Nele De Cuyper
Biographic Data
| ID | 5657463 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nele De Cuyper |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nele |
| FAMILY NAME | De Cuyper |
| SIGNATURE | DE CUYPER N |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7241-9941 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Navigating careers in non-traditional work
Non-traditional work arrangements, including freelance, gig, platform-based, and entrepreneurial work, have moved from the margins to the mainstream of contemporary labor markets. These arrangements offer flexibility, autonomy, and new opportunities for meaningful work, yet they also bring insecurity, fragmented career paths, and limited institutional support. This editorial introduction article makes the case for studying non-traditional careers…
Is Work Still a Right if it has Become a Norm? Disability Inclusion in Labor Market Policy Discourse
Policy motives for work for people with a disability (PWD) are divergent along two discourses: work as a right vs norm. Work as a right, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), portrays work as a potential gateway for inclusion. Work as a norm fits a neoliberal agenda. It considers labor market participation of all, including PWD, as a civil responsibility crucial for economic welfare. Critics argue that th…
A street-level bureaucrat discourse on activation of migrant women
This study aligns with postcolonial feminist critiques of emancipation discourse embedded in activation policies targeting migrant women. It highlights how such discourse disregards the systemic barriers these women face when (re)entering the labour market. Through critical discourse analysis, we investigate how street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) interact with emancipation discourse during policy implementation. By conducting an ethnographic study o…
On your marks, get set, go! Jumping the hurdles of employability development at an early career stage
Graduation is not the end, it is just the beginning
Graduate employability has attracted considerable attention, unsurprisingly so: The transition associated with graduation presents a series of strong events, that is likely to produce change in employability. We focus on perceived employability (i.e., the individual's appraisal of available employment opportunities). Change in perceived employability in the transition after graduation is sometimes hinted at, yet seldom tested: Positive change is …
Karasek's activation hypothesis
Karasek's job demand‐control model has received considerable research attention. However, only a few studies have examined its activation hypothesis and two problems have emerged. First, the only consistent finding concerns the activating role of job control. Findings related to job demands and the interaction between control and demands are inconsistent. Second, a dynamic approach focusing on intrapersonal dynamics is lacking. This study propose…
Addressing new leadership challenges in a rapidly changing world
status: Published
Work‐Related Psychosocial Risk Factors and Coping Resources during the Covid‐19 Crisis
T he COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a tremendous number of publica- tions in diverse disciplines. A search in the Web of Science in October 2020 with the key word "COVID-19" resulted in more than 43,000 hits. While the majority of these studies were conducted in different fields of medicine, in relative numbers the share of psychological papers was only about 2 percent, with clinical psychology representing more than half of publications in this c…
Integrating agency and structure in employability
Career competencies in the transition from higher education to the labor market
The Corona Crisis
All Insecure, All Good? Job Insecurity Profiles in Relation to Career Correlates
Felt job insecurity is commonly seen as a stressor that is tied to a specific segment of employees and which implies overall negative outcomes. We challenge this view based on the new career rhetoric that assumes that felt job insecurity is widespread, although not necessarily problematic; rather, on the contrary, that felt job insecurity may promote career growth and development. Accordingly, our first aim concerns the distribution of felt quant…
Job Insecurity and Employability
We define (perceived) job insecurity and (perceived) employability, and detail their antecedents and consequences. Antecedents concern variables at the macro, meso, and micro level. Health and well being and employee attitudes and behaviors are potential consequences. We then discuss explanations for the relationship between job insecurity/employability and the outcome. Finally, the relationship between job insecurity and employability is looked …
Temporary Workers/Temporary Agency Workers
A substantial proportion of the total working population, ranging from 8% in the United States to 14% in Europe, is temporarily employed. Temporary employment refers to dependent employment of limited duration, either directly by the organization or by an agency. The use of temporary employment is mostly inspired by employers' motives related to cost reduction and flexibility. This has led to concerns about the impact of temporary employment for …
Job seekers’ search intensity and wage flexibility
Although studies on job search implicitly presume that relationships between antecedents and indicators of job search are similar for job seekers from different ages, few studies have tested this assumption even though lifespan theories state that individual motives and behaviour significantly change as people age. From this theoretical perspective, we examine how age moderates the relationships between re-employment efficacy, employment commitme…
Defining perceived employability
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define employability within the psychological literature with a focus upon perceived employability. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the aim, the paper defines five objectives as follows. First, the paper discusses how employability is interpreted in the psychological literature. Second, the paper defines perceived employability within this literature. Third, the paper goes one step further by com…
The Job Insecurity Scale
Multiple instruments have been developed and used to measure quantitative job insecurity (i.e., insecurity to lose the job as such), often without systematic evaluation of their psychometric characteristics across countries and language barriers. This may hamper consistent and reliable cross-study and cross-country comparisons. This study's aim was to introduce and validate the four-item Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) developed by De Witte across fiv…
Cross‐lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion
This study investigates perceived external employability (PEE) as a personal resource in relation to job insecurity and exhaustion. We advance the idea that PEE may reduce feelings of job insecurity and, through felt job insecurity, also exhaustion. That is, we probe the paths from PEE to job insecurity and from job insecurity to exhaustion. We furthermore account for possible reversed causality, so that exhaustion → felt job insecurity and felt …
Not all job demands are equal
This study aimed to integrate the differentiation between two types of job demands, as made in previous studies, in the Job–Demands Resources (JD-R) model. Specifically, this study aimed to examine empirically whether the differentiation between job hindrances and job challenges, next to the category of job resources, accounts for the unexpected positive relationships between particular types of job demands (e.g., workload) and employees' work en…
Literature review of theory and research on the psychological impact of temporary employment
The increased use of temporary contracts has instigated debates on possible implications for employees’ attitudes, well‐being and behaviour. The complex issues related to this debate are reviewed from a theoretical, empirical and conceptual point of view. First, the definitions of temporary employment that are currently used in OECD countries are reviewed. Second, theoretical views concerning possible determinants are elaborated. The theoretical …
The Individual in the Changing Working Life
Working life has been the subject of great change in recent years with contemporary conditions generally providing increased opportunities and autonomy for individuals. But these benefits can coincide with greater demands and responsibilities, increasing the pressure to work outside of traditional working hours and so creating conflict between work and family life. This book contributes towards our understanding of contemporary working life, cons…
A qualitative study on the development of workplace bullying
Up to now, researchers have identified various individual and work‐related factors as potential antecedents of workplace bullying. The aim of the present study is to integrate this line of research in view of explaining how these antecedents may develop into workplace bullying. Key informants, such as union representatives, employees with a confidence role concerning workplace bullying, human resource managers, prevention workers and social servi…
The impact of job insecurity and contract type on attitudes, well‐being and behavioural reports
Research on the impact of job insecurity for temporary employees has been largely exploratory and atheoretical in nature. This paper addresses this issue by considering the role of job insecurity on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self‐rated performance among permanent employees ( N = 396) as compared with temporary ones ( N = 148). Hypotheses are formulated using the tradition of transactional versus relationa…
A qualitative study on the development of workplace bullying
Up to now, researchers have identified various individual and work‐related factors as potential antecedents of workplace bullying. The aim of the present study is to integrate this line of research in view of explaining how these antecedents may develop into workplace bullying. Key informants, such as union representatives, employees with a confidence role concerning workplace bullying, human resource managers, prevention workers and social servi…
Cross‐lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion
This study investigates perceived external employability (PEE) as a personal resource in relation to job insecurity and exhaustion. We advance the idea that PEE may reduce feelings of job insecurity and, through felt job insecurity, also exhaustion. That is, we probe the paths from PEE to job insecurity and from job insecurity to exhaustion. We furthermore account for possible reversed causality, so that exhaustion → felt job insecurity and felt …
The impact of job insecurity and contract type on attitudes, well‐being and behavioural reports
Research on the impact of job insecurity for temporary employees has been largely exploratory and atheoretical in nature. This paper addresses this issue by considering the role of job insecurity on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self‐rated performance among permanent employees ( N = 396) as compared with temporary ones ( N = 148). Hypotheses are formulated using the tradition of transactional versus relationa…
Literature review of theory and research on the psychological impact of temporary employment
The increased use of temporary contracts has instigated debates on possible implications for employees’ attitudes, well‐being and behaviour. The complex issues related to this debate are reviewed from a theoretical, empirical and conceptual point of view. First, the definitions of temporary employment that are currently used in OECD countries are reviewed. Second, theoretical views concerning possible determinants are elaborated. The theoretical …
The Individual in the Changing Working Life
Working life has been the subject of great change in recent years with contemporary conditions generally providing increased opportunities and autonomy for individuals. But these benefits can coincide with greater demands and responsibilities, increasing the pressure to work outside of traditional working hours and so creating conflict between work and family life. This book contributes towards our understanding of contemporary working life, cons…
A qualitative study on the development of workplace bullying
Up to now, researchers have identified various individual and work‐related factors as potential antecedents of workplace bullying. The aim of the present study is to integrate this line of research in view of explaining how these antecedents may develop into workplace bullying. Key informants, such as union representatives, employees with a confidence role concerning workplace bullying, human resource managers, prevention workers and social servi…
Not all job demands are equal
This study aimed to integrate the differentiation between two types of job demands, as made in previous studies, in the Job–Demands Resources (JD-R) model. Specifically, this study aimed to examine empirically whether the differentiation between job hindrances and job challenges, next to the category of job resources, accounts for the unexpected positive relationships between particular types of job demands (e.g., workload) and employees' work en…
Cross‐lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion
This study investigates perceived external employability (PEE) as a personal resource in relation to job insecurity and exhaustion. We advance the idea that PEE may reduce feelings of job insecurity and, through felt job insecurity, also exhaustion. That is, we probe the paths from PEE to job insecurity and from job insecurity to exhaustion. We furthermore account for possible reversed causality, so that exhaustion → felt job insecurity and felt …
