Generational Change in Work-Related Agency Beliefs in Poland

Abstract

In this study we analyze beliefs on work-related agency in two cohorts of Poles, born in 1970–1971 and in 1988–1989. Both institutional environment and labor opportunities set these two generations much apart, as the first one grew up under communism and entered the transforming labor market plagued with high unemployment, whereas the second enjoyed the opportunities set by Poland’s European Union accession. The comparison is based on nationally representative samples and synchronizes the measurement on the same moment in the life cycle (both cohorts were surveyed at 30 years of age). In the analysis we aim to verify whether there are significant differences in beliefs about means to success in career, as well as in the respondents’ own traits and resources in this respect. These differences, in turn, can be related to deeper, long-term changes in socialization and social structure, as this was often presumed in previous research (it implied further convergence with Western societies). Work-related agency is measured using a shortened version of the Control Agency Means–Ends in Adulthood Questionnaire developed by Diewald et al. Results show that there are distinct dimensions in which both generations are similar and in which they prove to be very distinct. The study also uncovers a more profound change in work-related agency in women and confirms the well-established relationship between occupational structure and agency.