La multiplicité des ancres de carrière chez les ingénieurs québécois : Impacts sur les cheminements et le succès de carrière

Le modèle des ancres de carrière proposé par Schein en 1978 est considéré comme une contribution majeure pour comprendre les cheminements de carrière des individus. En fait, cette théorie repose sur le postulat implicite selon lequel un individu ne posséderait qu’une seule ancre dominante. Ce phénomène de dominance est encore appelé « différenciation ». Aussi, de nombreux chercheurs en déduisent-ils qu’il faut ne retenir que l’ancre de carrière ayant le score le plus élevé pour opérationnaliser ce concept de dominance ou de différenciation. Pourtant certains individus pourraient posséder plusieurs ancres élevées, ce qui pose la question de la multiplicité des ancres, ici appelée « indifférenciation ». S’appuyant sur un échantillon de 900 ingénieurs québécois, cette étude montre que « l’indifférenciation » est plus fréquente qu’on ne le pense, qu’elle n’est pas un phénomène pathologique et qu’elle permet de mieux cerner un cheminement de carrière mal connu, soit le cheminement hybride.In the new information-centered economies, professions related to engineering, information technologies, management of information systems and R&D are becoming increasingly important. It is therefore not surprising that organizations consider these professionals a strategic resource that enhances their competitiveness. This phenomenon has engendered employers’ preoccupation with topics such as motivation or career management of engineers (Igbaria, Kassicieh and Silver, 1999). The fact that Schein’s career anchor model (1978) allows a better understanding of this new management challenge explains researchers’ growing interest in the concept of career anchors. Schein’s career anchor model (1978) is considered a major contribution to the understanding of individual career paths. A total of eight anchors have been defined: (1) functional/technical competence, (2) managerial competence, (3) autonomy/independence, (4) security/stability, (5) entrepreneurial creativity, (6) sense of service, (7) pure challenge and (8) lifestyle. This theory rests on the implicit postulate that an individual has only one dominant anchor. This phenomenon of dominance is known as “differentiation”. Moreover, numerous researchers extrapolate from Schein that only the career anchor with the highest score should be retained to operationalize the concept of dominance or differentiation. However, some individuals exhibit several high anchors, which raises the question of the multiplicity of anchors, here referred to “undifferentiation”.In addition to verifying the existence of multiple career anchors, four sets of formal hypotheses were tested: (1) career outcomes (career satisfaction, job success, financial success, hierarchical success or relationship success) are poorer for engineers that have undifferentiated profiles than for those that have differentiated profiles, (2a) the managerial anchor is associated with the managerial path, (2b) the technical anchor is associated with the technical path and anchors not related to managerial and (2c) technical talents are associated with non-traditional paths (hybrid and project-based), (3) an engineer pursuing a non-traditional path is more differentiated than an engineer who pursues a traditional path and (4) a stable career choice is associated with traditional paths and vice versa (an unstable choice with non-traditional paths). New measures of differentiation as well as multiplicity of anchors (e.g., a measure of dominance based on standard error of measurement) were used.This study is based on a survey administered by questionnaire to Quebec engineers. The data was collected on two occasions. First, questionnaires were sent to engineers belonging to three organizations (two private companies and one municipality). From this mailing of 720 questionnaires, 374 were used, equal to a response rate of 54.2%. The second set of data was collected from the Quebec Engineer’s Institute. A random sample of 808 men was selected, which provided a return rate of 147 usable questionnaires. In parallel with this mailing, another mailing was sent to all the female members of the Institute in order to adjust the proportion of women in our sample to offset the masculinity of the profession. Of the 1295 questionnaires distributed, 379 usable questionnaires were received. The response rates to these mailings are respectively 18.2% and 29.3%. Note that the response rate obtained in the first phase is higher than that of the second phase owing to the co-operation of the organizations involved in the project. Overall, the response rate for this study is 