Overcoming the challenges of living with an occupational call: a study with Veterans

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand how individuals experience the challenges of living their occupational call. A qualitative research was carried out, with the grounded theory method, through narrative interviews. Thus, we developed a substantive theory that maintains that an occupational call can be experienced on different meanings constructed by workers – in the particular case, the veterinarians surveyed – that these different constructions of meaning lead workers to experience different emotions and challenges in the short and long term at work, as well as that these different challenges are overcome by different overcoming strategies. Thus, this work contributes to the literature in the sense of breaking with the traditional view that having an occupational call ensnats a monolithic meaning in itself. On the contrary, the study suggests that different meanings related to a call may produce different effects on the subjects’ career trajectory.