Adapting to the Unknown: Career Adaptability as a Predictor of Self-Efficacy in Teachers During Emergency Remote Teaching

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions worldwide to shift abruptly to emergency remote teaching (ERT), placing unprecedented demands on teachers' psychological and professional resources. This quantitative study examined the levels of career adaptability and general self-efficacy among Greek secondary education teachers during the ERT period, as well as the relationship between these two constructs. A sample of 202 secondary school teachers (75.2% female; M age = 47.37, SD = 8.69) completed the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Short Form (CAAS-SF; Maggiori et al., 2017 [15]) and the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE; Chen et al., 2001 [12]). Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVAs, Pearson correlations, and reliability analyses (Cronbach's α) were conducted using SPSS 26. Results indicated high mean levels of career adaptability (M = 3.98, SD = 0.65) and self-efficacy (M = 3.83, SD = 0.60). All four career adaptability dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, confidence) were significantly and positively correlated with self-efficacy (p < .05). Demographic and occupational variables (gender, employment status, school type, years of experience) showed differential effects on the examined constructs. These findings highlight the critical role of career adaptability in supporting teachers' self-efficacy during crisis-driven transitions and have implications for professional development programmes and educational policy.