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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe a framework for enhancing organizational productivity and capacity building at the national, industry-wide level that is based on an active collaboration between elements of the industry that the authors will refer to as the organization and the educational system that trains/educates the human resources that play a vital role in enabling the organization to acquire and then maintain the competitive advantage needed to be successful.Design/methodology/approach This framework is based on the concept of competencies of the human resource and a competence-based model for recruiting and developing these human resources. This framework has been successfully applied by the Kemt Enterprise Training Partnership (ETP)/Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET-Egypt) project in the Egyptian papermaking industry to solidify an understanding of the required competencies in this sector. For the purposes, the term competency will be defined as a set of skills, knowledge and behavior that allows employees to do their jobs effectively and efficiently without interfering with either other tasks or tasks they will encounter in the future.Findings Organizational productivity will be assumed to be related to having a workforce that is both competent and of the appropriate size, and can be determined using an organizational function map coupled to the development of a set of related occupational standards.Originality/value The paper proposed a national framework competence-based model which collaborates all the national efforts to enhance the national competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This special issue seeks to scope the past, present and future study of those individuals who independently journey abroad for work – the self-initiated expatriate – a topic which is now attracting increasing attention among management scholars and practitioners alike. Design/methodology/approach – This introductory paper takes the form of a brief commentary of the development of the field and a synthesis of the papers in this special edition. Findings – Beginning in the late 1990s with a slow trickle of papers exploring the experiences of individuals who had initiated their own expatriation, our understanding of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) and self-initiated expatriation (SIE) has developed exponentially. This development has given rise to a growing awareness of this form of mobility as a potentially powerful force in the increasingly varied global labour market. Yet, as this special issue will argue, there is still a range of conceptual, theoretical and empirical challenges in the study of SIEs, not least of which is a lack of clarity in how the term is used and understood. Despite the expansion of the field, it has hitherto focused primarily on the experiences of professional SIEs moving from and between developed countries. The papers in this issue therefore, address the need for both greater conceptual clarity and for greater empirical diversity. Originality/value – The papers included in this special issue each address fundamental issues in the study of the SIE population and offer perspectives that further our understanding of this group and their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the interplay between self-efficacy and career inheritance and its influence on career commitment in the hospitality sector. High labour turnover, unclear career paths and the transient nature of the work available in hospitality render it a suitable industry context that allows us to explore career commitment patterns. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on life history methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospitality professionals holding a relevant degree but no longer employed in the hospitality industry. Findings: The findings revealed the interplay between self-efficacy, career inheritance and career commitment, as well as the speed of decline of career commitment, visualised as patterns of the leaving process. Although an infinite number of variations are possible, data unveiled the three main patterns. Research limitations/implications: The schematic illustrations of the patterns of the leaving process are not representative. The purposive sample comprises only ex-hospitality professionals, and generalisations can be considered in future studies. Practical implications: This newly conceptualised understanding of career commitment enables researchers to reconsider the fundamental reasons why individuals leave the hospitality industry, whilst also offering hospitality managers deeper insights into how the three identified patterns could inform recruitment and selection. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature through its meaningful theoretical extension in the context of career development studies. The unique concept of the leaving process addresses the prevalent issue of turnover and generates important implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: While women are increasingly in senior positions in accountancy firms, a century after gaining entry to this once exclusively male field, they are still struggling to achieve career success. The concept of possible selves and a model of career crafting are activated in an analysis of how a set of New Zealand professional accountants have pursued their careers. This paper aims to focus on how people actively craft career selves in the context of organisational and gendered constraints, some of which are self-imposed, and therefore, can be modified and revised. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews with 36 male and female accounting professionals in New Zealand – 21 working in private firms and 15 in academia identify how careers are shaped by contexts, cultural understandings of gender, organisational structures within which accountants are located and wider environmental factors. Findings: Women accountants in this study are both agential and responsive to a range of constraints they encounter. These women challenge the notion that professional achievement requires single minded allegiance to a career; their strategic career crafting demonstrates how career and family commitments are not irreconcilable but can be skilfully integrated to nurture multiple selves. Their strategies are considered alongside those of a comparable set of male accountants. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature on possible selves and the complexity of gendered lives through the application of a career crafting matrix to explore how accounting professionals forge careers and construct multiple selves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper introduces the concept of transracial aesthetic labour to understand why and how an international teaching assistant (ITA) vocally changes meanings of his racial identity. