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The Journal of Vocational Behavior is seeking papers for its special issue on the theme: "Careers of the Vulnerable Workforce". 

Overview:  
We live in an exceptionally volatile world besieged by vocational challenges, especially for those who are informally employed and vulnerable (International Labour Organization, 2018). The repercussions of inequality, one of the world's grand challenges (George et al., 2016), impact the working experiences of the world's most vulnerable people. A report from Gallup's basic needs vulnerability index (Esipova et al., 2020) suggests that 710 million people out of the world's total population of 750 million live in developing economies while only approximately 40 million individuals live in developed countries. More than 800 million live in extreme poverty (United Nations, 2015) with a large percentage of the population undernourished (Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations, 2015) and exposed to multiple forms of abuse (e.g., precarious working conditions, subminimum wages, excessive working hours, and mistreatment; International Organization for Migration, 2015; Robertson et al., 2016).

These vocational realities continue to persist (Audenaert et al., 2020) and the significance of studying the plight of vulnerable workers reverberates in our field (Casper et al., 2011; Fouad, 2001; Restubog et al., 2023). Understanding the vocational experiences of vulnerable workers offers unique opportunities for vocational behavior and I/O psychology scholars to develop, test and refine theories since the experiences of vulnerable workers are not the same as those of the general workforce (Heinrich et al., 2010). The unique experiences of the vulnerable workforce will likely have important divergent influences on their working lives.

Guest editors:
•    Simon Lloyd D. Restubog (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
•    Pauline Schilpzand (Oregon State University, USA)
•    Nadya Fouad (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA)
•    Mindy Shoss (University of Central Florida, USA)
•    Catherine Deen (University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia)

Special issue information:
The aim of this special issue is to encourage an interdisciplinary perspective in understanding the vocational experiences, in general, and the barriers and supports, in particular, as experienced by vulnerable workers, defined as "someone who is at risk of being abused, exploited or wounded either physically, psychologically, socially or a combination of these, at work" (Restubog et al., 2021, p. 3). Vulnerable workers comprise a broad group of people who have lower levels of human capital resulting from the vicious cycle of psychosocial constraints such as ill health (i.e., physical, mental), poverty, history of abuse, addiction, among other conditions (Audenaert et al., 2020).

Manuscript submission information:
We encourage submissions that offer novel and integrative insights that transcend disciplinary boundaries and focus on the vocational life of vulnerable workers, especially those who have been rarely examined in vocational behavior research (e.g., workers with chronic illness and/or mental illness, refugees, migrants, victims of violence; Restubog et al., 2021). From a pragmatic perspective, this special issue will be highly impactful as it offers policy-making initiatives and actionable recommendations directed toward supporting and empowering vulnerable workers. For more detailed information, please visit Journal of Vocational Behavior Call for Papers

This call is open and competitive. We are interested in submissions which are original, cutting-edge, and must not be under consideration by another journal or outlet. We are open to empirical (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, field, experimental, meta-analytic reviews) and conceptual (e.g., theory development and integrative reviews) contributions that stimulate discourse toward significantly contributing to the advancement of coherent bodies of knowledge and to provide clear and actionable recommendations to guide future scholarship about the careers of the vulnerable workforce. 

Timeline for Authors:
Submission window: July 1-July 31, 2024
First decision sent to authors: October 31, 2024; 90 days allocated for revisions. 
First revision due back: January 31, 2025
Second round decisions sent to authors: April 30, 2025
Second revision due back: July 15, 2025
Second decision sent to authors: September 30, 2025
Final decisions on manuscript: December 2025

We look forward to receiving your submissions!