European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology Special Issue Call for Papers

New frontiers in employability research:
Towards a contextualized perspective of employability development

Guest Editors
Pascale Le Blanc (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands)
Beatrice Van der Heijden (Radboud University, the Netherlands)
Jos Akkermans (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Ans De Vos (Antwerp Management School, Belgium)

Employability has become one of the most popular research topics in the field of career studies in recent years. Despite this growing scholarly interest in the topic, there are still clear challenges to move the field forward that connect with the societal trends such as rapid socio-economic and demographic changes. First, employability research needs stronger theoretical and conceptual frameworks that can capture its dynamic nature across life- and career stages. Second, employability research needs a more contextualized approach that can shed light on antecedents, consequences, mechanisms, and boundary conditions among specific groups of workers. With this special issue, we aim to assemble a collection of papers that advance scientific knowledge on these two key challenges.

Research questions could include, but are not limited to:

• How dynamic is employability across life- and career stages?
• Which novel theoretical frameworks can be used to better understand the dynamic process underlying employability development across the life-span?
• To what degree is employability agentic vs. contextually determined?
• What contextual factors can act as boundary conditions for employability development across life- and career stages?
• What are methodological approaches and designs that are suited to studying employability across life- and career stages, and among different groups of workers?

We primarily aim for longitudinal quantitative and qualitative studies that can probe employability development, though conceptual papers are also welcome. Manuscripts should be submitted by January 1, 2022. Please visit the EJWOP website for more information on this call and submission guidelines via this link.