Defining perceived employability
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define employability within the psychological literature with a focus upon perceived employability. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the aim, the paper defines five objectives as follows. First, the paper discusses how employability is interpreted in the psychological literature. Second, the paper defines perceived employability within this literature. Third, the paper goes one step further by com…
The Job Insecurity Scale
Multiple instruments have been developed and used to measure quantitative job insecurity (i.e., insecurity to lose the job as such), often without systematic evaluation of their psychometric characteristics across countries and language barriers. This may hamper consistent and reliable cross-study and cross-country comparisons. This study's aim was to introduce and validate the four-item Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) developed by De Witte across fiv…
Job Insecurity and Employability
We define (perceived) job insecurity and (perceived) employability, and detail their antecedents and consequences. Antecedents concern variables at the macro, meso, and micro level. Health and well being and employee attitudes and behaviors are potential consequences. We then discuss explanations for the relationship between job insecurity/employability and the outcome. Finally, the relationship between job insecurity and employability is looked …
Temporary Workers/Temporary Agency Workers
A substantial proportion of the total working population, ranging from 8% in the United States to 14% in Europe, is temporarily employed. Temporary employment refers to dependent employment of limited duration, either directly by the organization or by an agency. The use of temporary employment is mostly inspired by employers' motives related to cost reduction and flexibility. This has led to concerns about the impact of temporary employment for …
Job seekers’ search intensity and wage flexibility
Although studies on job search implicitly presume that relationships between antecedents and indicators of job search are similar for job seekers from different ages, few studies have tested this assumption even though lifespan theories state that individual motives and behaviour significantly change as people age. From this theoretical perspective, we examine how age moderates the relationships between re-employment efficacy, employment commitme…
All Insecure, All Good? Job Insecurity Profiles in Relation to Career Correlates
Felt job insecurity is commonly seen as a stressor that is tied to a specific segment of employees and which implies overall negative outcomes. We challenge this view based on the new career rhetoric that assumes that felt job insecurity is widespread, although not necessarily problematic; rather, on the contrary, that felt job insecurity may promote career growth and development. Accordingly, our first aim concerns the distribution of felt quant…
The Corona Crisis
Work‐Related Psychosocial Risk Factors and Coping Resources during the Covid‐19 Crisis
T he COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a tremendous number of publica- tions in diverse disciplines. A search in the Web of Science in October 2020 with the key word "COVID-19" resulted in more than 43,000 hits. While the majority of these studies were conducted in different fields of medicine, in relative numbers the share of psychological papers was only about 2 percent, with clinical psychology representing more than half of publications in this c…
Integrating agency and structure in employability
Career competencies in the transition from higher education to the labor market
Karasek's activation hypothesis
Karasek's job demand‐control model has received considerable research attention. However, only a few studies have examined its activation hypothesis and two problems have emerged. First, the only consistent finding concerns the activating role of job control. Findings related to job demands and the interaction between control and demands are inconsistent. Second, a dynamic approach focusing on intrapersonal dynamics is lacking. This study propose…
Addressing new leadership challenges in a rapidly changing world
status: Published
Graduation is not the end, it is just the beginning
Graduate employability has attracted considerable attention, unsurprisingly so: The transition associated with graduation presents a series of strong events, that is likely to produce change in employability. We focus on perceived employability (i.e., the individual's appraisal of available employment opportunities). Change in perceived employability in the transition after graduation is sometimes hinted at, yet seldom tested: Positive change is …
On your marks, get set, go! Jumping the hurdles of employability development at an early career stage
Is Work Still a Right if it has Become a Norm? Disability Inclusion in Labor Market Policy Discourse
Policy motives for work for people with a disability (PWD) are divergent along two discourses: work as a right vs norm. Work as a right, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), portrays work as a potential gateway for inclusion. Work as a norm fits a neoliberal agenda. It considers labor market participation of all, including PWD, as a civil responsibility crucial for economic welfare. Critics argue that th…
A street-level bureaucrat discourse on activation of migrant women
This study aligns with postcolonial feminist critiques of emancipation discourse embedded in activation policies targeting migrant women. It highlights how such discourse disregards the systemic barriers these women face when (re)entering the labour market. Through critical discourse analysis, we investigate how street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) interact with emancipation discourse during policy implementation. By conducting an ethnographic study o…
Navigating careers in non-traditional work
Non-traditional work arrangements, including freelance, gig, platform-based, and entrepreneurial work, have moved from the margins to the mainstream of contemporary labor markets. These arrangements offer flexibility, autonomy, and new opportunities for meaningful work, yet they also bring insecurity, fragmented career paths, and limited institutional support. This editorial introduction article makes the case for studying non-traditional careers…
Psychology (17 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (10 works) · Higher Education and Employability (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Employability (7 works) · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior (7 works)