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a narrative analysis to detail instances of transracial aesthetic labour. Findings: For the ITA, this labour involved orally distancing from or aligning with particular Indian stereotypes for specific contexts. Research limitations/implications: Transracial aesthetic labour may occur in other industries that deem race an integral part of sounding right or looking good for the job. Practical implications: The findings highlight the need for ITAs and universities to rethink the meaning of transracial to combat racist perceptions of ITAs' speech. Originality/value: The paper advances the aesthetic labour literature by exploring how race is vocally performed for this labour and introducing ITAs as aesthetic labourers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose ? The purpose of this paper is to report an International Symposium on Occupation, Education, and Inequality in Japan and Korea. Discusses earn of the papers of the seven speakers. Design/methodology/approach ? The SRC and the CSSI cosponsored the symposium. Findings ? The papers presented various aspects of Korean society in terms of occupation, education and inequality. Originality/value ? Some of the papers revealed subtle interactions between economic factors and traditional and cultural factors in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Scholarly and general interest in sustainable careers is flourishing. Sustainable careers are focused on the long-term opportunities and experiences of workers across dynamic employment situations, and are characterized by flexibility, meaning and individual agency. The current paper analyzes and challenges the underlying ideological assumptions of how sustainable careers are conceptualized and advocates the inclusion of the ecological meaning of sustainability and the notion of dignity into the sustainable careers concept. Design/methodology/approach: Using Slavoj Žižek's (1989, 2001) conceptualization of ideology as fantasy-construction, the authors explore how the use of sustainable careers is influenced by fantasies about the contemporary workplace and the role of the individual in the workplace. This is a conceptual method. Findings: The authors argue that the concept of sustainable careers is grounded in the neoliberal fantasy of the individual. The paper concludes by presenting an alternative concept of sustainable careers grounded in a dignity-perspective on sustainability, which offers an alternative theoretical understanding of sustainable careers in the contemporary workplace, sharpening its contours and usefulness in theorizing careers. Originality/value: This paper is the first to systematically analyze the use and conceptualization of sustainable careers in the literate and to expose the ideological underpinnings of the concept. Propositions are developed to be explored by future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to introduce a selection of papers within the issue that discuss the work-family interface. Design/methodology/approach — The themes of the papers in the issue are outlined Findings — The papers address the following: conflict, facilitation and individual coping styles across the work and family domains; generational differences in work-family conflict and work-family synergy for Generation X, baby boomers and matures; the development and transmission of work-related attitudes; a cross cultural comparison of female managers attitudes, experiences and career choices; the impact of individual and organisational characteristics on work-family conflict and career outcomes, and the variation of work life integration experiences of mid-career professional women. Originality/value — The paper introduces the special issue which provides a varied mix of theoretical approaches and multi-level perspectives to scope out and explain the links between work and family life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Privilege is often silent, invisible and not made explicit, and silence is a key question for theorizing on organizations. This paper examines interrelations between privilege and silence for relatively privileged professionals in high-intensity knowledge businesses (KIBs). Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on 112 interviews in two rounds of interviews using the collaborative interactive action research method. The analysis focuses on processes of recruitment, careers and negotiation of boundaries between work and nonwork in these KIBs. The authors study how relative privilege within social inequalities connects with silences in multiple ways, and how the invisibility of privilege operates at different levels: individual identities and interpersonal actions of privilege (micro), as organizational level phenomena (meso) or as societally constructed (macro). Findings: At each level, privilege is reproduced in part through silence. The authors also examine how processes connecting silence, privilege and social inequalities operate differently in relation to both disadvantage and the disadvantaged, and privilege and the privileged. Originality/value: This study is relevant for organization studies, especially in the kinds of "multi-privileged" contexts where inequalities, disadvantages and subordination may remain hidden and silenced, and, thus, are continuously reproduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Intersectional scholarship on work and organizations while focusing on subjectivities and intersections largely overlooks the systemic dynamics of power (Rodriguez et al., 2016). One of the systemic dynamics of power is organizational practice (Acker, 2006). Intersectionality research on minority ethnic women pays relatively less attention to the role of organizational practices in career progression. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the interaction of intersectional identities of second-generation British Pakistani women managers and professionals with organizational practices and norms, and the resulting challenges and career implications. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research approach was used with interviews of 37 participants who were in managerial or professional positions. Findings: The research finds a resilience of discrimination because of expectations of compliance with dominant workplace cultures. This expectation presents challenges for minority ethnic women managers. The paper reveals that the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity and religion clashes specifically, with organizational expectations of being male, of being white, and of work-related socializing, which may adversely affect career progression. Organizations, thus, may feed into minority ethnic women managers' inability to fit in and merge by implicitly demanding compliance or fitting in. These findings carry implications for HRM policies and practices. Originality/value: Advancing intersectionality scholarship, the research finds the disadvantage caused by the intersection of gender, ethnicity and religion (intersectional identities) continues to be reproduced because of particular organizational demand and expectations and the non-compliance of minority ethnic women managers to merge and fit in. In other words, organizations implicitly demanding fitting in, and the inability to fit in and merge by minority ethnic women managers, hampers their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of traineeships as an active labour policy for young people in Italy. The role of traineeships as a formative experience for improving youth employment is stated by law and the specific evaluation of the regional Quality Traineeships Programme allowed for a more in-depth analysis of the role quality criteria plays in traineeship implementation. Design/methodology/approach: Such evaluation relies on administrative data, while a counterfactual approach was used to compare trainees to unemployed young people registered with Public Employment Services. The impact of traineeships on youth careers was measured in terms of employment probability, but innovatively, the actual placement was measured in terms of both hiring and along a "quality" metric with respect to entry in the labour market. It is reasonable to assume that young people are interested in traineeships as an investment towards a more satisfying career (not just as a gateway to recruitment). At last, the authors introduce a persistency analysis of the effects on youth employment rates. Findings: The results show that traineeships hinder rapid transition to work, but they are effective stepping-stones for young people seeking a quality career. A benefit of 7 percentage points was estimated on the probability of finding a quality job after completing the traineeship and a long-lasting effect on trainees' employment rate is demonstrated by the persistency analysis. These benefits are strengthened for participants in the Quality Traineeships Programme, confirming the relevance of desirable learning and contractual conditions in supporting the effectiveness of internships in Italy. Originality/value: As far as the authors know, this paper is the first study that specifically refers to traineeships as an active policy in Italy and the questions