A Novel Calling Intervention for Career Development and Well-Being

Callings describe work that serves a cause greater than oneself and provides meaning and purpose in life. Living a calling at work has been linked with a number of positive outcomes including well-being, intrinsic motivation, and life satisfaction. In this capstone, I describe a career and professional development class at a major university designed to help professional, graduate and postdoctoral students, predominantly in biomedical disciplines, find more meaning and purpose through callings. The class incorporates classic career counseling concepts with a calling framework that includes self-awareness, authentic purpose, and strengths. This capstone provides an overview of the course and a qualitative summary of student feedback.