Careers in context: An international study of career goals as mesostructure between societies' career‐related human potential and proactive career behaviour
University of Bamberg1, Athens University of Economics and Business2, University of Toronto3, University of San Andrés4, Waseda University5, VU University Amsterdam6, University of Tennessee7, Pan-Atlantic University8, Bocconi University9, University of Malawi10, University of Belgrade11, Dublin City University12, Northern Illinois University13, Hansung University14, University of Bath15, University of Victoria16, Toulouse Business School17, Cranfield University18, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven19, BI Norwegian Business School20, Donghua University21, University of Padua22, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts23, Boston University24, Macquarie University25, Istanbul University26, University of Ljubljana27, Kookmin University28, Simon Fraser University29, Indian Institute of Management Indore30, University of Salzburg31, University of Los Andes32, International Islamic University, Islamabad33, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad34, University of Hamburg35, University of Vaasa36, York University37
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of 17,986 employees from 27 countries, covering nine of GLOBE's 10 cultural clusters, and national statistical data was used to examine the relationship between societal context and actors' career goals (career mesostructure) and career behaviour (actions).
Abstract: Careers exist in a societal context that offers both constraints and opportunities for career actors. Whereas most studies focus on proximal individual and/or organisational‐level variables, we provide insights into how career goals and behaviours are understood and embedded in the more distal societal context. More specifically, we operationalise societal context using the career‐related human potential composite and aim to understand if and why career goals and behaviours vary between countries. Drawing on a model of career structuration and using multilevel mediation modelling, we draw on a survey of 17,986 employees from 27 countries, covering nine of GLOBE's 10 cultural clusters, and national statistical data to examine the relationship between societal context (macrostructure building the career‐opportunity structure) and actors' career goals (career mesostructure) and career behaviour (actions). We show that societal context in terms of societies' career‐related human potential composite is negatively associated with the importance given to financial achievements as a specific career mesostructure in a society that is positively related to individuals' proactive career behaviour. Our career mesostructure fully mediates the relationship between societal context and individuals' proactive career behaviour. In this way, we expand career theory's scope beyond occupation‐ and organisation‐related factors.
Citations
More filters
13 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) as discussed by the authors covers 187 countries, the same number of countries as in 2012 and 2011, and is used to assess the human development of a country.
Abstract: How many countries are included in the 2013 HDI? The 2013 HDI covers 187 countries, the same number as in 2012 and 2011. Maintaining the same number of is the result of intensified efforts by the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) to work with international data providers and national statistical agencies to obtain required development indicators for the HDI which had been unavailable for some countries in previous years. For a full explanation of the results and methodology of the 2013HDI and other indexes in the 2014 Human Development Report, please see the Technical Notes 1-5. What does the HDI tell us? The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. For example, Malaysia has GNI per capita higher than Chile but life expectancy at birth is about 5 years shorter, mean years of schooling is shorter and expected years of schooling is 2.5 years shorter resulting in Chile having a much higher HDI value than the Malaysia. These striking contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities. Did the HDI rankings change for many countries in 2013? Based on the consistent data series that were available on 15 November 2013, there are few countries with changed ranks between 2012 and 2013. The HDI values for 2012 and 2013 are given in Table 1 of Statistical Annex. The HDI trends since 1980 are given in Table 2. In this table we also provide the change in ranks between 2008 and 2013. We advise users of the HDR not to compare the results from different Reports, but to use the consistent data given in Table 2 of the latest report. The consistent data are based on the latest data revisions and are obtained using the same methodology. The effect of change in achievements (improvement or declining) in human development indicators of
265 citations
251 citations
177 citations
21 Jul 2021
TL;DR: The Gini coefficient as discussed by the authors is a more complete measure of income inequality, considering the entire income distribution, and it indicates that income inequality is rising overall, and that the increasing disparity of income in the U.S. over the past 30 years results from skill-biased technological change that has benefited higher-skilled workers.
Abstract: Between 1947 and 1974, income growth was distributed fairly evenly among households in various income groups. However, income inequality has increased over the past 30 or so years. Since the mid-1970s, real income growth for households at the 95th percentile of the distribution has grown at a pace nearly 3/2 times that of households at the 20th percentile. A similar pattern holds between men and women. The Gini coefficient (lower-left chart), a more complete measure of income inequality, considers the entire income distribution. It indicates that income inequality is rising overall. One explanation holds that the increasing disparity of income in the U.S. over the past 30 years results from skill-biased technological change that has benefited higher-skilled workers. The skill-biased hypothesis asserts that technology improvements boost the productivity (and hence the income) of skilled labor by more than it does the unskilled. Since the 1980s, demand for skilled labor has kept pace with the relatively greater supply of skilled workers (as estimated by the rising proportion of college-educated workers), exerting upward pressure on wages for higher-skilled workers. Since the early 1980s, the average real wage has risen roughly 30% for male college graduates and nearly 50% for males with a postgraduate degree. 0 25 50 75 100 125
167 citations
References
More filters
Dissertation•
01 Jun 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined predictors of both objective (salary) and subjective (perceived) career success, including individual attributes, organisational opportunity structures and career strategies.
