Investigating the psychometric properties of the career agility scale in a sample of South African employees

Abstract

Rapid technological change, the fourth industrial revolution and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have fundamentally altered how organisations operate and how employees manage their careers. Continuous digital disruption, new ways of working and shifting skill demands require employees to remain open to learning, engage proactively with change and draw on psychological resources that support adaptive behaviour. Career agility has been highlighted as a key resource that enables employees to navigate this uncertainty, yet empirical research on career agility and its measurement remains limited, particularly in the South African context. The Career Agility Scale (CAS) was recently developed to assess employees' readiness to adapt to technological advancement, engage in agile learning and navigate changing career environments. However, few independent studies have examined its reliability, validity or its links with career adaptability and important career outcomes such as job satisfaction and self-regulation. The general objective of this research was to investigate the psychometric properties of the CAS in a sample of South African employees. Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate the factor structure of the CAS, examine its internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and assess its criterion related validity in relation to career adaptability, job satisfaction and self-regulation. A further objective was to test a structural model in which career agility was specified as an antecedent to career adaptability, with both constructs related to job satisfaction and self-regulation, including the potential mediating role of career adaptability. A quantitative, cross sectional survey design was used. Employed adults in South Africa (n = 269) were recruited via purposive non-probability sampling. Participants were 18 years or older, employed, and had completed at least Grade 12 to ensure sufficient language proficiency for the self-report instruments. The survey included a biographical questionnaire, the Career Agility Scale, the Career Adapt Abilities Scale Short Form, a three-item job satisfaction scale and the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire. Data were analysed using JASP and Mplus. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) were applied to test the three-factor structure of the CAS (technological adaptivity, agile learning and career navigation) and to evaluate model fit. Composite reliability coefficients were calculated to assess internal consistency. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined through intercorrelations among latent variables. Structural equation modelling was then used to test the hypothesised relationships between career agility, career adaptability, job satisfaction and self-regulation, including indirect effects. The ESEM model supported the intended three factor structure of the CAS, with acceptable global fit indices and substantial factor loadings for most items. Composite reliability coefficients for technological adaptivity, agile learning and career navigation were all above recommended thresholds, indicating good internal consistency. Career agility showed strong positive associations with career adaptability and moderate positive relationships with job satisfaction and self-regulation, supporting convergent validity. Discriminant validity was largely acceptable, although the high correlation between career agility and career adaptability indicated conceptual closeness between the constructs. Structural modelling indicated that career agility positively predicted career adaptability and job satisfaction, while its direct association with self-regulation was not significant once adaptability was included. Career adaptability was positively related to self-regulation but not to job satisfaction. Mediation analyses showed a positive indirect effect of career agility on self-regulation via career adaptability, while the indirect effect on job satisfaction was small and negative, indicating an inconsistent mediation pattern. Overall, the findings provided initial independent support for the psychometric soundness of the Career Agility Scale in a South African sample. The results confirmed the three-factor structure, internal consistency and key aspects of convergent and discriminant validity and clarified the role of career agility as an antecedent to career adaptability and related career outcomes. Future recommendations and limitations of the study were also discussed. The study contributes to Industrial and Organisational Psychology literature by extending empirical research on career agility and offers a validated tool to support assessment and development initiatives in dynamic work contexts.