Challenges faced by Korean artists: Job insecurity, economic constraints, calling, and career adaptability

Abstract

This study applied the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) to Korean artists and explored whether job insecurity and economic constraints sequentially predicted decent work and how they were related to decent work through the mediators of living a calling and career adaptability. A sample of 252 artists in Korea was used for structural equation modeling. According to the findings, job insecurity and economic constraints predicted decent work, whereas living a calling and career adaptability were sequentially mediated in the path of job insecurity, leading to decent work. Additionally, they revealed that job insecurity and economic constraints significantly impacted decent work and living a calling and career adaptability can be considered protective factors in the career development process of Korean artists. Considering that COVID-19 has made it more difficult for artists to develop their careers, conducting research that applies the PWT to artists can have practical implications at the counseling psychology and policy levels.

Keywords:

• Korean
• artists
• COVID-19
• decent work
• job insecurity
• calling

1. Introduction

Popular Korean culture influences Asia and the rest of the world (Cicchelli et al., 2023; Glodev et al., 2023; Ryoo & Jin, 2020). However, most artists, except for a few famous ones, experience extreme job insecurity and economic constraints outside the social safety net (Jang & Lee, 2021). Particularly, these fundamental problems were revealed after COVID-19 (Ausat, 2023; Lee, 2020). Therefore, long-term career-related research is required to develop policies and programs to understand and support artists’ careers after COVID-19. This study aimed to identify the common career problems experienced by artists and Korean-specific contexts. For this, we used the theoretical framework of the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy et al., 2016), which explored the career development process by placing social marginalization and economic constraints at the forefront. Particularly, we added Calling, a career-related variable, to the theoretical model of PWT to reflect the characteristics of Korean artists.

COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the society as a whole, especially the vulnerable. It has negatively affected the overall career development process of artists in Korea or in general (Mohammed et al., 2022; Okafor, 2021). In particular, due to the nature of the job, it has been reported to have negatively affected the mental health of workers whose jobs require direct interaction with people (Jang & Lee, 2021; Karatepe et al., 2021, 2022). According to a study by Ernst and Young (2021), revenues in the European culture and arts sector in 2020 fell by 31% compared to 2019. The study also explained that artists’ specific employment patterns cause the socioeconomic constraints they experience (Ernst & Young, 2021). Artists are usually non-regular workers or self-employed; their occupational activities are not fixed and tend to be unstable (An & Na, 2020. Additionally, studies conducted on musicians of Italian and Australian nationalities during the COVID-19 pandemic consistently highlighted job insecurity as a common issue these individuals face (Alfarone & Merlone, 2022; Brunt & Nelligan, 2021). Moreover, COVID-19-related literature and qualitative studies specifically showed concerns about the inequality and economic constraints experienced by artists (Brooks & Patel, 2022; Flore et al., 2023). Artists can often encounter gaps in the social safety net, and existing studies on artists emphasize job insecurity and economic constraints as obstacles to their career activities (Daniel, 2016; Ernst & Young, 2021). Particularly, in the case of Korean artists, the artist welfare system is relatively insufficient compared to that in European countries (Lee, 2020; Ryoo & Jin, 2020), and they experience severe economic difficulties compared to workers in other jobs (Jang & Lee, 2021). However, the career-related studies of artists conducted thus far are insufficient, and there is a need to explore a new career theory that considers the contextual characteristics of artists (Daniel, 2016).

Conversely, the PWT, a career counseling theory developed in North America, emphasizes an integrated understanding of the career development process, considering the contextual variables of each culture and varied characteristics in many different countries (Duffy et al., 2016). The PWT is significant in that it expands the career theories represented by Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2005), expanding the focus of the theory from “career” to “working” (Douglass et al., 2017). And it is based on the main assumptions of Psychology of Working Framework (Duffy et al., 2016). PWT examines an individual’s work and life development in an integrated way by applying extra-individual factors, such as social class and social marginalization, to their career development process. The PWT is significant because it serves as a foundation for practical career counseling and policy directions for the marginalized in social justice and socioeconomic contexts (Duffy et al., 2016).

