Jane Sturges

Capitalising on Learning: An Exploration of the MBA as a Vehicle for Developing Career Competencies

This article reports the findings of a study of Canadian MBA graduates that explores the skills, knowledge and capabilities which they gained from the programme within the context of a career-competency framework. It concludes that the development of knowing-why career competencies (relating to career values, meanings and motivations) were the most important outcome of the course for the graduates. Knowing-how career competencies (relating to skills and job-related knowledge) were also valued highly. Increased self-confidence was a valuable form of career capital for the graduates, although the antecedents and consequences of this appear to be somewhat different for men and women.

Organizational Support, Individual Attributes, and the Practice of Career Self-Management Behavior

This article reports the findings of a study, conducted in a UK new media company, that investigated direct and interactive relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), leader—member exchange (LMX), gender, locus of control, and practice of career self-management behaviors. The results show that it is the interactive relationships that have stronger links with internally focused career self-management behavior, whereas the direct associations, with the exception of LMX, are more closely related to externally oriented career self-management activities. POS moderates the relationship between both gender and locus of control and internally focused career self-management behavior, suggesting that it may send out a signal to certain employees about how supportive the organizational environment is of career self-management. Men and women are shown to act in different ways, depending on the level of POS that they receive, whereas POS encourages individuals with an internal locus of control to engage in internal career self-management behavior, in line with trait activation theory. LMX operates more directly, suggesting that it is a source of practical help with career self-management aimed at furthering the career within the organization; interaction results show that, when LMX is absent, men and those with an internal locus of control engage in internal networking behavior, presumably to find other sources of such help.

Gender, age and the MBA: An analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic career benefits

Against the background of an earlier study, this article presents the findings of a Canadian-based survey of career benefits from the MBA. Results indicate first that gender and age interact to influence perceptions of career outcomes and second that both men and women gain intrinsic benefits from the MBA. However, intrinsic benefits vary by gender: Men in the study were more likely to gain confidence from having a fuller skill set, whereas women were more likely to gain confidence from feelings of self-worth. In addition, men emphasized how they had learned to give up control, whereas women argued that they had gained a voice in the organization. The role of the MBA in career self-management and in the acquisition of key skills is examined, as well as the implications for the design of programs in meeting the varied needs of men and women in different age groups.

Crafting a balance between work and home

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored the unofficial techniques and activities that individuals use to shape their own work–life balance. It theorizes that this behaviour may be usefully conceptualized as physical, relational and cognitive work–life balance crafting. It identifies the physical, relational and cognitive techniques that young professionals employ to manage their work–life balance and shows that distinct approaches to work–life balance crafting exist, each of which features a specific range of techniques.

Career progress and career barriers: women MBA graduates in Canada and the UK

This article explores the career progress of female MBA graduates in Canada and the UK and the nature of career barriers experienced in each context. Results suggest that while Canadian women have similar career profiles to men, women in the UK lag behind their male counterparts after graduation from the course. At the same time, UK women encounter more intractable career barriers in the form of negative attitudes and prejudice. A model of the “MBA effect” is proposed in terms of how the qualification may impact on career barriers. This incorporates three different types of barriers which are seen to operate at the individual level (person centred barriers) and at the intermediate/organizational level (organizational culture and attitudes, corporate practices) as well as, at the macro level, the impact of legislative frameworks. Results from the UK and Canadian surveys are discussed in relation to this model and in the context of feminist theory and women in management literature.

Transient, unsettling and creative space: Experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA

This article explores the experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA programme. The transient nature of the MBA experience, as well as the international status of the Chinese student, is resonant with conceptualizations of liminality as ‘in between’ space. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 MBA graduates who had subsequently returned to China with their qualification, we explored their perceptions of outcomes from the course and their experiences as international students on a programme imbued with western norms and values. Results support the unsettling yet creative implications of liminality, as well as the fragmented insecure nature of identities, as individuals pass through the MBA ‘rite of passage’ in terms of ‘becoming’ a manager and entering a new phase of career. Accounts suggest the creation of hierarchical structures within liminal space whereby Chinese students, through their positioning at the margin, have uncomfortable yet illuminating encounters with alterity. At the same time, they experience levels of ambiguity and uncertainty in the post-liminal phase of China-located employments, as new western-based managerial identities collide with dominant discourses of Chinese organization.

What's the deal? An exploration of career management behaviour in Iceland

This article reports the findings of a longitudinal study that investigated the nature of the career deal in Iceland, chosen as a research setting because it potentially offers a very different career environment to that which exists in the UK and US, where most previous research examining contemporary careers has been conducted. The findings show that certain dimensions of the contemporary career deal shown to exist in the UK are less apparent in the Icelandic context. While a close reciprocal relationship between career self-management behaviour and organizational career management help does exist, other potential aspects of the deal are absent. In Iceland, individuals who get more help with managing their careers are more committed to their employer but this commitment does not imply that they will do more to manage their own careers with their current employer as result. In addition, no links were found between career management activities and job performance. In Iceland individuals do not engage in career self-management behaviour to any great extent and when they do, their behaviour does not seem to have the same kind of focus or meaning that it has been shown to have in the context of the contemporary career deal that exists in the UK.

A matter of time: young professionals' experiences of long work hours

This article examines young construction industry professionals’ experiences of working long hours from the perspective of the meanings that they ascribe to work time and how these influence the hours that they work. It considers how such notions of ‘qualitative’ time spent on work may shape attitudes and behaviour relating to ‘quantitative’ work hours. The findings show that, for the interviewees, work time has meanings chiefly associated with enjoyment, being professional and being part of a work family. The article contributes to the long work hours literature by broadening our understanding of how young professionals experience long work hours, why they may not always view them negatively and how the meanings that they attach to them can lead to particular patterns of work hours. It also highlights gender differences in this regard.

It's tough hanging-up a call: The relationships between calling and work hours, psychological detachment, sleep quality, and morning vigor

It has been argued that when people believe that their work is a calling, it can often be experienced as an intense and consuming passion with significant personal meaning. While callings have been demonstrated to have several positive outcomes for individuals, less is known about the potential downsides for those who experience work in this way. This study develops a multiple-meditation model proposing that, while the intensity of a calling has a positive direct effect on work-related vigor, it motivates people to work longer hours, which both directly and indirectly via longer work hours, limits their psychological detachment from work in the evenings. In turn, this process reduces sleep quality and morning vigor. Survey and diary data of 193 church ministers supported all hypotheses associated with this model. This implies that intense callings may limit the process of recovery from work experiences. The findings contribute to a more balanced theoretical understanding of callings.

Investigating Unpaid Overtime Working among the Part-time Workforce

This paper considers whether unpaid overtime working relates to contracted working hours (i.e. whether an employee works part-time or full-time) in Britain. It uses the authoritative 2004 British data set Workplace Employment Relations Survey to derive a sample of 4,530 workers, from 735 workplace establishments, who worked unpaid overtime. It tests hypotheses linking contracted working hours to unpaid overtime, and whether this link is moderated by gender, occupational group and the availability of flexible working arrangements. Part-time workers were found to work significantly more unpaid overtime hours compared with their full-time counterparts. Gender, occupation and flexible working practices moderated this relationship, where the extent to which part-timers work more unpaid overtime than their full-time counterparts was greater for men than for women, was greater for professional/managerial part-time workers compared with other occupations, and was more evident in establishments less likely to offer flexible working arrangements. The findings raise concerns about the exploitation of part-time workers.