resulting from the research suggest new trends in the debate over the role of policies for supporting youth employment. The administrative archives used in the analysis and the persistence effects on youth employment rates are further innovations to the empirical literature on the effectiveness of Italy's training programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Disruptive technologies often disrupt the careers of middle-skilled workers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate career transition strategies of middle-skilled workers that partially continue or expand their careers under the condition of disruptive technologies. Design/methodology/approach: This paper established a conceptual framework of career transition strategies for middle-skilled workers by integrating the existing studies of disruptive technologies, technological trajectory transition, boundaryless and protean careers, and careers as repositories of knowledge. Findings: The authors proposed three types of career transition strategies to partially prolong middle-skilled workers' careers, namely, industry-oriented transition strategy which refers to a transfer to other occupations in the original industry, technology-oriented transition strategy which refers to a transfer to occupations with original technical skills in other industries, and comprehensive transition strategy which refers to a transfer to other occupations in the related industries. Further, this paper discusses the external conditions and individual competencies for each career transition strategy, and timing for implementing a career transition strategy from the perspective of the technology life cycle. Originality/value: This paper focused on sustainable careers of middle-skilled workers under the condition of disruptive technologies, which received very little attention from the current literature. The findings also suggested for middle-skilled workers to develop a sustainable or long-term career in the current era of many disruptive technologies. The findings may also imply on how firms and government should contribute to help workers on handling scenarios of technological disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe service user involvement, explain some of the key issues that define, affect or protect mental health in later life and show how involvement may contribute to better mental health in later life.Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews existing definitions of involvement and mental health in later life; provides a more detailed review of some examples of involvement at a range of levels and illustrates how these could have a positive impact on mental health.Findings Active involvement and engagement at all levels offers significant opportunities for older people to protect and improve their own mental health and the mental health of society as a whole.Research limitations/implications This research does not set out to promote any particular intervention or involvement technique. The examples given have been evaluated in a variety of ways.Practical implications Service user involvement should be considered as an important potential contributor to mental health in later life.Social implications The paper encourages people in later life to be considered as a community resource rather than a problem that needs to be solved.Originality/value This paper brings together existing research with a focus on the relationship between involvement and individual and collective mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) shows them to be major innovators; this is confirmed with recent data, which the authors use to examine the various types of innovation that KIBS undertake. The implications for employment and work in highly innovative industries are important topics for analysis, not least because we are in a period where dramatic claims are being made as to the implications of new technologies for professional occupations. Thus, this paper aims to address major debates and conclusions concerning innovation patterns in KIBS and the evolving structures of professional and other work in these industries. Design/methodology/approach: This essay combines literature review with presentation and discussion of statistics that throw light on the patterns of innovation that characterise KIBS. The authors also consider data that concern trends in the organisation of work in these industries; while the focus is mainly on KIBS firms, they also pay some attention to KIBS-like work in other sectors. Even though KIBS are distinctive industries in modern economies, these analyses can be related to more general studies of, and forecasts about, changes in work organisation. Findings: The authors show that innovation patterns and employment structures vary substantially across different types of KIBS, with the distinction between technological, professional and creative KIBS proving to be useful for capturing these differences. The authors are also able to demonstrate important long- and medium-term trends in the structure and activities of the KIBS industries. In particular, data clearly demonstrate the increasing share of professional as against associate and clerical workers in most KIBS. Evidence also suggests that polarisation trends across the economy are mirrored, and in some cases amplified, in KIBS. The future prospects for employment in KIBS, and for professional work in particular, are seen to involve multiple factors, which together may bring about substantial change. Research limitations/implications: The study involves literature review and industry-level statistical analysis. Future work would benefit from firm-level analysis and validation and explication of results via consultation with practitioners and users of KIBS. Some puzzling variations across countries and sectors will need to be explored with national and sectoral experts. Practical implications: Research into KIBS activities, and their future, should make more use of the extensive statistics on employment and other structural features of the industries that have become available in recent years. KIBS firms and practitioners will need to take account of the forces for change that are liable to restructure their activities. Originality/value: The literature on KIBS has been concentrated on a rather narrow range of issues, while analysis of the current contributions and future development of the industries requires attention to a wider range of topics. This paper suggests how these topics may be investigated and their implications explored and presents results of enquiries along these lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Employability has been suggested as an alternative to job security in response to more flexible work arrangements, arguing that the important question for employees is no longer the security of their current job, but their employment security in the labour market. The purpose of this paper is to test two core assumptions of this argument: first, is employability associated with a lower preference for job security? And second, are individuals with lower job security in fact compensated with higher employability? Both assumptions have received criticism in recent literature. The focus is on employees' perceived basic and aspiring employability. The former refers to employees' expectations of remaining in employment and the latter to expectations of upward mobility.Design/methodology/approach The data used in the analysis were nationally representative Norwegian survey data from 12,945 employees (2009–2013).Findings Employees with higher aspiring employability and education levels have a significantly lower preference for job security, but this is not the case for employees with higher basic employability. Additionally, while employees with lower job security have higher aspiring employability, they have lower basic employability and receive less employer-supported training.Originality/value The current paper is the first to investigate how employability relates to the employees' own preference for job security. In line with critics of