In the theoretical framework of the PWT, social marginalization and social class are presented as significant antecedent variables predicting decent work, and work volition and career adaptability are demonstrated as mediators between these antecedent variables and decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). Decent work is a job that satisfies, to some extent, the basic needs that arise from an individual’s subjective satisfaction and interaction with external factors, such as the need for livelihood, social connection, and self-actualization (Duffy et al., 2016). The original authors of PWT suggested applying this theoretical model to various economic, social, and cultural contexts of a specific target group or class (Duffy et al., 2019). Therefore, we applied the PWT to artists living in Korea. Korean artists’ average income is significantly lower than that of artists in European countries, and the welfare system for artists in Korea is weak (Ryoo & Jin, 2020). Many Korean artists are experiencing social marginalization and economic constraints owing to their employment patterns during their career development (Jang & Lee, 2021). Nonetheless, there are limited studies on this population (An & Na, 2020).

Therefore, the research questions of this study are as follows: First, do job insecurity and economic constraints sequentially predict decent work? Second, do living a calling and career adaptability sequentially mediate the relationship between job insecurity and economic constraints on decent work? Detailed hypotheses and their justifications are presented by considering previous studies.

2. Job insecurity and economic constraints

In PWT, social marginalization and economic constraints are suggested as antecedent variables in an individual’s career development process (Duffy et al., 2016). Social marginalization is when individuals are socially and culturally marginalized or excluded because of their identity (Duffy et al., 2016). The PWT actively considers social discrimination and marginalization factors particularly prominent in each culture (Duffy et al., 2016). Therefore, considering that most Korean artists work as non-regular workers, such as freelancers and contract workers (Lee, 2020), they can experience job insecurity due to work or duties. Job insecurity is a state in which employees can lose their jobs, which poses a threat to their ability to keep their existing jobs going in the future (Oh, 2016). Job insecurity is understood through subjective perceptions and divided into two categories: a sense of threat from work and helplessness (De Witte et al., 2015). Previous studies on hotel workers have explored the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and suggested that job insecurity worsens job tension (Karatepe et al., 2021, 2022). Therefore, job insecurity can also be considered an independent variable affecting Korean artists’ decent work experiences.

Economic constraints comprise important individual factors treated in career-counseling theory and are related to social class (Douglass et al., 2017). Korean artists experience severe economic constraints owing to their working environment and income structure (An & Na, 2020). Therefore, economic constraints can be considered independent variables affecting an artist’s decent work experience. Additionally, based on previous studies of Korean artists (Jang & Lee, 2021) wherein Korean job insecurity predicted economic constraints, we hypothesized that job insecurity is positively associated with economic constraints (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, we hypothesized that job insecurity is negatively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 2), and economic constraints are negatively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 3).

3. Living a calling and career adaptability

Based on the fact-finding survey of Korean artists, calling is an essential characteristic of those who value their work despite difficulties due to economic constraints (Jang & Lee, 2021). Calling is a valuable passion for a specific job, comprising a self-oriented value that connects one’s work (Rosso et al., 2010). In a longitudinal study of 450 amateur musicians by Dobrow (2013) over seven years, he explained that the role of calling in musicians’ career development can change over time, emphasizing the exploration of various variables related to calling.

However, calling can be divided into perceiving and living a calling (Duffy et al., 2012). This explains why, even if an individual recognizes their calling, living according to this calling is different. Particularly, the extent of living a calling is related to an individual’s socioeconomic status (Duffy et al., 2016). Previous studies (Praskova et al., 2014) have shown the relationship between calling, socioeconomic level, and career adaptability, while other studies have explored (Jang & Lee, 2021) the characteristics of these groups by analyzing the results of a survey on the status of Korean artists. Consequently, Korean artists highly value their work and social roles, despite their low income. Therefore, living a calling can be considered a significant variable compensating for economic barriers to artists’ decent work experience.

Career adaptability is an individual’s readiness to cope with changes and adversity in a dynamic work environment (Savickas, 2005). This entails the self-regulatory competency required for coping with the changing environment and completing tasks for career development (Savickas, 2005). Recently, new forms of communication methods, such as face-to-face, non-face-to-face, and metaverse have emerged between artists and the public (Hahm et al., 2022). Therefore, career adaptability can be viewed as a crucial competency required by Korean artists who experience rapid social change and various restrictions in acquiring decent work. Career adaptability is negatively correlated with social marginalization and is considered a mediator in the process of decent work experience and work volition in PWT (Duffy et al., 2016).