Abstract: The main aim of this research was to examine predictors of both objective (salary). and subjective (perceived) career success. Three sets of predictors were examined: (1) individual attributes, (2) organisational opportunity structures and (3) career strategies. It was expected that a different pattern of variables would predict objective and subjective career success. In addition, the mediating role of career strategies was examined. It was expected that individual attributes and opportunity structures would be positively related to the use of career strategies, and that these strategies would be positively related to
career success. Cross-sectional survey methodology was employed to collect data from a sample of 723 full-time employees in administrative/ technical, academic and managerial posts at several British universities. According to expectations, a different pattern of variables was related to objective and subjective career success. The strongest predictors of objective career success were education, organisational size and extended work involvement. In contrast, the strongest predictors of subjective career success were internal labour market perceptions of structured career progression and employment
security. Separate analyses by gender and occupational group revealed a similar difference in the profile of predictors of objective and subjective career success. Overall, the results suggested that the variables that related to objective career success were often not the same as those related to subjective career success. This was taken as support for the main theme of this research that objective and subjective career success, although related, are substantially distinct concepts. Contrary to expectation, however, the results provided limited support for the mediating role of career strategies in the relationship between individual attributes, organisational opportunity structures and career success (objective and subjective). Only individual attributes (education and work centrality) were positively related to the use of career strategies (extended work involvement, selfpromotion and networking), and these strategies in turn were positively related to objective or subjective career success. However, the mediating role of career strategies was weak, albeit statistically significant. A number of limitations, mainly regarding the cross-sectional nature of the study, are discussed. Educational and organisational implications of the findings are suggested. Finally, a two-dimensional model of career success is proposed, incorporating the findings of the present research with reference to the predictors of objective and subjective career success, together with suggestions for further research.
106 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the literature by collecting data on the occurrence of these terms, analyzing frequencies and trends via citations and indexes of citation using a mixed-method combination of historical literature review and performance analysis.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce further clarity to career scholarship and to support the development of career studies by complementing earlier theoretical literature reviews with an evidence-based historical analysis of career-related terms. Design/methodology/approach – Data from 12 career scholars were collected using the historical Delphi method to find consensus on the career terms that have shaped career studies between 1990 and 2012. The authors then explored the literature by collecting data on the occurrence of these terms, analyzing frequencies and trends via citations and indexes of citation using a mixed-method combination of historical literature review and performance analysis. Findings – Career scholarship is indeed a descriptive field, in which metaphors dominate the discipline. Career success and employability are basic terms within the field. The discipline tends to focus narrowly on career agents. There is a plethora of terminology, and, contrary to the expectations,...
101 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review of the 3141 articles on careers published in the management literature between 1990 and 2012 is presented, where the authors provide a systematic taxonomy of career studies within the field of management studies.
94 citations
"Careers in context: An internationa..." refers methods in this paper
...Thus, we see the structuration model of careers as a most relevant framework to analyse careers, one which has been underutilised in the past as is clearly recognisable from recent critical studies on career theory and terminology (Baruch, Szücs, & Gunz, 2015; Lee et al., 2014)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated culture's consequences on employee perceptions of the performance implications of financial and non-financial rewards and found that although the effects and predictive capability of culture (i.e., masculinity,femininity, individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance) offered some important insights, a range of other contextual factors (e.g., organizational, institutional, economic) wielded influence over and shaped reward.
Abstract: This study empirically investigated culture's consequences on employee perceptions of the performance implications of financial and non-financial rewards. Using a sample (n = 568) drawn from the banking industry in Finland and Hong Kong, we found that although the effects and predictive capability of culture (i.e. masculinity–femininity, individualism–collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance) offered some important insights, a range of other contextual factors (i.e. organizational, institutional, economic) wielded influence over and shaped reward–performance values, preferences, and behaviours. The emergence of these new paradigms necessitates that the US centric economic and behavioural theories (e.g. exchange) that underpin reward–performance be revisited and extended if they are to be applicable in the international context. Understanding the influence of a range of contextual forces is therefore critical to multinational organizations attempting to implement effective reward strategies aimed at achieving a diverse set of performance priorities. In addition to these novel theoretical and practical contributions, this study also paves the way for future research in this promising area of management studies.
93 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Carstensen et al. examined the construct of subjective life expectancy (SLE), or the estimation of one's probable age of death, and found that SLE provides individuals with their own unique mental model of remaining time that is likely to affect their retirement planning and decision making.
77 citations
"Careers in context: An internationa..." refers background in this paper
...Although employees in countries with long life expectancy are likely to attribute a higher value to these future-oriented returns, individuals in countries with low general life expectancy will rather strive for immediate compensation to realise short-term goals (Carstensen, 2006; Griffin et al., 2012)....
[...]