2016b). Neuroticism and flourishing in white collars workers: From self-esteem to intrapreneurial self-capital for adaptive outcomes. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.), Neuroticism: Characteristics, impact on job performance and health outcomes (pp. 129–146). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2012a). Emotional intelligence and perceived social support among Italian high school students. Journal of Career Development, 39, 461–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845311421005.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2012b). The contribution of emotional intelligence to decisional styles among Italian high school students. Journal of Career Assessment, 20, 404–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072712448893.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2015). The contributions of emotional intelligence and social support for adaptive career progress among Italian youth. Journal of Career Development, 42, 48–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845314533420.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2016a). From decent work to decent lives: Positive self and relational management (PS&RM) in the twenty-first century. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organizational Psychology, 7, 361. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00361.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2016b). Promoting well-being: The contribution of emotional intelligence. In G. Giorgi, M. Shoss, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), From organizational welfare to business success: Higher performance in healthy organizational environments. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organizational Psychology, 7, 1182. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01182.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2018). Intrapreneurial self-capital: A key resource for promoting well-being in a shifting work landscape. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.), Psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10(9), 3035. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093035.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2019). Decent work in Italy: Context, conceptualization, and assessment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 131–143.
Di Fabio, A., Kenny, M. E., & Claudius, M. (2016). Preventing distress and promoting psychological well-being in uncertain times through career management intervention. In M. Israelashvili & J. L. Romano (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of international prevention science (pp. 233–254). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Di Fabio, A., Kenny, M. E., & Claudius, M. (2017a). Preventing distress and promoting psychological well-being in uncertain times through career management intervention. In M. Israelashvili & J. L. Romano (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of international prevention science (pp. 233–254). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Di Fabio, A., & Maree, J. G. (2012). Group-based life design counseling in an Italian context. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80, 100–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.06.001.
Di Fabio, A., & Maree, J. G. (Eds.). (2013). Psychology of career counseling: New challenges for a new era. Festschrift in honour of Prof. Mark Savickas. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Di Fabio, A., & Maree, J. G. (2016). Using a transdisciplinary interpretive lens to broaden reflections on alleviating poverty and promoting decent work. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organizational Psychology, 7, 503. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00503.
Di Fabio, A., Maree, J. G., & Kenny, M. E. (2018). Development of the life project reflexivity scale: A new career intervention inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072718758065.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2013). Self-perceived Employability for students: Un primo contributo alla validazione italiana [Self-perceived Employability for students: A first contribution to Italian validation]. Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 6, 97–105.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2015). Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: The role of resilience beyond fluid intelligence and personality traits. Frontiers in Psychology, Section Developmental Psychology, 6, 1367. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01367.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2016). Marginalization and precariat: The challenge of intensifying life construction intervention. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organizational Psychology, 7, 444. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., & Bucci, O. (2017). In an unpredictable and changing environment: Intrapreneurial self-capital as a key resource for life satisfaction and flourishing. In G. Arcangeli, G. Giorgi, N. Mucci, J.-L. Bernaud, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Emerging and re-emerging organizational features, work transitions and occupational risk factors: The good, the bad, the right. An interdisciplinary perspective. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organizational Psychology, 8, 1819. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01819.
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., Bucci, O., Duradoni, M., Pesce, E., & Burgassi, C. (in press). The contribution of intrapreneurial self-capital beyond personality traits in employability and career decision-making self-efficacy: A key resource for sustainable career and life project. In A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Positive psychology for healthy organizations: the challenge of primary prevention in a cross-cultural perspective. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Di Fabio, A., & Rosen, M. A. (2018). Opening the black box of psychological processes in the science of sustainable development: A new frontier. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 2(4), 47. doi https://doi.org/10.20897/ejosdr/3933.
Di Fabio, A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2014a). Comparing ability and self-report trait emotional intelligence, fluid intelligence, and personality traits in career decision. Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 174–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.024.
Di Fabio, A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2014b). Promoting individual resources: The challenge of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 65, 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.026.
Di Fabio, A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2018). The contributions of personality and emotional intelligence to resiliency. Personality and Individual Differences, 123, 140–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.11.012.
Di Fabio, A. & Tsuda, A. (2018). The psychology of harmony and harmonization: Advancing the perspectives for the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.), Psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10, 4726. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124726.
Di Fabio, A., & Van Esbroeck, R. (2016). Intrapreneurial self-capital: A concept fitting a life-designing intervention. Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.14605/cs921611.
