Svenja Tams

Studying careers across cultures: international, cross-cultural, and globalization perspectives

Purpose – This paper aims to study careers across cultures, distinguishing among international career, cross‐cultural and globalization perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual development is based on a review of four empirical papers in this special issue with a focus on “Careers in cross‐cultural perspective” and other recent research in this area.Findings – Work on international careers has traditionally looked at careers that cross national boundaries, such as those involving expatriate career assignments or self‐initiated international careers. Research into cross‐cultural careers reflects the primary work of this special issues articles, primarily by looking at differences between two or more cultures. Career research into globalization is more recent and more tentative. It covers how careers interact with the economic, political, social and environmental changes commonly associated with the term globalization.Research limitations/implications – The proposed framework is a reflecti...

Responsible careers: Systemic reflexivity in shifting landscapes

This article examines responsible careers, in which people seek to have an impact on societal challenges such as environmental sustainability and social justice. We propose a dynamic model of responsible careers based on studying 32 individuals in the emerging organizational fields of corporate responsibility, social entrepreneurship, sustainability, and social investing. We describe six career practices — expressing self, connecting to others, constructing contribution, institutionalizing, field shaping, and engaging systemically. Observations suggest that development of these practices is influenced by four learning dynamics: people’s perceptions of ‘shifting landscapes’ in which they seek to orient themselves, exploration and both biographical and systemic reflexivity. Our interdisciplinary and empirically grounded approach, integrating psychological intentions and institutional context, strengthens theorizing about responsible careers. The proposed model depicts responsible careers as continually evolving, sometimes precarious, and as dynamically enacted in relation to pluralist, shifting landscapes.

Constructing self-efficacy at work: a person-centered approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance a person‐centered perspective of self‐efficacy formation. Examining peoples ways of thinking about self‐efficacy at work broadens ones perspective beyond training and feedback as principal means for developing self‐efficacy.Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative paper analyses 145 interviews with 74 participants from six settings (management consulting, brand design, MBA job search, restaurant service, telemarketing, and financial trading).Findings – The paper finds that the coding suggested ten specific ways of thinking about self‐efficacy. These were grouped according to two modes of thinking – attending and reflecting – and two focuses – one directed at doing ones task and the other directed at ones environment. In combination, they represent four types of thinking: attending to ones doing, attending to ones environment, reflecting upon ones doing, and taking a stance towards ones environment.Research limitations/implications – The paper...

Self‐directed social learning: the role of individual differences

Purpose – This study aims to examine the influence of individual differences on self‐directed social learning and self‐efficacy. Inter‐dependent self‐construal, agreeableness, and extraversion were expected to predict five ways of self‐directed social learning: relating, benchmarking, modeling, identifying, and distancing.Design/methodology/approach – The sample consisted of 356 responses from professionals to a questionnaire survey. Using step‐wise regression analyses, the effect of individual differences on social learning and self‐efficacy, as well as the mediation of the latter relationship by the five ways of social learning, were examined.Findings – Inter‐dependent self‐construal predicted social learning and self‐efficacy. Its negative effect on self‐efficacy was mediated by relating. Agreeableness and extraversion predicted high self‐efficacy. Extraversion predicted modeling, identifying and distancing. Surprisingly, women appeared more likely to engage in social learning.Research limitations/impl...