the employability argument, the results support that job security continues to be an important protection mechanism. Moreover, employees with low job security lose out twice as employers also invest less in their training and future employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore career identity within the aged care sector.Design/methodology/approach The research employs a descriptive interpretive methodology using 32 in-depth, semi-structured interviews.Findings This paper shows that social processes and occupational and professional status issues shape career identity in an aged care context. Individuals seek positive career identities through emphasising job fit in relation to their personal experience and values in order to counteract the impact of "taint".Research limitations/implications This study was based in one organisation. Future research could explore its findings in the context of multiple organisations, and include the concept of career identity in other low status, "tainted" occupations, such as childcare, in order to develop a more complete understanding of identity construction processes.Practical implications The findings suggest that aged care providers could employ a values-driven approach to recruitment, complementary to pay and career development, to enhance recruitment and retention of aged care employees. Universities and professional bodies could consider more active use of aged care student placements to highlight the opportunities that aged care offer to new graduates in allied health professions.Originality/value This paper extends our understanding of career identity in relation to "taint" and "dirty work" in the context of two occupational groups in the understudied sector of aged care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers in this special issue and some issues surrounding choosing management as a career. A jointly developed questionnaire is also presented. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is descriptive in nature. Findings - It is crucial for researchers and practitioners to expand their perspectives to include other cultures and other theoretical perspectives beyond those offered by traditional vocational choice theories. Originality/value - Understanding the antecedents, correlates and consequences of people's vocational choice to become managers will not only help researchers and practitioners and benefit managers, but will improve the understanding of career choice in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to outline the skills and responsibilities of a careers master in the late 1950s. Design/methodology/approach - Schools were becoming more businesslike, and training was becoming more specialised and developed. Schools needed to have an "Officer of Information" or a "Careers Master" in order to make sure that students had the appropriate qualifications in order to follow a career path with a particular firm. The author suggests that schools needed to do more for the students than simply provide an encyclopaedia of different occupations. This paper lists the practical steps a careers master needed to take, in terms of useful literature, notices and advertisements and also in terms of giving vocational guidance to students. Findings - This article outlines the main responsibilities of a careers master and details some of the methods he/she should be able to use. Originality/value - This paper suggests ways in which the role of a careers master in schools can aid students to gain the appropriate qualifications and to gain further information regarding potential future careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the "darker side" of what it means to engage in an international academic career. Extending beyond well-documented themes relating to the difficulties of cross-cultural adjustment and unfulfilled expectations/opportunities for promotion, this paper seeks to introduce "transience and risk" as two important dimensions of this very specific career choice. The paper draws especially on the contemporary "new" careers literature, including conceptions of career exploration as a framework to understand the research findings. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted in situ with 30 expatriate academics in four different countries. Findings - Transience and risk were identified as two important dimensions of the "darker side" of pursuing an international academic career. However, these two dimensions also had further positive aspects, thus signalling the complex and often contradictory nature of this specific career form. Research limitations/implications - Introduces a more cautionary note to the contemporary literature on international careers and career exploration more generally. Practical implications - Careers that evolve across international boundaries require support that extends beyond cross-cultural training. Originality/value - The paper contends that in as much as an international academic career offers a broad range of opportunities for fulfilment it also presents significant challenges that should be acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between trade unions and young workers in the UK using the Young Members' Network of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union as a case study. Design/methodology/approach -- Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 20 full-time officials and 39 lay officials of all ages, the collection and analysis of primary documents and observations at a range of union meetings. Findings -- It is argued that PCS has developed a strong network of young activists and is leading the way in terms of engaging with and representing young workers. However, its success in the future may be limited due to changes to the external environment in which the union is trying to organise. Research limitations/implications -- The research highlights the role of an under researched area of trade union membership. To provide additional insights, further research is needed into the practice of other unions. Originality/value -- This paper provides significant qualitative analysis into this issue which complements the existing quantitative research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a first impact assessment of the Italian quota law in order to explore whether “gender equality by law” contributes to redefining, albeit in part, consolidating and establishing positions of power and decision making. The paper analyses these dynamics by focusing on a specific economic sector, the banking sector. The analysis strives to determine: whether binding quotas are giving rise to an apparent enforcement by building up new distortionary equilibria (such as new forms of horizontal segregation); what extent the financial crisis has impacted on the rhetoric of female representation, and whether it has pushed towards a “regenerative” organizational change aimed at achieving a more inclusive and egalitarian image.Design/methodology/approach The paper is organized as follows. Section 1 reviews the theoretical and empirical debate on gender diversity and quota impact. Section 2 illustrates the recent EBA Survey’s outcome on gender diversity in the European banking system and focuses on the Italian scenario; Section 3 describes the Italian banking system and gives a first impact assessment on Italian banks of the mandatory gender quotas in Italy (the so-called “Golfo-Mosca law,” named after MPs who proposed the law); some qualitative considerations are carried out on the reactions of Italian banks to the financial crisis in terms of “bridge policies” aimed at corresponding to a higher demand of customer satisfaction and fairness. Section 4 concludes and summarizes the finding of the study.Findings The Italian banking system is not so dramatically ranked among the EU countries as in the recent past. The gender rebalance in management bodies could be considered rather satisfying (the number of female directorships grew by 7 p.p. from 2013 to March 2016). If we compare ten-year-old findings, the number of women on board of directors has tripled. But