Abstract:

Academic success is a multifaceted and complex concept, including objective (e.g., performance) and subjective (e.g., engagement) indicators of relevance to institutions and students' lives. Personal motivational variables, as protean career attitudes, may influence these indicators. When analyzed in a similar context, such as the work context, these self-directed and values-driven attitudes seem to foster higher job satisfaction, commitment, engagement, and performance. Yet, as these attitudes are plastic, their levels may differ between individuals, bringing different career profiles with different outcomes. Despite theoretical and empirical advances on protean career attitudes, more evidence is needed. Therefore, our study aims to understand which protean profiles emerge among university students and whether these profiles differ on academic achievement and engagement indicators. Two hundred eighty-eight (Mage = 21.53, SDage = 4.39) Portuguese university students participated in the study, being the majority women (77.8%). We collected data on sociodemographic issues, protean career attitudes, academic engagement, and achievement. Cluster analyses indicated four career protean attitudes profiles, comparable to the dependent, rigid, reactive, and protean types defined in the literature. The rigid type was the dominant (42.4%). Difference analyses regarding academic engagement and achievement indicated profile differences for the former in favor of protean students. These results point to the relevance of working these attitudes as a possible vehicle for more engaged students.

Keywords:

Protean career attitudes, university students, academic engagement, academic achievement.