Professor Yehuda Baruch, Professor Francoise Dany and Dr Jean Pralong and Dr Celine Davense
Doirean Wilson, Yehuda Baruch, Patti Boulaye and Mary Hartog
Highlights the need to be mindful of the global implications of migration and the ecology of diversity in our economy and organizations. Argues that support and programs for…
Abstract
Purpose
Highlights the need to be mindful of the global implications of migration and the ecology of diversity in our economy and organizations. Argues that support and programs for diversity are essential to a sustainable economy and the life chances of all our citizens.
Design/methodology/approach
Explores diversity from a theoretical perspective and then provides details of one person’s struggle to gain acceptance in an alien culture.
Findings
Draws attention to the complexities and complications born of globalization and the challenge these pose for multi-national organizations. Advances the view that these complexities also relate to the émigrés who bought with them their different ways of thinking, behaving and speaking that were alien to the indigenous community, and for many still remain an enigma.
Practical implications
Highlights the need to develop an organization and leadership culture where every manager is an HR manager, assuming shared responsibility for promoting and developing diversity in the organization.
Social implications
Shows how difficult can be the struggle to gain acceptance for a person newly arriving in a foreign country.
Originality/value
Combines an academic view of immigration and diversity with one person’s experiences.
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The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive account for careers within the Greek academic system. Historical, cultural and geographical features of the country have…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive account for careers within the Greek academic system. Historical, cultural and geographical features of the country have created a unique context that has shaped the way academic careers evolve.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary methods of data collection were retrospective participant observation and discussions in interview form with individuals who have had various types of experience with the Greek Higher Education system.
Findings
The major factor that shapes careers in Greek academia is social capital or know-whom that operates within a broader cultural environment where institutional collectivism is extremely low, the in-group – out-group distinction is a major element, and political party affiliation plays a key role in everyday affairs. As a result academic careers in Greece are almost exclusively determined by membership, a priory or earned, to an “in-group” that is linked via blood, family friendship, business and political party ties. This “in-group” uses its social capital to control academic careers across all stages for the benefit of its members.
Research limitations/implications
There are method limitations, but relevant concerns were largely alleviated by precautionary measures and the way data were utilized. Ethnography may be the most appropriate method to disentangle the way networks and social capital impact careers.
Practical implications
Achieving substantive change, such as increasing meritocracy, within a sector may be impossible without considering the broader cultural context that encapsulates it.
Originality/value
The study is among the very first to unveil the “dark side” of social capital, and show how social capital may benefit the interests of in-groups at the expense of the collective.
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Shawn M. Carraher, Madeline M. Crocitto and Sherry Sullivan
Although the sabbatical leave is an integral part of academic life, there has been relatively little empirical, theory-driven research of the process. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the sabbatical leave is an integral part of academic life, there has been relatively little empirical, theory-driven research of the process. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the limited research on faculty sabbaticals with the careers literature to offer a new approach for the study of this important tool for faculty development.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the empirical studies on faculty sabbaticals was performed and used in conjunction with the kaleidoscope career model (KCM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to develop a model to guide future research.
Findings
The decision to take a sabbatical is complex and may have long-lasting implications for an individual's career. It is important to examine how factors that impact the perceived feasibility of the sabbatical (e.g. organization, country social norms) and desirability (e.g. need for authenticity, balance and challenge) influence the decisions, goals and outcomes of the sabbatical.
Research limitations/implications
The use of the KCM, the TPB and the careers literature provides a theoretical foundation to study faculty sabbaticals as a distinct event in an individual's career development.
Practical implications
The proposed framework can be used by faculty members to determine the feasibility and desirability of taking a sabbatical as well as what factors which may encourage or limit sabbatical opportunities.
Originality/value
This conceptual paper uses a careers lens to provide a theory-driven framework which can be used to conduct much needed research on faculty sabbaticals.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle East enact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle East enact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution encoding organizational career scripts and gender as another institution encoding specific gender roles. It is hoped that this cross-cultural perspective would broaden the understanding of careers beyond the economically advanced industrialized countries and better inform the current debate on the boundaryless career model.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. It draws on one-to-one interviews with 23 female academics in early, mid and late careers, working in research universities in the Arab Middle East region.