data clearly show a dichotomy due to significant differences between listed and non-listed banks. In non-listed banks, women are still relegated to an under-represented position, reaching only 11 percent on boards of directors (as against 26 percent in listed banks). The data confirm the results found in non-financial sector that women are significantly better represented on audit boards. In accordance with all previous studies, no relevant changes can be noticed on key-decision roles: no CEOs or Directors general are women in listed banks, and women are always more represented in non-executive functions.Originality/value The paper analyses the law experience in Italy (law that is considered a best practice by the European Commission also because it is a unique case in Europe) as a significant case study by proving that rules such as temporary binding gender quotas (introduced by law in 2011) can be useful, but not always enough to remove blocking or distortive factors in organizational ladders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As the current "one size fits all" research approach is likely to be ineffective in identifying the conditions that promote the entrepreneurial career of the solo self-employed, this paper advances the current understanding of the heterogeneity among the solo self-employed. Design/methodology/approach: A person-centered approach is used to identify groups among the solo self-employed based on their starting motives and to examine their engagement in proactive career behaviors. Findings: Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), six groups displaying distinct motivational profiles are identified: (1) the pushed by necessity, (2) entrepreneurs by heart, (3) control-seekers, (4) occupationally-driven, (5) challenge-seekers and (6) the family business-driven. In line with the argument that starting motives affect behavior because they reflect the future work selves that individuals aim for, results show that solo self-employed with distinct motivational profiles differ in their engagement in proactive career behaviors. For future research, it is recommended to examine the role of demographic characteristics in the engagement in proactive career behaviors. Originality/value: Although starting motives among self-employed people have been studied frequently, this research applies an innovative methodological approach by using LCA. Hereby, a potentially more advanced configuration of starting motives is explored. Additionally, this study applies a career perspective towards the domain of solo self-employment by exploring how solo self-employed with distinct motivational profiles differ in terms of managing their entrepreneurial careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Although many disaster resettlement programs are implemented throughout the world, their ramifications continue to challenge our understanding of scope, impact, context, and nature of efforts to rebuild livelihoods. The purpose of this paper is to examine involved rural farmers' livelihood risk perceptions (LRPs) in Southern Shaanxi Disaster Resettlement based on the case of Ziyang County. Design/methodology/approach - Utilizing a livelihood risk perspective, this paper identified factors contributing to LRPs. The research categorized the involved rural farmers into groups and explored the factors affecting their LRPs using decision tree (DT). Findings - Analyzing LRPs of different groups, this paper derived influential factors and the decision rules followed by groups. Additionally, critical factors were discussed according to their relative importance for decision making and to propose some intervention measures for effectiveness. Originality/value - The results and implications enhance understanding on how local community members perceive the problem or risk in disaster resettlement. The application of a DT also provides methodological contributions for risk analysis and disaster preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The paper explores how to bridge the gap between graduates/students and employers.Design/methodology/approach Industry experience “What do the brightest graduates want?”, Bright Network Research Report 2017/18.Findings A concerning divide between what students believe employers are looking for in employees and what employers are actually looking for. Need for better communication between graduate employers and graduates.Originality/value With the job market rapidly changing and a growing disconnect between employers and graduates, this paper looks at how employers can better engage with graduates to bridge this gap and attract and retain bright recruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on labor market careers of dropouts with various levels of education. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the labor market careers of dropouts and non-dropouts between ages 15 and 50 by using longitudinal data. The paper analyses how the results change when the authors control for differences in personality characteristics. Findings – The paper finds that dropping out diminishes one's success in the labor market but this connection is reduced when the model is augmented with personality. Dropouts seem to have or lack certain personality characteristics that are associated with labor market success. These findings suggest that dropping out is either an adverse signal of non-cognitive skills and, thus, work performance and productivity, or personality characteristics are related to preferences toward career and work orientation, or both. Originality/value – The paper analyses how the impact of dropping out on labor market outcomes changes when differences in personality characteristics are taken into account. The broad definition enables us to investigate how dropping out in general is related to labor market success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose -- Do similar job titles refer to the same work activities, as assumed often, but hardly empirically tested? The purpose of this paper is to analyze the similarity of 160 occupations within and across eight European countries using interrater agreement statistics (rWG). Design/methodology/approach -- Using a multilingual web survey, experts and jobholders in the eight countries rated the frequency of ten tasks per occupation they had knowledge of (n = 4,197 ratings). Three hypotheses are investigated: first, interrater agreements of occupations are similar regardless the country; second, interrater agreements of occupations are similar within countries; and third, experts and jobholders are similar in their ratings. Findings -- Half of the occupations reveal no agreement across ratings, one-third shows a weak/ moderate agreement and one in ten shows a strong agreement. H1 is rejected for task frequency but not for task importance. Within-country similarity of occupations is larger than across-country similarity. H2 is supported for two countries and rejected for two other countries. H3 is not supported. Jobholders demonstrate higher agreement than experts. Research limitations/implications -- An empirical testing of occupation-specific tasks for a wide range of occupations across Europe seems a viable approach. Practical implications -- The paper contributes to the challenges related to labor market mobility across borders. Originality/value -- Work tasks for a wide range of occupations and countries, using job-specific work activities in combination with web surveys and the internet for recruitment of jobholders, have not been used before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper analyses the relation between occupational characteristics and the probability that a worker in the Netherlands has a false self-employed arrangement instead of an employee arrangement. These are arrangements in which self-employed workers perform tasks in the hierarchy of the firm as if they were employees. Design/methodology/approach: Data from the Dutch Labour Force Survey is used to analyse the relationship between occupational skill, routine and wage level and the probability to be a