32% with a usable sample of 900 engineers. According to statistics compiled by the Québec Engineers Institute, our sample is highly representative of the population in several respects. For instance, the average age in the sample is 38, compared with 40.3 for the population. No significant difference was detected for other variables such as seniority or degrees obtained. Lastly, all of the statistical analyses were performed with SPSS (t-test, exploratory factor analysis, discriminant analysis) and AMOS software (confirmatory factor analysis). It should also be noted that the questionnaire was pretested and that the data was verified before the analyses were performed.This study shows that “undifferentiation” is more frequent than previously believed, that it is not a pathological phenomenon and that it allows better identification of a poorly understood career path, namely the hybrid path. First, very few studies have investigated in depth the possible existence of multiple anchors. Our results show that the multiplicity of anchors is a more frequent phenomenon than the literature implies: nearly 70% of our sample are undifferentiated versus 30% reported by some authors. Second, our research findings indicate that the multiplicity of anchors is not necessarily a pathological phenomenon, in contrast with the views of several authors. The fact that no significant difference was found between differentiation and the career outcome seems to indicate that it is equally satisfying to possess several anchors and a single anchor (first hypothesis). Naturally, these results must be confirmed by other studies, because the link between differentiation and the success variables remains poorly understood. The third contribution of this research is that it helps shed light on a yet to be clarified path, namely the hybrid path. Results show that engineers pursuing a technical path have a stronger technical anchor than do those in the hybrid and managerial paths combined (3.97 versus 3.51 for the technical anchor, t test significant at p < 0.000), which verifies hypothesis 2(b). It is interesting to note that engineers that pursue hybrid or managerial paths have a higher managerial anchor than do those in the technical path (3.77 versus 3.25; t test significant at p < 0.000). The hybrid path may therefore attract individuals who aspire to managerial positions. Hypothesis 2(a) is consequently partly verified, because the managerial anchor is not intended to predict the hybrid path. Lastly, Hypothesis 2(c), whereby anchors not related to talents are more strongly associated with non-traditional paths, is only partly verified. In effect, engineers that pursue a project-based path have a lifestyle anchor that is stronger than those in the hybrid path (3.87 versus 3.57; t test significant at p < 0.004), which confirms the hypothesis. However, the security anchor is more strongly associated with the technical path than the non-traditional path (a security anchor of 3.78 for engineers in a technical path versus 3.46 for those in the hybrid path and managerial path combined; t test significant at p < 0.000). Hypothesis 3 is verified for the hybrid path, but not for the project-based path, which is also a non-traditional path. Hypothesis 4 is verified solely for the managerial path. It should also be noted that engineers pursuing a hybrid path are more differentiated than those who pursue a managerial path (5.71 versus 5.11; t test significant at p < 0.015). It is interesting to note that undifferentiation and the stability of career choices allow distinction of the hybrid path from the managerial path. Engineers that pursue the managerial path are less differentiated and demonstrate greater stability of career choice.El modelo de anclas de carrera propuesto por Schein en 1978 es considerado como una contribución mayor para comprender las evoluciones de carrera de los individuos. En efecto, esta teoría se basa en el postulado implícito según el cual un individuo posee solo un ancla dominante. Este fenómeno de dominancia también es llamado «diferenciación». Numerosos investigadores deducen de esto que hay que retener tan solo el ancla de carrera que tiene el resultado mas elevado para operacionalizar este concepto de dominancia o diferenciación. Sin embargo ciertos individuos podrían poseer varias anclas elevadas, lo que plantea el problema de la multiplicidad de anclas, denominado aquí « indiferenciacion ». Tomando una muestra de 900 ingenieros quebequenses, este estudio muestra que la « indiferenciación » es mas frecuente que lo que se piensa, que no es un fenómeno patológico y que ella permite de definir mejor una evolución de carrera mal conocida, esto es la evolución híbrida