Findings
The choice of academia as a profession is mainly driven by the subjective perception of an academic career as a calling, the lack of attractiveness of other career options in the region, and the appeal of the flexibility of academic work. Furthermore, the findings highlight both organizational (lack of mentoring and university support) and cultural factors (Islam, patriarchy, and family centrality) that shape/bind women's careers choices and patterns allowing thus for a better understanding of local constraints to the boundaryless career view in the Arab Middle East context.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the boundaryless career theory development by addressing one of its major shortcomings, namely the lack of attention to context. It provides fresh insights from the Arab Middle East to the ongoing debate whether careers are boundaryless and subject to individual agency or whether careers are shaped by wider institutional factors and support existing calls in the literature to conceptualize careers at the intersection of several influencing factors.
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Marcel Van der Klink, Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden, Jo Boon and Shahron Williams van Rooij
Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of formal and informal learning to employability.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were obtained from 139 academic staff members employed at the Open University in the Netherlands. The questionnaire included employee characteristics, job characteristics, organizational context factors, formal learning and informal learning and employability variables.
Findings
Informal learning, such as networking and learning value of the job, appeared to be solid contributors to employability, while the impact of formal learning activities was far less significant. Further, the study revealed the impact of employee and organizational context factors upon informal learning and employability. Age, salary and learning climate appeared to be strong predictors for informal learning, while promotions were shown to be highly positive contributors to employability.
Practical implications
The findings stress the value of informal learning, although human resource policies that encourage both formal and informal learning are recommended.
Originality/value
Academic careers comprise an under-researched area and the same applies to the relationship between learning and employability in the context of these types of careers.
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Yehuda Baruch and Orna Lavi-Steiner
The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of the added value of management studies, as the current state of research in the field has focused principally on studies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of the added value of management studies, as the current state of research in the field has focused principally on studies undertaken at prestigious institutions. In addition, this study tests the extent to which career-related attitudes and chance events have influenced career success.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used data provided by 1,228 graduates from an average-ranked academic institution.
Findings
The findings suggest that such management education can result in significant tangible and intangible outcomes for graduates’ careers and their employing organizations. Both intellectual ability and career attitudes influenced the career success outcomes to differing levels. The contribution to the literature is both to theory and to managerial practice, in response to the recent critique of management education as well as the growing need for new cadres of managers, which cannot be supplied by high-prestige, leading business schools alone.
Originality/value
Testing career impact of MBA from an average-ranked university, and the impact of chance event – both understudied.
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P.M. Nimmi and William E. Donald
Drawing on a framework of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), the purpose of this paper is to conceptually develop and empirically validate a moderated mediation model of serious…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on a framework of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), the purpose of this paper is to conceptually develop and empirically validate a moderated mediation model of serious leisure and workplace well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected between December 2020 and March 2021 using an online questionnaire. A total of 225 completed questionnaires were received from employees in India who graduated between 2018 and 2020.
Findings
The authors’ findings indicate that serious leisure is positively associated with workplace well-being and that the relationship is mediated by self-perceived employability. Stress moderates the relationship between serious leisure and self-perceived employability in such a way that the association is stronger when levels of stress are higher. Stress also moderates the mediating effect of self-perceived employability on the relationship between serious leisure and workplace well-being such that the indirect effect of serious leisure on workplace well-being is stronger when levels of stress are higher.
Originality/value
Theoretical implications come from drawing on leisure studies literature to differentiate casual leisure and serious leisure. The concept of serious leisure is subsequently integrated into the human resource management literature to explore the relationship between serious leisure, self-perceived employability, stress, and workplace well-being. Practical and policy implications suggest how universities and organisations can support their students and early careers talent by encouraging them to participate in serious leisure activities.
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Yehuda Baruch and James Campbell Quick
The purpose of this paper is to discuss why organizations who are looking for top executives, should enlist former military officers and senior enlisted leaders, who make…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss why organizations who are looking for top executives, should enlist former military officers and senior enlisted leaders, who make excellent candidates.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires with both closed‐ and open‐ended questions generate responses from more than 300 former Navy admirals. This paper reports the qualitative findings emerging from the open‐ended questions.
Findings
The authors identify the perspectives that enable a smooth transition from the structured military to a civilian career. Embracing the new environment proves essential, while clinging to the past has detrimental outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
It is yet to be determined whether former military leaders represent the wider population of executives at traditional organizations moving to a business environment.
Practical implications
The admirals' career shift should shed light on broader questions of transition into a business environment, as well as the specific element of embarking on a second career at a late age and the impact of organizational support mechanisms.
Originality/value
Careers in industry since the last quarter of the twentieth century have become boundaryless, turbulent, even chaotic. Many people have to change their approach to careers, yet few studies examine mass transition from traditional systems to a second career in business. This paper should assist HR theorists and practitioners who deal with such career transition.