Furthermore, according to a longitudinal study that looked at the relationship between social class and career adaptability of American college students for six months (Autin et al., 2017), social class was found to be a positive predictor of career adaptability. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean artists’ artistic endeavors were moved online (Jang & Lee, 2021). In a rapidly changing society, career adaptability is an active coping mechanism for people to experience decent work despite social marginalization and economic constraints. Therefore, career adaptability can be a factor that influences Korean artists’ experiences of decent work. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that job insecurity is negatively associated with living a calling (Hypothesis 4) and career adaptability (Hypothesis 5). Economic constraints are negatively associated with living a calling (Hypothesis 6) and career adaptability (Hypothesis 7). Living a calling is positively associated with career adaptability (Hypothesis 8). Additionally, we hypothesized that living a calling (Hypothesis 9) and career adaptability (Hypothesis 10) are positively associated with decent work. We also hypothesized that living a calling and career adaptability would sequentially mediate the relationships between job insecurity (Hypothesis 11), economic constraints (Hypothesis 12) with decent work.

4. Present study

In this study, social marginalization in the PWT model can be specified as job insecurity due to non-regular workers and freelancers, which are common forms of employment among artists in Korea. This can be compared to social marginalization, represented as academic prestige in career development in which Korean office workers experience decent work (Ahn, 2019). Considering the characteristics of Korean artists who highly value their work despite various socioeconomic constraints (Lee, 2020), calling was added as another critical variable in the path of decent work. The calling has theoretical and empirical relevance and conceptual similarity to the work volition suggested by the existing PWT (Praskova et al., 2014). Therefore, living a calling can be seen as a new coping ability that replaces work volition in the process of a decent work experience among Korean artists. Thus, in this study, the social marginalization suggested by the PWT was conceptualized as job insecurity. In the process of experiencing decent work with job insecurity and economic constraints among Korean artists, living a calling and career adaptability were considered new mediators. Specifically, the structural relationship between living a calling and career adaptability was explored through job insecurity and economic constraints on decent work experience.

5. Methods

5.1. Participants

The participants included 252 artists living in South Korea. Of them, 131 (51.8%) were men, and 121 (48.2%) were women. A total of 36 participants were in their 20s (14.2%), 134 were in their 30s (5.3%), 58 were in their 40s (22.9%), 22 were in their 50s (8.7%), and 3 were in their 60s or older (1.2%). Their artistic backgrounds were the following: literature, 5 (2%); visual arts, 7 (2,8%); photography, 10 (4%); architecture, 2 (0.8%); dance, 17 (6.7%); music, 18 (7.1%); traditional music, 1 (0.4%); theater, 102 (40.3%); film, 27 (10.7%); entertainment, 51 (20.2%); cartoons, 1 (0.4%); and others, 1 (4.7%). By job type, the self-employed or employer category comprised 22 individuals (8.7%); full-time writers or free professionals comprised 81 (32%); regular, 26 (10.3%); temporary, 68 (26.9%); unemployed or retired, 16 (6.3) %); and others, 40 (15.8%). A total of 15 individuals (5.9%) had less than 3 years of work experience, 26 (10.3%) had 3–5 years, 68 (26.9%) had 5–10 years, 72 had 10–15 years (28.5%), 35 had 15–20 years (13.8%), and 37 had more than 20 years of experience (14.6%).

5.2. Instruments

5.2.1. Job insecurity

Job insecurity was assessed using the Job Insecurity Scale (JIS; Oh, 2016), translated and modified for Korean workers using the original JIS (Brockner et al., 1992). The scale includes seven items on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). A sample item is, “I may quit my job regardless of my will.” In a previous study (Oh, 2016) on Korean broadcasting workers, the estimated internal consistency was α = .91, and in this study, the estimated internal consistency was α = .79.

5.2.2. Economic constraints

Economic constraints were assessed by translating the Economic Constraints Scale (ECS; Duffy et al., 2019). The ECS was developed as a scale of five items to evaluate economic constraints throughout an individual’s life. Given that the ECS has not yet been validated in the Korean language, the scale was translated, and here, we report the reverse translation. A sample item is, “For as long as I can remember, I have had minimal economic or financial resources.” The scale includes five items rated on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Duffy et al. (2019) reported an internal consistency of α = .94.In the present study, the estimated internal consistency was α = .89.

