後天視障者生涯建構與職涯發展歷程之多重個案研究

A Multiple Case Study of Career Construction and Career Development Processes of People with Adventitious Blindness

本研究旨在探究後天視障者生涯建構和職涯發展歷程，研究目的有三：（一）其生涯建構的形成與改變；（二）外在因素對其職涯發展可能造成的影響；（三）其職涯動機的發展與轉變歷程。本研究採立意取樣，運用半結構式深度訪談大綱，以五位後天視障者為研究參與者，並採用三角驗證原則以確保研究信實度。本研究結果如下：（一）後天視障者生涯建構形成與改變涉及致障前的成功經驗、重要他人的影響、生涯角色與價值觀及個人特質的建構；（二）外在因素可能造成的影響有：獲得工作機會、社會環境變遷、職場環境與工作條件及職務再設計；（三）正向韌力為初入職場之職涯發展階段的動力來源。然而當視覺惡化後，面對職涯變動與調整，其職涯韌力透過內在情緒調整與外在資源系統支持而獲得克服困境的力量，進而洞察職涯核心，接受改變且相信有獨立自主能力。因此，本研究結果發現，未來提供就業服務時，應考量個別生涯建構的內在心理狀態，及外在環境的有利條件，並著重於視覺逐步惡化者之視覺功能損傷變化狀況，及個人對於其生涯角色定位的差異，以提供符合其需求之就業輔導策略，並針對其視覺狀況彈性調整服務方向。文末亦說明研究限制與未來建議。

 

Purpose

This study examines the career construction and career development process of people with adventitious blindness, including the change process in career beliefs and career motivations of people with adventitious blindness. The three research questions are: (1) What are the formation and changes in the career constructs of people with adventitious blindness? (2) How do external factors affect the career development of people with adventitious blindness? (3) What are the career development process and career motivation changes in people with adventitious blindness?

Methods

The study adopted a purposive sampling and multiple case study approach and invited five participants with adventitious blindness for this study. Three of the five participants were male, and two were female, with an average age of 43. They had different occupations (e.g., massage, education care assistance, computer skill teaching, agriculture, computer information processing) and other causes of impairment (e.g., visual impairment due to chronic visible diseases, acute illness). Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis and triangulation techniques to ensure the reliability of the study to validate the findings.

Results

The findings of this study revealed that: (1) The process of forming and changing the career constructs of people with adventitious blindness is related to the pre-impairment successes (personal preferences, strengths, academic learning, and work outcomes), the influence of significant others (beliefs conveyed by significant others or primary supporters), career roles (the male participants have traditional male family roles, while the female participants tend to solve problems on their own and break away from the part of dependents) and values (obtaining a fair salary, establishing social relationships, and realizing self-actualization), and the construction of personal traits (feedback and reactions from others, and personal internal reflection). The key is to find one’s value. Through constructing and reconstructing, they expand their diversified perspectives, develop more different resources, turn the impact of deteriorating vision into motivation to start anew, and have the courage to try to use new resources, find unexplored potential in the past, or open up new job opportunities. (2) The results of the study showed that external factors include: access to job opportunities (opportunities from social resources, referrals from schools or associations, family resources, personal expertise), changes in the general social environment, workplace environment, and working conditions (computerized work tasks and a lot of screen manipulation are very burdensome for people with adventitious blindness, and the content and duties of the jobs may exhaust the remaining vision and force them to change jobs) and job accommodation (adjusting work methods, using required assistive technology aids, natural supporters, professional assistance). All of these factors will affect the career development of the participants. In addition, when facing job challenges, participants will not only use different strategies but also make appropriate career choices by considering their current real-life needs and their impairment status. (3) For people with adventitious blindness, positive resilience (self-acceptance, resource application, overcoming external resistance) is the driving force that lays the foundation for their early career development. This resilience facilitates personal career insight (re-awareness of self, career preferences, and actual needs, job adjustment), career identity (application of professional skills, job roles, and performance), and career decisions and actions (initial job decisions, maintaining a current job, career transitions) for people with adventitious blindness. As their vision deteriorates and they face career change and adjustment, their positive resilience increases their motivation to make emotional adjustments and responses (e.g., actively seeking peer support, developing interests and sharing, family members’ companionship and support) and seeking diversified social resources (e.g., applying for disability identification, guide dog service, accommodated bus service, sighted guide runners services) to facilitate continuous career change and improvement. The second deterioration of vision is the main cut-off point for a career change, which again motivates them to change their career.

Conclusions

The suggestions of this study can be divided into two parts; one is for people with adventitious blindness: (1) People with adventitious blindness can take the initiative to learn about different resources and develop their ability to use and search for resources before their physiological functions change, and to seek help from others promptly. (2) People with adventitious blindness can build their interpersonal support network and avoid prolonged immersion in negative emotions. (3) In the face of social changes, they can use different social resources to improve their workability or make work adjustments, such as: building more life skills, strengthening orientation and mobility, and upgrading work equipment and systems to follow the social trend to enhance the opportunity to obtain work. (4) Being aware of one’s values and sense of mission can help people with adventitious blindness to make appropriate career decisions. The second part is to provide an employment service model for people with adventitious blindness: (1) Employment services need to assess and individualize the service model or adjust the services according to the stage of career development, the degree of visual impairment, individual internal psychological state and external environment of people with adventitious blindness. If changes in their physical and mental functions are found, relevant units should actively intervene and assist them to reapply for services. (2) Employment service providers should consider the differences in the gender and career roles of people with adventitious blindness and the changes in their roles at different vision statuses to provide employment counseling strategies or support resources that meet their needs. Limitations and suggestions: This study has limitations: (1) Each participant’s condition and environment differed. Hence, the results of this study must be interpreted with the specific background of each individual with impairment. However, future research can use the findings in this study as a reference when first encountering people with adventitious blindness. (2) The participants in this study mainly worked in metropolitan areas. The researchers did not get a chance to explore the experiences of career motivation changes of people with acquired blindness living in other non-metropolitan areas. Therefore, future researchers can identify the extent of the direct effects of various factors that impact the career construction and career development process or focus on exploring career reconstruction patterns in people with adventitious blindness.