The characteristics of nurses in relation to their attitudes about career planning and development activities : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Introduction: The dilemma of nursing workforce capacity in coming years, as older nurses prepare to exit the workforce to retire, creates pressure on those that remain and makes retention of nurses a priority. Career planning and career development concepts characterise the factors that lie within the nurse’s influence, or are within the influence of the employer/organization. Aim: This study examines nurses’ attitudes to activities that promote career progression as well as training and education in order to identify demographic characteristics of nurses that are the most as well as the least positive about career progression and training/education. Method: This study undertakes secondary analysis of existing data, from the NZNO Employment Survey 2015, examining the data from nurses (n = 944) that responded to five questions about their attitude to career progression and training/education. Data were analysed using quantitative methods to describe and compare with nurses registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand, and investigate the relationship between nurses’ attitudes about career progression and training/education and their experiences of participating in some of those activities. Results: A strong significant association was found between nurses who engage in career development activities and their positive attitude about career progression, in particular for nurses who had recent access to career planning (p = .001) and who had a performance appraisal in the last 12 months (p = .001). A similar association was found between nurses who engage in training/education activities and their positive attitude to training/education, in particular for nurses who access three or more professional development days per year and who receive a range of employer support for education (p = .001). The demographic characteristics of nurses who were the most and least positive were identified. Discussion: When nurses are engaged in activities that promote career progression and training/education, they are more positive about career progression and training/education. This means that employers/organisations that prioritise facilitating nurses’ access to these activities stand to benefit from nurses having a more positive attitude to career progression

Longitudinal study of local authority child and family social workers (wave 1) Findings from a 5 year study of local authority child and family social workers in England.

The longitudinal study investigates recruitment, retention and career progression in local authority child and family social work over 5 years. This is the first of 5 reports. It provides workforce information for employers and policy makers. Topics covered in this report include: •entry routes into local authority child and family social work •current employment and career history •workplace wellbeing •management, supervision and working environment •job satisfaction •career progression and future career plan

The role of skills from worklessness to sustainable employment with progression

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy has not been sufficiently informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. The review focused on evidence from 2005: it provides a review of data, UK and international literature and, incorporates findings from four international case studies ( Australia, Germany, Denmark and the United States. The report provides an overview of the economic context for low pay and low skilled work and highlights the need for a continuing commitment to promoting opportunities in the labour market as a means of progression and alleviating poverty and encouraging social mobility. The report argues that there is an inextricable link between skills and ‘better jobs’. The authors conclude that a long-term view is required to decide how best to support someone at the point of worklessness: to address employability barriers in the short-term; and prepare the individual to retain, and progress in, employment. The concept of career is explored as a framework for progression: a combination of career guidance, a career / personal development plan and career management skills are identified as tools to raise aspiration and enable individual’s to take action once they are in work to support their own progression. Thinking about the workplace, the report reviews the evidence on the role of job design, line management and progression pathways in facilitating workplace learning as a route to progression

Career progression and formal versus on-the-job training

We model the choice of individuals to follow or not apprenticeship training and their subsequent career. We use German administrative data, which records education, labour market transitions and wages to estimate a dynamic discrete choice model of training choice, employment and wage growth. The model allows for returns to experience and tenure, match specific effects, job mobility and search frictions. We show how apprenticeship training affects labour market careers and we quantify its benefits, relative to the overall costs. We then use our model to show how two welfare reforms change life-cycle decisions and human capital accumulation: One is the introduction of an Earned Income Tax Credit in Germany, and the other is a reform to Unemployment Insurance. In both reforms we find very significant impacts of the policy on training choices and on the value of realized matches, demonstrating the importance of considering such longer term implications

Female career progression in retailing

Abstract: Purpose – The aim of this paper is to highlight the factors that limit and support female career progression in the retail industry. Design/methodology/approach – The research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data were collected from employees and managers working in 31 stores belonging to national stores operating in the East Midlands as well as ten SME independent retailers based in the region. Findings – The women in this study can be categorised into those women who are not interested in pursuing a career in retail, those that seek promotion but have difficulties balancing the demands of their work and domestic circumstances and those who have actively pursued a career in the industry. Despite these categorisations, the study suggests that the career progression of all female staff is helped and hindered by a number of interrelating factors, such as whether they have a role model, are loyal to the store they work in or have children. Practical implications – It is proposed that career initiatives in retailing need to be more adaptable so that they take account of the different development needs of these three types of women. Originality/value – This is a large-scale study that uses a mixed method approach and considers the opinions of store staff working in a range of roles

Longitudinal teacher education and workforce study (LTEWS) final report

The Longitudinal Teacher Education Workforce Study (LTEWS) investigated the career progression of graduate teachers from teacher education into teaching employment in all states and territories across Australia in 2012 and the first half of 2013, and tracked their perceptions, over time, of the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education programs. Specifically, it investigated: The career progression of the 2011 teacher education graduates from teacher education into, and possible exit from, teaching employment, including their utilisation into teaching, their retention and attrition in teaching in their early years, and their geographic and schools sector mobility; and, The views of teacher education graduates over time on the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education for their teaching employment, including the relationship between their views of their teacher education and their early career teaching career. &nbsp

Does woman + a network = career progression?

Question: I am an ambitious and talented junior manager who has recently been hired by FAB plc, a large multinational company. I am also a woman and, as part of my induction pack, have received an invitation to join FABFemmes - the in-company women's network. I don't think my gender has been an obstacle to my success thus far and so I don't really feel the need to join. But on the other hand I don't want to turn my back on something that might offer me a useful source of contacts to help me advance up the career ladder. What would be the best thing to do? - Ms Ambitious, UK

What are the Academic Findings About Top Variables for Predicting Career Progression Potential?

The correlation between high potential and career progression is a heatedly discussion in both academic and practitioner arenas. Validity of four signposts of high potential leaders-key career experience, learning ability, self-awareness and proactive personality-have been highlighted by empirical studies. In addition, methodology and challenges of developing high potentials are outlined to offer recommendations of real-world implications

Career Progression and Comparative Advantage

This paper constructs and structurally estimates a dynamic occupational choice model that has two distinct features. First, an occupation is vertically and horizontally differentiated by a multidimensional task complexity measure. This allows a simultaneous analysis of career progression and comparative advantage. Second, the model includes hundreds of occupations by characterizing all jobs by a multidimensional task complexity vector, thereby avoiding the curse of dimensionality. Estimation results from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY) indicate that wages increase according to task complexity and that individuals climb up the career ladder along the dimension of tasks in which they have a comparative advantage.Career decisions, dynamic stochastic discrete choice model

Maximising women's potential in the UK's retail sector

Purpose – A defining characteristic of the UK retail sector is the high number of women it employs but there remains an enduring under-representation of women in its management positions. The majority of women in the industry work part-time and this paper explores the factors that impact upon the career progression. Approach – One thousand questionnaires were completed by store staff in three leading retailers supported by interviews with store staff and SME retailers in the UK’s East Midlands region. Findings – The study revealed continuing barriers to career progression for women working part-time in retailing. Despite family friendly employment policies becoming an increasingly important feature of modern work organisations, career progression was informed by a traditional concept of a career based on full-time working. Research Limitations - the study was limited to one sector, there is a need for further studies into women’s career progression in other sectors reliant on female employment. Practical implications - the findings have implications for promotion policies, training and development provision and line management practices if retailers are to maximise the potential of the women they employ. Originality/Value – The findings, based on both quantitative and qualitative data, suggest that retailing is an industry where a significant number of women are working below their potential despite organisational policies supportive of diversity and equality of opportunity