5.2.3. Living a calling

Living a calling was assessed using the Korean version of the Living Calling Scale (LCS-K; Ahn & Shin, 2018), developed and validated for the Korean population using the original LCS (Duffy et al., 2012). In this study, the LCS-K was employed in accordance with the findings of a previous study (Duffy et al., 2012) that investigated the relationship between calling and social class. A sample item is, “I have a regular opportunity to stick to my calling.” The scale includes six items rated on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Additionally, a previous study did not provide a separate definition of calling (Hirschi et al., 2018). Nonetheless, a recent study (Duffy et al., 2016) presented a separate operational definition in the survey to ensure uniformity in response measurements. Ahn (2019) reported an estimated internal consistency of α = .95.In this study, the estimated internal consistency was α = .90.

5.2.4. Career adaptability

Career adaptability was assessed using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Korea Form (CAAS-K; Tak, 2012), which was developed and validated for the Korean population using the original CAAS (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). The four sub-dimensions are concern (e.g., I am preparing for the future I want), control (e.g., I make my own decisions), curiosity (e.g., I become curious when I encounter new things), and confidence (e.g., I can handle what I am given well). The CAAS comprises 24 items answered on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Among the four sub-dimensions, control and confidence were used considering the participants’ characteristics. The estimated internal consistency for the sub-scales (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) reported by Ahn (2019) was α = .81, α = .87, α = .80, and α = .89, respectively. In this study, the internal consistency for the sub-scales (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) was α = .94, α = .89, α = .87, α = .89, respectively.

5.2.5. Decent work

Decent work was assessed using the Korea-Decent Work Scale (K-DWS; Nam & Kim, 2019), which was developed and validated for the Korean population using the original DWS (Duffy et al., 2017). It comprises 15 questions, with three questions each in the five sub-dimensions. The K-DWS consists of 15 items answered on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The five subdimensions are physically and interpersonally safe working conditions (e.g., I feel emotionally safe interacting with people at work), access to healthcare (e.g., I get good healthcare benefits from my job), adequate compensation (e.g., I am rewarded adequately for my work), hours that allow for free time and rest (e.g., I have free time during the work week), and organizational values that complement family and social values (e.g., My organization’s values match my family values). Considering the participants’ characteristics across the five sub-dimensions, safe working conditions, access to healthcare, and complementarity of values were employed. The internal consistency values (safe working conditions, access to healthcare, adequate compensation, hours that allow for free time and rest, and complementarity of values) reported by Nam and Kim (2019) were α = .80, α = .94, α = .85, α = .58, and α = .91, respectively. In this study, the internal consistency values (safe working conditions, access to healthcare, adequate compensation, hours that allow for free time and rest, and complementarity of values) were α = .83, α = .94, α = .75, α = .68and α = .89, respectively.

5.3. Procedure

Participants who registered their artistic activities with the Korean Artist Welfare Foundation and other art groups were recruited via e-mail. Data were collected using Google Forms for one month, starting on 19 April 2020, after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 253 individuals participated in the survey; one person who did not provide consent to use their personal information was excluded.

6. Results

6.1. Preliminary analyses

Before conducting the primary analyses, the data were checked for outliers and normality. All study variables displayed adequate univariate normality, with absolute values of skewness and kurtosis under 1.0, and each appeared normally distributed on histograms and boxplots. Additionally, as a preliminary analysis, a series of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine whether the effect of the artist’s demographic variables made a significant difference in this study’s variables. To this end, multivariate analysis was conducted to analyze whether there were differences in employment instability, economic constraints, calling performance, career adaptability, and decent work depending on gender, age, final education, marital status, having children, employment type, and income level. Consequently, the effect size of all the artists’ demographic characteristics for key variables was very low in explanatory power (e.g., gender = .070, age = .050). The primary analysis did not control it, with little effect on the statistics below .20 (Cohen, 1992).

