Careers in context: An international study of career goals as mesostructure between societies’ career-related human potential and proactive career behavior

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

Here, there, & everywhere: Development and validation of a cross-culturally representative measure of subjective career success

46sìreservedSubjective career success continues to be a critical topic in careers scholarship due to ever changing organizational and societal contexts that make reliance upon external definitions of success untenable or undesirable. While various measures of subjective career success have been developed, there is no measure that is representative of multiple nations. In this study, we develop and validate a new subjective career success scale, which is unique from currently available measures in that it was developed and validated across a broad representation of national cultures. We validated the scale across four phases and several studies cumulatively involving 18,471 individual respondents from 30 countries based upon the GLOBE and Schwartz cultural clusters. This scale allows for addressing career success differences both within and across cultures. It is also easily applicable in everyday practice for companies operating in multicountry contexts. We explore theoretical and practical implications.mixedBriscoe, Jon P.; Kaše, Robert; Dries, Nicky; Dysvik, Anders; Unite, Julie A.; Adeleye, Ifedapo; Andresen, Maike; Apospori, Eleni; Babalola, Olusegun; Bagdadli, Silvia; Çakmak-Otluoglu, K. Övgü; Casado, Tania; Cerdin, Jean-Luc; Cha, Jong-Seok; Chudzikowski, Katharina; Dello Russo, Silvia; Eggenhofer-Rehart, Petra; Fei, Zhangfeng; Gianecchini, Martina; Gubler, Martin; Hall, Douglas T.; Imose, Ruth; Ismail, Ida Rosnita; Khapova, Svetlana; Kim, Najung; Lehmann, Philip; Lysova, Evgenia; Madero, Sergio; Mandel, Debbie; Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Milikic, Biljana Bogicevic; Mishra, Sushanta; Naito, Chikae; Nikodijević, Ana D.; Reichel, Astrid; Saher, Noreen; Saxena, Richa; Schleicher, Nanni; Schramm, Florian; Shen, Yan; Smale, Adam; Supangco, Vivien; Suzanne, Pamela; Taniguchi, Mami; Verbruggen, Marijke; Zikic, JelenaBriscoe, Jon P.; Kaše, Robert; Dries, Nicky; Dysvik, Anders; Unite, Julie A.; Adeleye, Ifedapo; Andresen, Maike; Apospori, Eleni; Babalola, Olusegun; Bagdadli, Silvia; Çakmak-Otluoglu, K. Övgü; Casado, Tania; Cerdin, Jean-Luc; Cha, Jong-Seok; Chudzikowski, Katharina; Dello Russo, Silvia; Eggenhofer-Rehart, Petra; Fei, Zhangfeng; Gianecchini, Martina; Gubler, Martin; Hall, Douglas T.; Imose, Ruth; Ismail, Ida Rosnita; Khapova, Svetlana; Kim, Najung; Lehmann, Philip; Lysova, Evgenia; Madero, Sergio; Mandel, Debbie; Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Milikic, Biljana Bogicevic; Mishra, Sushanta; Naito, Chikae; Nikodijević, Ana D.; Reichel, Astrid; Saher, Noreen; Saxena, Richa; Schleicher, Nanni; Schramm, Florian; Shen, Yan; Smale, Adam; Supangco, Vivien; Suzanne, Pamela; Taniguchi, Mami; Verbruggen, Marijke; Zikic, Jelen

Careers in context: an international study of career goals as mesostructure between societies' career-related human potential and proactive career behaviour

Careers exist in a societal context that offers both constraints and opportunities for career actors. Whereas most studies focus on proximal individual and/or organisationallevel 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' careerrelated 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