false self-employed or a standard or non-standard employee. Findings: The results show that the probability to be false self-employed decreases slightly with the skill level of the occupation, but there is no evidence that false self-employment is more likely in low paid, routine occupations. Workers in the lowest paid occupations are more likely to have a non-standard contract as an employee. False self-employment arrangements are more likely in the (lower) middle paid occupations. Finally, the results show that working in the highest paid occupations increases the probability of being in a false self-employed arrangement, but only in arrangements that are characterised by economic and organizational dependency. These are arrangements with financial dependency on one client for income combined with dependency on this client on when and where to work. Originality/value: This study makes an important contribution to the literature on identifying vulnerable self-employed workers as well as to the literature on mechanisms behind the growth of solo self-employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the moderation effect of person-organization fit and perceived career and repatriation support on the relationship between knowledge governance and knowledge transfer intention of repatriates at multinational corporations. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 243 repatriates who had been contacted beforehand from MNCs in China. Hierarchical regression, AMOS, and PROCESS tools were used to examine the data. Findings: The results revealed that the repatriate knowledge governance mechanism was positively related to repatriate knowledge transfer intentions. What's more, person-organization fit and perceived career and repatriation support significantly moderate the effect of knowledge governance mechanisms on repatriate knowledge transfer intention. Originality/value: This is the initial empirical research on the influence of person-organization fit and perceived career and repatriation support on the relationship between knowledge governance and repatriate knowledge transfer; it may help readers understand the complex process and relationships associated with repatriate knowledge transfer, and the results may be useful for repatriate knowledge governance in multinational corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how leadership aspiration mediates the effect of career self-efficacy on employees' engagement in career self-management (CSM; i.e. deployment of career advancement strategies concerning access to power, psychological boundaryless and self-promotion), whether self-efficacy directly influences CSM, and whether these relations are conditional upon nationality (which is a proxy for domestic and international careers in Kuwait). Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was completed by 615 highly educated young Kuwaitis and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs; Arab and South Asian nationals) working in Kuwait. Findings: The results demonstrate that self-efficacy, directly and indirectly (mediated by leadership aspiration), influences the three types of career advancement strategies. Moderated-mediation analyses suggest that SIEs and Kuwaitis engage in similar CSM behaviors when it is motivated by self-efficacy, which is mediated by leadership aspiration. Also, self-efficacy has greater direct effect on SIEs' CSM than Kuwaitis', but Kuwaitis have higher tendency for CSM behavior. Practical implications: Interventions aiming to improve employees' engagement in CSM may focus on enhancing their psychological capital and contexts, while minding the differential effects of nationality and self-efficacy on CSM of Kuwaitis and SIEs. Originality/value: The study provides unique information about CSM utilizing understudied populations namely, Middle-Eastern and self-initiated expatriate employees. It confirms the effects of self-efficacy and leadership aspiration on CSM and reveals different effects of nationality depending on the motivators at play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate linkages in US labor market between importance of specific skills, education, or training requirements, and private average salary for occupations not characterized as requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher.Design/methodology/approach Data set constructed that matches 474 less than bachelor’s occupations to private average salary, education, or training requirements category, and 35 specific skills. Statistical and regression analysis has been done to assess linkages between these variables.Findings Highest returns associated with cognitive skills, quantitative skills, and other core academic basic skills set followed by traditional blue-collar technical skills. Interpersonal skills and related social skills set exhibited weak, and sometimes negative, association with private average salary by occupation.Research limitations/implications Study of only US labor market at single point of time, findings may not generalize to either non US markets or occupations requiring bachelor’s degree or higher.Practical implications Workers in the less than bachelor’s labor market have greater upside salary potential if they obtain postsecondary certificates or associates’ degrees and target occupations placing a greater importance on cognitive skills, quantitative skills, and core academic basic skills than if they target traditional blue-collar technical skill occupations.Social implications Social policies to enhance earnings for workers lacking bachelor’s degrees must target improving core generic transferable academic skills as well as vocationally specific training.Originality/value This if the first study that links these many specific skills to salary variation across less than bachelor’s occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to present two objectives. The first objective is to identify the academic knowledge interests (managerial, agentic, curatorial and critical) prevalent in research on global careers. The second objective is to consider and critique the discourse constructed and perpetuated in academic texts on global careers concerning globalization, global careers and the global careerist.Design/methodology/approach Using a critical discourse analysis, the paper analyzes 66 articles and book chapters and one book on the subject of a global career. The authors positioned the texts into one of the four academic knowledge interests – managerial, agentic, curatorial and critical. The texts were also analyzed with respect to the discourse manifested in relation to globalization, global careers and the global careerist.Findings The authors found that the texts were driven by primarily managerial academic knowledge interests, followed by agentic and curatorial interests. Very few reflected critical knowledge interests. In addition, texts on global careers accept the globalization of business as natural and unproblematic and, consequently, construct a discourse about the global career and the global careerist which fits the idea that global business expansion in its current form is inevitable and inescapable.Originality/value This paper is the first to analyze the academic knowledge production and discourse on “global careers” and the “global careerist” as it is emerging among career scholars. It is also one of the very few articles offering a more critical perspective on global careers specifically and careers more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to move towards clarification of the self-initiated expatriate/expatriation construct with the aim of extending and deepening theory development in the field. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Suddaby's think piece on construct clarity, this paper applies his proposed four elements; definitional clarity, scope conditions, relationships between constructs and coherence, in order to clarify the SIE construct. Findings – The discussion examines the "problem of definition" and its impact on SIE scholarship. The spatial, temporal and value-laden constraints that must be considered by SIE scholars are expounded, and the links between SIE research and career theory are developed. From this, potential research agendas are proposed. Research limitations/implications – This is a conceptual piece which, rather than giving precise research data, encourages further thinking in the field. Originality/value – Although the definitional difficulties of SIEs have been identified in previous literature, this is the first attempt to clarify the boundaries of SIE and its interconnectedness with other related constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper aims to contribute to the discussion about how SIEs articulate narratives as cognitive efforts to expand, restrict or adapt their repertoire of identities in highly regulated environments. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from a social constructivist positioning, the paper explores situated social and relational practices using a qualitative framework that relied on primary data gathering through semi-structured interviews. Qatar is a context of particular interest for exploring identity narratives of SIEs given the highly regulated environment and the large numbers of non-nationals within the overall workforce. The study was conducted in an anonymous Qatari public shareholding company. Findings – Findings suggest that narratives of self are framed in relation to structural constraints and patterns of adaptation. These reveal the interplay between identity, careers and self-initiated expatriation at macro-country and micro-individual levels. As part of these themes, narratives of mobility and opportunity emerged in reference to career experiences and discussions about themselves (lives, identities, and expectations). Originality/value – The paper contributes to our current understanding of SIEs and encourages us to consider the importance of context in shaping the SIE experience. Similarly, the scarcity of literature about SIEs in GCC countries makes this paper a timely contribution. These contributions have significant implications not only for theoretical discussions about SIEs, but also for discussions on the interplay between migration, identity and global careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to evaluate a method for measuring work activities and skill requirements of 160 occupations in eight countries, used in EurOccupations, an EU-FP6 project. Additionally, it aims to explore how the internet can be used for measuring work activities and skill requirements. Design/methodology/approach - For the 160 occupations, work activities were described in approximately ten tasks. Occupational experts and jobholders were invited to rate these tasks and to indicate the skill requirements, using a multilingual web-survey. Experts were recruited through the networks of the project partners and jobholders through frequently visited websites in the eight countries. The effectiveness of the drafting of tasks descriptions, the recruitment of raters, and the measurement of skill requirements is evaluated. Findings - The project showed that tasks descriptions for a wide range of occupations and countries can be drafted relatively easy, using desk research. Conducting a web-survey with a routing for 160 occupations and eight countries is viable. Recruiting experts used more resources than recruiting jobholders using the internet. Measuring skill requirements would need much more resources due to major variations within and across countries. Research limitations/implications - The article addresses a number of areas that are potentially worthy of further empirical investigations for a Europe-wide library of occupational titles, work activities and skill requirements. Practical implications - The paper outlines the potential of a future method for a European library of work activities and skill requirements for occupational titles, thereby facilitating European industrial training efforts. Social implications - Insight in the work activities and skill requirements of occupations will facilitate labour mobility and related training across EU member states. Originality/value - This paper explores the potential for a Europe-wide empirical underpinning of work activities and skill requirements, using a web-survey and the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the concept of career success has been subject to reification, and identify potential implications for individuals, organizations, and societies. Design/methodology/approach - The current paper offers an in-depth analysis of the different contextual forces contributing to the reification of careers (i.e. history, culture and ideology), and how these have impacted on the social reality of career and the definitions of career success held by different relevant actors. Findings - In total, eight research propositions are identified that need to be addressed in future research in order to advance knowledge and understanding of career success in context. Social implications - One manifest outcome of career reification is the establishment of collective norms prescribing what a "normal", "successful" career is - and what is not. Consequently, all careers not conforming to these norms are devaluated, which is inappropriate given the present-day climate of workplace diversity. Originality/value - Career theory, in general, has been criticized for overemphasizing individual agency while neglecting contextual issues. Furthermore, more conceptual development is necessary in relation to the career success construct. The current paper aims to address both of these gaps by presenting in-depth analyses of the historical, cultural, and ideological contexts impacting on the meaning of career and career success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The primary purpose of this paper is to highlight the utility of operationalising the concept of skill ecosystems, or more accurately "intermediate occupational skill ecosystems". Design/methodology/approach -- This paper draws on the process and findings of an empirical study of intermediate occupations in Scotland which set out to explore changing systems of initial skill creation and related problems of skill by embedding these systems within the broader canvas of skill ecosystems. Findings -- Operationalising skill ecosystems not only provided a framework from which to explore and provide an explanation of changing initial systems of skill creation but also supported broader conjectures on the nature of developments and problems within intermediate occupations. Practical implications -- The operationalisation presented has relevance to policy makers and academics beyond the scope of this particular examination of intermediate occupations. For policy makers, it emphasises that better skills utilisation cannot be reduced to the level of the individual; that the supply, demand, development and deployment of skills are interrelated and not discrete; and that the roles and relative influences of actors in a position to help build and sustain better skill ecosystems are changing. For academics concerned with exploring changing systems of skill creation, this, or some similar, operationalisation, has potential practical application in terms of supporting key stages in the research process. Originality/value -- This paper's value centres around the proposition, and illustration, that it is possible to effectively utilise a simple operationalisation of the inherently "messy" concept of skill ecosystems without losing the essence and complexity of the relations and dynamics embodied in the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Health is one of the most basic human rights. Self-medication not only results in many risks, complications and mortalities but also remains a massive economic burden on governments' pharmaceutical budgets, insurance companies and the general population. The importance of self-medication as one of the worldwide health problems, this paper aims to investigate the extent of this problem and related factors in Sanandaj, Iran in 2018. Design/methodology/approach: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 838 people who referred to pharmacies in Sanandaj, Iran in 2018. The subjects were selected in 10 pharmacies, 84 in each, randomly. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect information about demographic features, prevalence and reasons for self-medication. The data was analyzed statistically by SPSS software. Findings: The results show a high prevalence of self-medication, 73.70 per cent among people who referred to the pharmacies in Sanandaj during 2018. There was a significant correlation between self-medication and occupation, education level, age groups, chronic disease, smoking or reasons to refer to pharmacies (p < 0.05). Analgesics, antibiotics; non-steroid anti-inflammatory, cold and gastrointestinal medicines were the most commonly used medicines by the subjects. People with headache, cold, infection, stomach pain, toothache and dysmenorrhea were more likely to act self-medication than people with other complaints. Among people who do self-medication, (85.60 per cent) had already experienced satisfactory results after using medicines. Mild symptoms of the disease (74.11 per cent), availability of medicines (72.98 per cent) and easy access to medicine supplies in pharmacies (71.35 per cent) are other reasons for self-medication. Research limitations/implications: In general, the study had some limitations. One of the limitations was related to the research period i.e. spring and summer. So, it is suggested to conduct studies in other seasons, too. Furthermore, as the time of self-medication was the past three months, there was a probability of recall bias. Originality/value: The prevalence of self-medication in Sanandaj is high and alarming, implementing educational programs about this issue is extremely required. Health policymakers should take all necessary steps to tackle self-medication efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, short-term sharing accommodation platforms such as Airbnb have made rapid forays in populous cities worldwide, impacting neighborhoods profoundly. Emerging work has focused on demand-side motivations to engage in the sharing economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze rarely examined supply-side motivations of providers. Design/methodology/approach: To address this gap and to illuminate understanding of how Airbnb supply is configured and influenced, this study examines spatial patterns and socioeconomic influences on participation in the sharing accommodation economy by Airbnb hosts in New York City (NYC). An exploratory conceptual model of host participation is induced, which posits associations of demographic, economic, employment, social capital attributes, and attitudes toward trust and sustainability with host participation, measured by Airbnb property density in neighborhoods. Methods employed include ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, k-means cluster analysis and spatial analytics. Findings: Spatially, clusters of high host densities are in Manhattan and northern Brooklyn and there is little proportionate change longitudinally. OLS regression findings reveal that gender ratio, black race/ethnicity, median household income, and professional, scientific, and technical occupation, and attitudes toward sustainability for property types are dominant correlates of property density, while host trust in customers is not supported. Research limitations/implications: These results along with differences between Queens and Manhattan boroughs have implications for hosts sharing their homes and for city managers to formulate policies and regulate short-term rental markets in impacted neighborhoods. Originality/value: The study is novel in conceptualizing and analyzing the supply-side provider motivations of the sharing accommodation economy. Geostatistical analysis of property densities to gauge host participation is novel. Value stems from new insights on NYC's short-term homesharing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The aim of this paper is to describe the use of sequence analysis to model trajectories of life-course economic activity status, within a broader research agenda aimed at improving understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic position and health. Design/methodology/approach — The analysis used data on 288 participants of the Boyd Orr Stratified Sub-Sample, comprising a combination of prospective and retrospective information on economic activity status, as well as health in early old age. Economic activity was coded as a time-based sequence of states for each participant based on six-month periods throughout their lives. Economic activity was classified as: pre-labour market; full-time employment; part-time employment; housewife; made redundant; stopped work due to illness; retired; other unemployed; or not applicable. Optimal matching analysis was carried out to produce a matrix of distances between each sequence, which was then used as the basis for cluster analysis. Findings — The optimal matching analysis resulted in the classification of individuals into five economic activity status trajectories: full-time workers (transitional exit), part-time housewives, career breakers, full-time workers (late entry, early exit), and full-time housewives. Originality/value — The paper presents the case for using sequence analysis as a methodological tool to facilitate a more interdisciplinary approach to the measurement of the life-course socioeconomic position, in particular attempting to integrate the empirical emphasis of epidemiological research with the more theoretical contributions of sociology. This may in turn help generate a framework within which to examine the relationships between life-course socioeconomic position and outcomes such as health in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on the growth in qualifications available through work, over the 50 years of Education + Training. Design/methodology/approach - The approach adopted is that of providing a viewpoint, reflecting back on the availability of qualifications today compared with the 1950s. Findings - The growth in the availability of qualifications has meant that a greater proportion of the workforce now hold qualifications, and particularly that people outside traditional trades can gain work-related qualifications. The changes have advantaged those in service industries and jobs previously not regarded as skilled. They have especially assisted women and have paralleled the increased participation of women in the workforce. However the current favourable situation has some fragility. Originality/value - This paper is one of a series commissioned by the journal on its 50th anniversary. Its originality stems from the discussion of the significance of the growth of qualifications, particularly for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing on the transaction theory of stress, the purpose of this paper is to conceptualize customer mistreatment as a stressor and examine how job routinization and proactive personality help employees cope with the effects of customer mistreatment on emotional exhaustion and work engagement. The interaction of job routinization and proactive personality was also tested. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 128 hundred nurses were recruited to participate in the current study, which was a daily survey for two consecutive weeks (10 working days). Findings: The results revealed that job routinization and proactive personality attenuated the effects of customer mistreatment on emotional exhaustion and work engagement. The analyses also showed that, with more proactive personality and high job routinization, the effects of customer mistreatment were minimized. Originality/value: Job routinization is a type of job resources that attenuates the negative influence of customer mistreatment. Proactive personality strengthens job routinization's function, when proactive personality and job routinization are both high, the ill effect of customer mistreatment will be minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]