6.2. Model testing

To evaluate the models, we used structural equation modeling with a robust maximum likelihood and selected fit indices that minimized the likelihood of type I and II errors (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). These were the χ2 test, comparative fit index (CFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and standardized root mean residual (SRMR). Criteria for the CFI and RMSEA ranged from less conservative (CFI ≥ .90; RMSEA ≤ .10, SRMR ≤ .10) to more conservative (CFI ≥ .95; RMSEA ≤ .08; SRMR ≤ .06) (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Quintana & Maxwell, 1999; Weston & Gore, 2006). In this study, there were five latent variables and 15 measurable variables. For “job insecurity, economic constraints, and living a calling,” parcels were created for each scale through the item-to-construct balance method. The subscales were used as observed variables for career adaptability and decent work.

6.3. Descriptive statistics and correlations

We tested a measurement model before evaluating the structural models to ensure that the latent constructs were adequately measured using the items and parcels. This model had a good fit to the data (χ2[80, N = 252] = 156.639, p < .001; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .062; 90% confidence interval [CI: .06, .08]; and SRMR = .86). Furthermore, the factor loadings of the subfactors for all latent variables were statistically significant at the level of .001. For each latent variable, the factor loading of the sub-factors was .54 to .82 for job insecurity, .68 to .91 for economic constraints, .64 to .88 for living a calling, .66 to .84 for career adaptability, and .74 to .92 for decent work. Therefore, the latent variables were appropriately implemented for each measurement variable. Table 1 depicts the factor correlations, raw means, and standard deviations for all study variables.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and factor correlations among study variables

Variable	1	2	3	4	5
1. Job insecurity	―
2. Economic constraints	.485**	―
3. Living a calling	−.201*	−.134**	―
4. Career adaptability	−.264**	−.186**	.602**	―
5. Decent work	−.408**	−.355**	.451**	.516**	―
M	4.27	4.29	4.90	5.65	4.37
SD	1.128	1.403	1.313	0.954	1.212

N =252. **p < .05, *p < .01

6.4. Structural model

This model had an acceptable fit to the data (χ2[80, N = 252] = 156.639, p < .001; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .062; 90% CI [.06, .08]; and SRMR = .86). Consistent with these hypotheses, job insecurity was positively associated with economic constraints (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, it was negatively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 2) and living a calling (Hypothesis 4). However, the path from job insecurity to career adaptability was not significant (Hypothesis 5). Economic constraints were negatively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 3); however, the pathways to living a calling (Hypothesis 6) and career adaptability (Hypothesis 7) were not significant. Conversely, living a calling was positively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 9) and career adaptability (Hypothesis 8). Moreover, career adaptability was positively associated with decent work (Hypothesis 10). Figure 1 and Table 2 show the model’s direct effect results.

Figure 1. Final structural model with standardized estimates. Dotted paths indicate nonsignificant paths.

*p < .01. **p < .001.

Table 2. Direct paths for the final structural model

Hypothesized Pathways				B	β	SE	CR	p
(H1)	JI	➡	EC	0.748	0.485	0.125	5.963	0.000**
(H2)	JI	➡	LC	−.211	−.177	0.105	−2.006	0.045*
(H3)	JI	➡	CA	−.105	−.127	0.062	−1.695	0.090
(H4)	JI	➡	DW	−.165	−.202	0.076	−2.188	0.029*
(H5)	EC	➡	LC	−.037	−.048	0.062	−.591	0.555
(H6)	EC	➡	CA	−.026	−.048	0.036	−.709	0.478
(H7)	EC	➡	DW	−.092	−.173	0.044	−2.102	0.036*
(H8)	LC	➡	CA	0.397	0.570	0.046	8.721	0.000**
(H9)	LC	➡	DW	0.138	0.201	0.062	2.248	0.025*
(H10)	CA	➡	DW	0.305	0.309	0.093	3.292	0.000**

JI = job insecurity; EC = economic constraints; LC = living a calling; CA = career adaptability; DW = decent work

