Kerr Inkson

“The big OE”: self‐directed travel and career development

“OE” is overseas experience – periods of “working holiday” undertaken by young people autonomously exploring other countries and cultures. This paper investigates OE and considers its effect on career development. OE is a world‐wide phenomenon, but has special significance in Australia and New Zealand, where it is undertaken as a “rite of passage” by many young people. The paper reports results from an interview study of 50 OEs undertaken by young New Zealanders. It focuses on predisposing personal and situational factors prompting OE, the unplanned and improvisational nature of OE, the main forms of OE, and its apparent consequences for personal development and subsequent careers. The evidence suggests that OE brings benefits but that the process is complex and unpredictable because of confounding forces such as non‐career travel agendas and personal relationships. The special value of OE to careers in current conditions requiring greater self‐direction, flexibility and internationalisation is emphasised.

Understanding careers : the metaphors of working lives

List of Cases Introduction Chapter 1: Careers and Metaphors Chapter 2: Careers as Inheritances Chapter 3: Careers as Cycles Chapter 4: Careers as Action Chapter 5: Careers as Fit Chapter 6: Careers as Journeys Chapter 7: Careers as Roles Chapter 8: Careers as Relationships Chapter 9: Careers as Resources Chapter 10: Careers as Stories Chapter 11: Careers in Practice Chapter 12: Career Counselling and Metaphor By Mary Mcmahon

Volunteer overseas development workers: the hero's adventure and personal transformation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide new information about overseas volunteer development workers undertaking projects in underdeveloped countries, specifically, their backgrounds, personalities, values and previous experience, motivations, experiences, learning and “transformation” gained, and possible impact on further career; the degree of fit of experiences to the archetypal “heros adventure”.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a longitudinal study of a cohort of 48 New Zealand volunteers starting work on NZ aid organisation Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) assignments in 2001. This included structured interviews and administration of the NEO‐ PR personality inventory and the Schein Career orientation Inventory pre‐departure and on return and an e‐mail survey halfway through the assignment. Data analysis was largely qualitative using NVivo software.Findings – Volunteers had high levels of openness and agreeableness, and career anchors of dedication to a cause and pure challeng...

Contracting and careers: choosing between self and organizational employment

Explores worker choices to become self‐employed contractors. Adopts a qualitative method and uses data from in‐depth interviews with workers from two contrasting occupational groups. Reveals five sets of factors which appear to be central to worker decision making. Contrasts the perspectives of the workers and draws conclusions relating to the impact of skill and labor market power on the choice of employed/self‐employed status, and subsequent career prospects. Suggests that recent views of “boundaryless careers” are more relevant to highly‐skilled groups of workers, and discusses the tensions between structural forces that constrain individuals’ career autonomy and the desire of many workers to be proactive agents in the construction of their own careers. The findings suggest that a balanced examination of “new careers” should account for the complexity of a new world of work that advantages only some. Argues for greater understanding of the choice between different modes of employment rather than just occupational choice. Finally, suggests that researchers and career practitioners need to be able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different modes of employment from a sound knowledge base.

Neoliberalism and knowledge interests in boundaryless careers discourse

Decades of critical research have established that economic and political ideologies permeate and shape thought, text and action, and academic knowledge production is no exception. This article examines how ideologies might permeate academic texts, by assessing the reach and influence of neoliberalism in research on boundaryless careers. Specifically, it asks: did the emergence and growth of scholarship on boundaryless careers support, challenge, or merely run parallel to the rising dominance of neoliberal ideology? It was found that a diversity of knowledge interests, including managerial, agentic, curatorial and critical interests underlie the production of research on boundaryless careers. However, all four of these knowledge interests are complicit in discursively constructing and aligning the notion of boundaryless careers with neoliberalism in two specific ways. Implications for scholarship on careers and work are discussed.

Careers in cross-cultural perspective

Purpose – This paper aims to introduce a collection of papers about careers in cross‐cultural perspective, which contributes to the growing body of literature that addresses careers from different locations around the world.Design/methodology/approach – Introduces the topic, providing some background and discussion of the main concepts.Findings – Briefly introduces the papers and their main findings – differences and similarities among careers and career attributes in different cultural and national contexts.Originality/value – Contextualizes the issue and extends the overall knowledge in the topic.

Landscape with Travellers: The Context of Careers in Developed Nations

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not yet ended. (Mandela, 1994, p. 751)

Fast forward : careers research in New Zealand

This article describes and discusses developments in careers research in the past few years in New Zealand. While detailing some important mainstream research in the ‘career development’ tradition, it focuses on research conducted largely in New Zealand business schools, which may have been prompted by the countrys rapid deregulation in the 1980s and 1990s. Particular attention is paid to the destabilisation of careers and the development of ‘boundaryless’ and other new forms of career. This work provides a framework enabling us to understand career adaptation, and ‘mobile career’ phenomena such as careers based on project work and the role of overseas experience in career development.

International Talent Flow and Careers: An Australasian Perspective.

The phenomenon of migration makes many careers international, and globalisation has accelerated the process. This paper reports on a program of studies, now labelled talent flow, conducted in New Zealand with a view to increasing understanding of migration and its relationship to careers. Initial studies considered the phenomenon of ‘overseas experience’ and its largely beneficial effects on career development. A current study focused on ‘brain drain’ is examining the attitudes of over 2000 highly qualified New Zealand expatriates to the idea of returning to their home country. Some preliminary results are presented. Future studies of brain gain, immigration and careers are planned.

Self-initiated expatriation (SIE) by older women: an exploratory study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the SIE experiences of women over 50, its drivers, nature and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on participant data from in-depth life story interviews with 21 women who had undertaken SIE from New Zealand and later returned. From this sample two subgroups (aid volunteers and contract carers) are utilized as “vignette” exemplars, and common factors elicited. Findings SIE provided a desirable liberation from pressing mid-life issues. It was transformational for all participants, sometimes through serendipitous career development, but more commonly, after return, through personal development, changes in values, decreased emphasis on paid work, and simpler lifestyle. Research limitations/implications The small sample size and qualitative methodology make the study exploratory rather than definitive and the specific location and small sample size limit transferability. The snowballing recruitment method may have disproportionately encouraged similar, and positively disposed, participants. Practical implications The availability and special characteristics of this expatriate and repatriate group for potential employing organizations are considered, as are the gains in human capital and individual well-being to society as a whole. The women studied provide excellent role models for older women considering independent overseas travel and employment. Originality/value By focusing on older women, this study extends the boundaries of the SIE literature. The findings highlight the limitations of work-centric theories of SIE, careers and older workers, the non-linear nature of women’s careers and the heterogeneity of later life pathways. The study is also original in demonstrating major positive transformational effects of expatriation on all its participants.