Gender and hardiness as predictors of career adaptability: an exploratory study among Black call centre agents

Abstract

The call centre career poses developmental challenges that require high levels of hardiness and career adaptability. This article explores whether call centre agents’ gender and hardiness significantly and positively predicted their career adaptability, and whether women and men differed significantly regarding their hardiness and career adaptability. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 409 early-career Black African call centre agents (mean age = 32 years; 66% females). Correlations, stepwise hierarchical regression analysis and the Mann–Whitney U test for significant mean differences were performed to achieve the objective of the study. The results showed that gender significantly predicted career adaptability and that the females had significantly higher levels of career adaptability than their male counterparts. A high sense of hardy control and a low tolerance for unpredictability predicted higher levels of career adaptability. In the light of the paucity of research on the hardiness and career adaptability of Black women and men in the African context, the research contributed valuable new insights that may inform career development interventions for Black call centre agents. The results of the study emphasise the importance of developing call centre agents’ hardiness in order to strengthen their career adaptability. The results further indicated that the diverse strengths and growth areas of women and men in terms of developing their career adaptability must be considered in career development interventions.