6.5. Alternative model

This study verified the mediating effect of living a calling and career adaptability, showing that economic constraints and job insecurity lead to decent work. To confirm the path of the mediating effect, the structural model divided the partial mediating effect into a model that verified the full mediating effect of the alternative model. The goodness of fit of the structural model—the partial mediation effect model—was χ2(80, N = 252) = 156.639, p < .001; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .062; 90% CI [.06, .08]; SRMR = .86, indicating acceptable fit. The goodness of fit of the alternative model—the perfect mediation model—was χ2(82, N = 252) = 176.331, p < .001; CFI = .95; RMSEA = .068; 90% CI [.06, .08]; SRMR = .126, which showed a slightly lower level of fit than the structural model. Moreover, in the case of direct comparison through the χ2 difference test, the χ2 value was 5.99 when the degree of freedom (df) was 2 (82–80) at a statistical significance level of .05. In this study, the χ2 difference between the two models was 19.692 (176.331–156.639). It was found to be a value (19.692) larger than the χ2 value (5.99) corresponding to the statistical threshold. Thus, the structural model was better than the alternative model. As the χ2 difference test and the Bayesian Information criterion results showed that the structural model was more suitable for the data, it was retained as the final model.

6.6. Indirect effects

The statistical significance of the indirect effect was verified by bootstrapping using a phantom variable to determine the presence or absence of a mediating effect through an indirect effect estimation. A phantom variable is a kind of hypothetical variable, that is, a variable that does not affect model fit and parameter values (Macho & Ledermann, 2011). The indirect effect was considered statistically significant when the 95% CI did not include zero (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). The indirect effect of job insecurity on decent work through career adaptability (B = −.032, SE = 0.027, 95% CI [−.102, .007]) was not significant (Hypothesis 11). The indirect effect of economic constraints (B = −.004, SE = .009, 95% CI [−0.25, .011]) on decent work through living a calling and career adaptability was not significant (Hypothesis 12). Table 3 show the model’s indirect effect results.

Table 3. Statistical significance of each indirect effect using bootstrap phantom variable analysis

Hypothesized Pathways		B	SE	95% CI Mean Indirect Effect
				Lower bound	Upper bound
(H11)	JI➡LC➡CA➡DW	−.021*	0.012	−.079	−.001
(H12)	EC➡LC➡CA➡DW	−.004	0.009	−.025	0.011

JI = job insecurity; EC = economic constraints; LC = living a calling; CA = career adaptability; DW = decent work.

7. Discussion

This study applied the PWT to Korean artists. We explored whether job insecurity and economic constraints sequentially predicted decent work and how they were related to decent work through the mediators of living a calling and career adaptability. The main findings of the study are as follows: First, job insecurity and economic constraints predicted decent work sequentially. The results were consistent with the main assumption of the PWT (Duffy et al., 2016) that social marginalization and economic constraints can negatively affect decent work and findings of previous studies that social marginalization can affect decent work (Duffy et al., 2017. The results of the present study are based on a previous study (Oh, 2016) explaining the relationship between job insecurity and economic constraints experienced by Korean artists and a previous study (Jang & Lee, 2021) predicting the effect of job insecurity due to COVID-19 on economic constraints, which explains that job insecurity significantly predicts economic constraints. Additionally, the results were in the same vein as those of previous studies wherein economic constraints could negatively affect an individual’s career development process and decent work (Douglass et al., 2017; Duffy et al., 2019; Lee, 2020). Therefore, the effects of job insecurity and economic constraints on Korean artists’ career paths toward decent work can be considered sequentially.

Second, living a calling and career adaptability sequentially mediated the path from job insecurity to decent work. The results were similar to those of previous studies examining the relationship between calling and career adaptability for college students and studies that used calling as a concept actively involved in career development (Ahn & Shin, 2018). The results were also consistent with the role of calling identified in musicians’ career development processes (Dobrow, 2013). Therefore, it can be seen that living a calling in the career development process for a Korean artist plays the role of work volition in the PWT model. It is noteworthy that living a calling and career adaptability are sequentially mediated in the path that job insecurity leads to decent work. In other words, it can be seen that a mediating effect occurs only when career adaptability and living a calling are simultaneously included in the path from job insecurity and economic constraints to decent work. This reflects the characteristics of Korean artists who place importance on the value of their work, that is, their calling, even in the face of job insecurity and economic constraints. Therefore, in the career development process for Korean artists, it can be seen that the effect increases when the calling is additionally reflected along with the existing mediator, career adaptability.