La multiplicité des ancres de carrière chez les ingénieurs québécois : impacts sur les cheminements et le succès de carrière

The career anchors model proposed by Schein allows to stress the great variety of talents, motivations and values within homogeneous professional groups. However, how to interpret scores obtained in the various anchors does not make unanimity. This model postulates that an individual possesses only a single dominant anchor, which lead numerous researchers to deduct that it is necessary to retain only the career anchor with the highest score to operationalize the concept of dominance. Nevertheless reality seems to indicate that some individuals possess several strong anchors, posing the question of the multiplicity of anchors and of the interpretation of scores. Using a sample of 900 Canadian engineers, this study shows that the multiplicity of anchors, here called undifferenciation, is more frequent than we think, that it is not a pathological phenomenon and that it allows to better identify an unstudied career path, that is to say the hybrid career path. Le modèle des ancres de carrière proposé par Schein a permis de mettre en relief la grande diversité des talents, motivations et valeurs au sein de groupes professionnels homogènes. En revanche, la façon d'interpréter les scores obtenus aux différentes ancres ne fait pas unanimité. Partant d'un postulat sous-jacent à ce modèle selon lequel un individu ne possède qu'une seule ancre dominante, de nombreux chercheurs en déduisent, à partir d'une lecture en filigrane des travaux de Schein, qu'il faut ne retenir que l'ancre de carrière ayant le score le plus élevé pour opérationnaliser le concept de dominance. Pourtant la réalité semble indiquer que certains individus possèdent plusieurs ancres élevées, ce qui pose la question de la multiplicité des ancres et de l'interprétation des scores. S'appuyant sur un échantillon de 900 ingénieurs québécois, cette étude montre que la multiplicité des ancres, ici appelée indifférenciation, est plus fréquente qu'on ne le pense, qu'elle n'est pas un phénomène pathologique et qu'elle permet de mieux cerner un cheminement de carrière mal connu, soit le cheminement hybride.Career, career path, career anchors, engineers, Carrière, voies de carrières, ancres de carrière, ingénieurs

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201

The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are due to nuclei with charge $Z$, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies

Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to author list and references in v

Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above $2.5\times 10^{17}$ eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% $C.L.$ for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

The relationships among rock groups between the Grand Lake Thrust and Cabot Fault, west Newfoundland

The area between the Grand Lake Thrust and the Cabot Fault is underlain by metamorphic rocks that separate the most easterly exposures of the west Newfoundland carbonate terrane from the most westerly exposures of ophiolitic and volcanic rocks of central Newfoundland. The major rock types present are; felsic gneisses in the west, anorthositic rocks in the southwest, semipelitic to psammitic schists in the east, and granitic intrusions within the gneisses. Mafic dykes intrude the gneisses, but are unknown within the schists. Finally, west of the Grand Lake Thrust but included within the map area, are limestones and phyllites of the west Newfoundland carbonate terrane. -- The limestones and phyllites occur in the western part of the map area, west of the Grand Lake Thrust. They are deformed, and vary from unmetamorphosed to mildly metamorphosed( chlorite zone of the greenschist facies). -- The felsic gneisses locally contain granulite facies mineral assemblages, but are everywhere affected by later retrograde metamorphism that increases in intensity from greenschist to amphibolite facies, from west to east. The mafic dykes intruding the gneisses exhibit the same effects of later metamorphism. The metamorphic change is accompanied by increasing intensity of deformation from west to east across the area. -- The semipelitic to psammitic schists are confined to the eastern part of the area, where they exhibit upper greenschist to amphibolite facies mineral assemblages. These rocks are polydeformed and faulted against the gneisses to the west. -- The granitic intrusions occur within the gneisses only. They contain no evidence of the early granulite facies metamorphic event present in the host gneisses, and are for the most part massive. -- The gneissic rocks are interpreted as Grenvillian inliers (basement), and are correlated with similar rocks of the Grenvillian Indian Head Complex,nearby to the west. The limestones, phyllites, and polydeformed schists are interpreted as a cover sequence affected by Paleozoic deformation, which also involved the basement gneisses and mafic dykes. The granitic bodies are interpreted as later intrusions, possibly related to Taconic or Acadian orogenesis. The stratigraphic and orogenic development of the area can be related to the formation of the Late Precambrian continental margin of eastern North America, and its Paleozoic destruction

Age tardi-hercynien et origine crustale du granite de Brignogan (Finistère, France). Conséquences sur l'interprétation des granites Nord-armoricains

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