The university-to-work transition: responses of universities and organizations to the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand how universities and organizations have responded to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of preparing university students and recent graduates to enter the global labor market, using the accounting, banking and finance sector as a case study. The two research questions are (1) How can university career services and organizations work individually and collaboratively to best develop early career talent following the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What are the challenges that university career services and organizations face when working individually or collaboratively to develop early career talent following the COVID-19 pandemic?Design/methodology/approachThe data for thematic analysis comes from 36 semi-structured interviews with career advisors (CAs) (n = 19) and graduate recruiters (GRs) (n = 17).FindingsThis study offers some of the first findings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to ensure that organizational behavior and career theory literature reflect the dramatically changing landscape in the university-to-work transition.Originality/valueTheoretically, our contribution comes from applying a framework of the career construction theory (CTT) within the context of a career ecosystem to understand the views of the intermediary, meso-level actors, which, to date, have lacked representation within career literature. Practically, we provide an insightful bridge between universities and organizations, offering opportunities for greater collaboration, and enhanced outcomes for all stakeholders.

Family influence on career decisions: perceptions of Latin American CEOs

PurposeThe career is a space where family and work lives amalgamate. The role of work for the individual, and the meaning of work within the culture, will determine the relevance of family. This study investigates CEOs' perception about conjugal family influence on career decisions, and it examines family factors.Design/methodology/approachThrough a qualitative study, 22 Latin American CEOs who work for multinational firms were interviewed in a semi-structured way.FindingsNot all career decisions were influenced by conjugal family. CEOs varied in the extent to which they considered their families when reflecting on their career decisions. Expatriation, joining or quitting an organization and change of area of work were found as those decisions perceived to be influenced by conjugal family. Family support, family structure and family demands and responsibilities were identified as the family factors involved. In spite of the role salience, family factors influenced some of CEOs' career decisions, in part, due to the cultural characteristics of the Latin American environment. The instrumental support of the extended family, as part of collectivist societies, was also evidenced.Practical implicationsA better understanding of the family influenced decisions and family factors involved may enhance individual career decision-making as well as organizational career management processes and public initiatives.Originality/valueThis study contributes to family and career literature, being the first one to explore the conjugal family influence upon CEOs' career decisions.

Careers advancement of women: Applying a multi-level relational perspective in the context of Turkish banking organisations

This article investigates the question of why women remain underrepresented in management positions despite their increasing presence in the Turkish banking sector context. By using an integrative framework that brings together the relational and institutional perspectives, this article seeks to understand how macro-level contextual influences reflect on meso-organisational processes and practices, which in turn influence women’s micro-individual career trajectories. This article explores the careers experiences of 49 female banking professionals from three distinct banking organisations (Turkish, western and Islamic). The findings reveal that women’s limited representation at managerial level is an outcome of the interplay between macro-, meso- and micro-level issues. At the macro-level, the article highlights religion-based fragmented social structure as a key factor in the socio-cultural context of Turkey. At the meso-level, the analysis of the three different cases identifies factors relevant to both western and Middle Eastern societal contexts. At the micro-level, the analysis highlights how women’s perceptions of macro-level barriers change depending on their organisational context, emphasising the interrelatedness between these three levels. The article contributes to women’s career literature by providing the Turkish perspective and introducing novel insights into the interplay between societal forces, organisational practices and individuals’ perceptions.

Labour market information and social justice: a critical examination

Labour Market Information forms a central place in career practice and how individuals enact their careers. This paper makes use of Alvesson and Sandberg’s (Constructing research questions: doing interesting research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2013) methodology of focussing research on theoretical assumptions to construct a critical literature review on the relationship between Labour Market Information and career guidance. This paper presents six theoretical conceptions from the career literature: Contact, Rationalism, Nomad, Adaptability, Constructivist and Social Justice. We will argue for the need to move towards more constructivist understandings of Labour Market Information as well understandings linked to more critical understandings of the labour market.

Perceived quality of internships and employability perceptions: the mediating role of career-entry worries

PurposeThis study illuminates the assumption that internships facilitate labor market entry and answers the question of why internships have a positive effect on students' self-perceived employability. It is assumed that internships enable more positive employability perceptions by reducing career-entry worries – the worries of not finding a suitable job or not being able to obtain a satisfactory career.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave study among graduate students currently in an internship investigated these relationships. Data on career-entry worries, perceived employability and an evaluation of the internship were collected from 80 students (mean age: 24.6 years, 68% female) from various fields of study aiming at both bachelor's and master's degrees.FindingsThe results showed that positively evaluated internships contributed to graduates' self-perceived employability by means of reduced career-entry worries over an eight-week period.Originality/valueBy considering graduates' career-entry worries – the perceived uncertainty about finding an “appropriate” career in the future – the authors introduce a new concept to the career literature and show that these worries are significant in terms of self-assessed employability.

The Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale: Development and Initial Validation

The 15-item Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale was developed to assess emerging adults’ appraisals of the extent to which their current career progress exceeds their set career goals. We generated 32 items based on a literature review, focus groups, and expert reviews, used EFA ( N = 244, M age 18.7 years; 65% women) to reduce the number of items, and CFA ( N = 254, M age 18.7 years; 68% women) to confirm the factor structure and demonstrate superior reliability at the total score level (ω reliability = .91). Validity testing demonstrated that the scale was distinct from a measure of negative career goal discrepancy and related, as expected, to constructs in the nomological net: correlated positively with career satisfaction and optimism, and negatively with negative career goal discrepancy. The scale is a useful addition to the career literature and is likely to stimulate research into positive career goal progress in young people.

Psychological aspects of women’s career growth constraints and outcomes: A longitudinal study from India

This longitudinal study explores the relationships between glass ceiling beliefs (i.e. denial, resilience, resignation, and acceptance) and the outcomes of work commitment and work turnover intention, mediated via work engagement, across two time waves. Using data collected from 400 women employees (mean age = 36.67 years) from the banking sector in India, the study found support for the mediating role of work engagement between glass ceiling beliefs and both work commitment and work turnover intention over time. Glass ceiling beliefs of denial and resilience were related positively to work engagement and commitment and related negatively to turnover intention over time. Resignation and acceptance were related negatively to work engagement and work commitment and related positively to work turnover intention over time. Apart from theoretical implications to the career literature, the organizational implications of this study include framing policies that focus on development of optimistic beliefs and transformation of pessimistic beliefs.

The Positioning of Social Justice: Critical Challenges for Career Development

Career development theory and practice have the potential to foster a sense of belonging and well-being by facilitating the construction of meaningful life-careers. Social justice issues are integral, because they are concerned with fairness and equity, (in)equality, cultural diversity, psychosocial well-being, and societal values. Career development theorists, researchers, and practitioners, therefore, need a deeper understanding of the multiple and complex influences on how ‘career’ is interpreted and ‘opportunities’ are presented. Such an understanding should provide critical insight into the effects of wider sociocultural and political concerns affecting what is deemed possible in the shaping and enactment of career. Yet the term social justice is often loosely deployed or inadequately defined in contemporary career literature and tends to be absent in discussions of practice. This chapter explores the contested nature of social justice, outlines competing definitions, and considers ways in which critical social justice contributes a transformative dimension to career development.

Improving career wellbeing for first-time expectant mothers

Within the diverse population of working women, those who experience pregnancy for the first time may face some particular challenges when it comes to their career development needs and issues. These include discrimination in the workplace, responding to social expectations and pressures, negotiating life roles, and evolving personal identities. This article discusses the major career problems encountered by this target group, both structurally and socially, with a focus on individual strategies to access personal agentic functioning and empower women facing these challenges. These workers are often overlooked in the career literature; yet, there is a range of career theories to draw upon to assist them in their needs. The application of the life-span, life-space career theory, and the narrative therapy approaches are explored in relation to the helping process. These two theoretical orientations were chosen as they address the particular challenges faced by pregnant women in the workplace, especially around negotiating life roles and an evolving personal identity. There is a need for a stronger understanding of these challenges and opportunities to support pregnant women as they seek vocational wellbeing, and how to tailor suitable, well-established career counselling strategies to meet their unique needs.

CEOs' experience and career success in Latin American firms

PurposeThis study investigates the influence of experience – organisational tenure, international experience and springboard role – upon Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs) time to the top and the time taken by CEOs to reach that position. As work and careers are embedded in economic and institutional environments, although prior Western career studies have explored this relationship, this study aims to determine the suitability of experience as a human capital attribute to explain CEO career success in Latin American firms.Design/methodology/approach169 Latin American firms were considered (America Economia, 2014). Biographical data about CEOs were manually collected and systematically crosschecked, and multiple hierarchical regressions were employed.FindingsOrganisational tenure and lifetime experience were found to reduce the time to the top. International experience delays the time to the top. International assignments closer to HQ do not exert an influence on time to the top. In multilatinas, promoted CEOs who have held Corporate springboard roles get faster to the top than those having held Divisional positions. Findings offer partial support to the human capital theory experience in Latin America, stressing the relevance of cultural, socio-economic and institutional factors.Practical implicationsThe identification of career success predictors may enhance the career decision-making processes of individuals and organisations.Originality/valueThis study contributes to human capital and career literature, being the first one to explore the relationship between experience and time to the top in CEOs working for Latin American firms.