Third, considering the mediators of living a calling and career adaptability in the structural model test of the paths from job insecurity and economic constraints to decent work, some paths were not significant. Job insecurity did not significantly predict career adaptability, and economic constraints did not significantly predict living a calling and career adaptability. The results of this study contrast with those of previous studies (Autin et al., 2017; Douglass et al., 2017; Tokar & Kaut, 2018) that confirmed the relationship between social class, social marginalization, work volition, and career adaptability. Two inferences can be drawn from these results. First, the newly developed economic constraint scale reflects the concept of a lifetime to measure an integrated career development process (Duffy et al., 2019). Therefore, the scale may not reflect the characteristics of Korean artists’ temporary and unstable employment environment. Second, given that Korean artists have no career development theories or programs yet, it may be challenging to understand the concepts of calling and career adaptability. In other words, if education regarding these concepts is incorporated for Korean artists, it is expected to positively affect these mediators’ effectiveness.

7.1. Implications

The results of this study have two theoretical implications for counselors. First, regarding career counseling for Korean artists, the main variables of the existing PWT and calling were newly added to reflect the contextual characteristics of the participants. In career counseling for these artists, a calling can be added alongside career adaptability, a mediating variable suggested by the PWT, and used as a personal coping strategy to overcome limitations in career development. This can be seen as providing a theoretical framework to support artists on a multi-layered level and seeking solutions to problems beyond the surface.

Second, the psychometric limitations of key PWT variables were supplemented for Korean artists. Considering the cultural characteristics and working environments of each country and participant, an empirical study using the DWS, a core concept of the PWT, is valuable for Korean artists. Additionally, the newly developed economic constraint and living a calling scale can be used as empirical data for future career counseling research on artists.

Furthermore, this study had two practical implications. First, the direction of programs and policies to reduce social marginalization and economic constraints on Korean artists are presented. The results of this study show that job insecurity and economic constraints of Korean artists significantly impact their decent work experience. This can be connected to previous studies that suggest a policy direction to expand decent work experience to reduce social marginalization and economic constraints (Autin et al., 2019). Therefore, expanding quality work experience should be considered first in terms of programs and policies for Korean artists.

Second, directions are presented for developing specific career-counseling programs for artists in various countries. This study reflects the Korean context and emphasizes the role of job insecurity and calling in the process of Korean artists experiencing decent work. However, given that the analysis process also reflects the general characteristics of artists related to social marginalization and economic constraints, our results can be used as a basis for developing special career counseling programs for artists of various nationalities in different contexts. Additionally, the regular curricula can include career education programs for artists. This can result in a long-term perspective on an artist’s career by providing an in-depth understanding of and reflection on their careers in a rapidly changing society.

7.2. Limitations

This study has several limitations that suggest directions for future research. First, in the PWT, the latest career theory—the measures of the significant variables—were being developed or validated, and the key variables of the theory were not yet consolidated. Therefore, the newly validated K-DWS (Nam & Kim, 2019) was used in this study, and the recently developed ECS (Duffy et al., 2019) was used as an adaptation. This finding is considered significant in this study. However, there was no scale to accurately measure the job insecurity of Korean artists; thus, the existing scale was modified and supplemented. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a scale that comprehensively measures artists’ social marginalization and job insecurity.

Second, this study showed limitations in the integrated understanding of the career development process of Korean artists by verifying only some pathways of PWT from social marginalization and economic constraints to decent work. Therefore, it is possible to apply the overall model that leads to the predictors and outcomes of decent work in the future or to conduct research exploring the economic situation, active personality, critical consciousness, and social support, which are moderator variables that act as protective factors. Given that decent work is a key concept and variable in PWT, its definition and meaning of decent work must be embodied through qualitative research on artists in the future.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was also supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research.

Notes on contributors

Woo-Hyeon Jang

Woo-Hyeon Jang, Ph. D, Lecturer in Counseling Psychology program at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS). His current research interests are in the employment environment and career of artists.

Ji-Yeon Lee

Ji-Yeon Lee, Ph. D, Professor in Counseling Psychology program at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) and a licensed psychologist (NY: U.S.A.). She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University. As a psychologist and practitioner, she has numerous clinical experiences with diverse clients including issues related to the current study.