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., England, J. W., Blustein, D. L., Autin, K. L., Douglass, R. P.,… & Santos, E. J. (2017). The development and initial validation of the Decent Work Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(2), 206–221. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000191.
Frost, R. O., & Shows, D. L. (1993). The nature and measurement of compulsive indecisiveness. Behavior Research and Therapy, 31, 683–692.
Fugate, M., & Kinicki, A. J. (2008). A dispositional approach to employability: Development of a measure and test of implications for employee reactions to organizational change. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 81, 503–527.
Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510–526.
Guichard, J. (2009). Self-constructing. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 251–258.
Guichard, J. (2016). Reflexivity in life design interventions: Comments on life and career design dialogues. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 97, 78–83.
Hage, S. M., Romano, J. L., Conyne, R. K., Kenny, M., Matthews, C., Schwartz, J. P., et al. (2007). Best practice guidelines on prevention practice, research, training, and social advocacy for psychologists. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 493–566.
Harris, J. M. (2003). Sustainability and sustainable development. International Society for Ecological Economics, 1(1), 1–12.
Judge, T. A., Erez, A., Bono, J. E., & Thoresen, C. J. (2003). The core self-evaluations scale: Development of a measure. Personnel Psychology, 56, 303–331.
Kenny, M. E., & Hage, S. M. (2009). The next frontier: Prevention as an instrument of social justice. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 1–10.
Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., Freeman, K. E., … & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales. Retrieved from University of Michigan website. http://www.umich.edu/~pals/PALS%202000_V13Word97.pdf.
Maddi, S. R. (1990). Issues and interventions in stress mastery. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Personality and disease (pp. 121–154). New York: Wiley.
Mann, L., Burnett, P., Radford, M., & Ford, S. (1997). The Melbourne decision making questionnaire: An instrument for measuring patterns for coping with decisional conflict. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 10, 1–19.
Maree, J. G. (Ed.). (2007). Shaping the story: A guide to facilitating narrative career counseling. Pretoria, South Africa: Van Schaik.
Maree, J. G. (Ed.). (2012). Complete your thesis or dissertation successfully: Practical guidelines. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta.
Maree, J. G. (2013). Counselling for career construction: Connecting life themes to construct life portraits: Turning pain into hope. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.
Maree, J. G. (2016). Career construction counseling with a mid-career black male. Career Development Quarterly, 64, 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12038.
Maree, J. G. (Ed.). (2017). Psychology of career adaptability, employability, and resilience (pp. 107–123). New York: Springer.
Maree, J. G. (2018). Contextualisation as a determining factor for career counseling throughout the world. In J. A. Athanasou & H. N. Perera (Eds.), International handbook of career guidance (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.
Maree, J. G., & Di Fabio, A. (Eds.). (2015). Exploring new horizons in career counselling: Turning challenges into opportunities. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Maree, J. G. & Di Fabio, A. (2018). Integrating personal and career counseling to promote sustainable development and change. Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10(11), 4176. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114176.
Morgan, J., & Farsides, T. (2009). Measuring meaning in life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(2), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-007-9075-0.
Peiró, J. M., & Rodríguez, I. (2008). Work stress, leadership and organizational health. Papeles del Psicólogo, 29, 68–82.
Peiró, J. M., Sora, B., & Caballer, A. (2012). Job insecurity in the younger Spanish workforce: Causes and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 444–453.
Rothwell, A., Herbert, I., & Rothwell, F. (2007). Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 1–12.
Savickas, M. L. (2011). Career counseling. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Savickas, M. L., & Porfeli, E. J. (2012). Career adapt-abilities scale: Construction, reliability, and measurement equivalence across 13 countries. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80, 661–673.
Schnell, T., Höge, T., & Pollet, E. (2013). Predicting meaning in work: Theory, data, implications. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 543–554. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830763.
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2002). Creative self-efficacy: Its potential antecedents and relationship to creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 1137–1148.
Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320–333.
United Nations. (2018). Sustainable development goals: 17 goals to transform our world. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Di Fabio, A. (2019). Intrapreneurial Self-Capital as an Innovating Construct for Promoting Inclusion and Sustainable Employment: A Case Study of an Italian University Student. In: Maree, J. (eds) Handbook of Innovative Career Counselling . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_36
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_36
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22798-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22799-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)