Intelligent career success: The case of distinguished academics

Abstract

In a qualitative study, 28 distinguished academics (DAs) and eight of their spouses discussed career success in the boundaryless career contest. A boundaryless career is one that is based on independence rather than dependence on traditional organizational arrangements. The participants described career success in terms of why, how, and with whom. In describing the "why" of their work, the DAs were strongly driven in their research careers and explorations, believed that their academic field and research had become part of their identity, and took advantage of opportunities as they arose. As for the "how" or their approach to work, the DAs adopted a "blue ocean" strategy by seeking out research areas that were unexplored. They also emphasized the importance of remaining active and updated, prioritizing, and developing positive work habits. "With whom" referred to mentoring graduate students who would become future collaborators, international networking, and receiving full support from spouses. These three dimensions of career success-why, how, and with whom-operated in a linked manner. (87 ref)

Turning Around to Look Ahead: Views of Vocational Psychology in 2001 and 2019

“…This is particularly useful for those at the various intersections of identity such as gender, race, sexual orientation, or social class. Some examples of this include social class and upward mobility for White men (Kallschmidt & Eaton, 2018), intelligent career success for academics (Beigi, Shirmohammadi, & Arthur, 2018), and first-generation college students (Tate et al, 2015). There have been enough qualitative studies in specific areas to warrant reviews.…”

Career capital in global versus second-order cities: Skilled migrants in London and Newcastle

“…The experiences of the respondents in London verify global cities as ‘transnational social spaces’ (Smith, 1999) or ‘transnational communities’ (Beigi et al, 2018) where knowledge is produced and disseminated globally through transnational networks. Miera (2008) exemplifies how Polish entrepreneurs in Berlin deploy their Polish skills and contacts to establish businesses aiming at the Polish community in Berlin and then successfully expand their enterprises back to Poland.…”

“…These arguments also add to the debate about the context-driven links between the three ways of knowing (Beigi et al, 2018;Parker et al, 2009), and therefore contribute to the intelligent career framework. The results provide further empirical evidence to illustrate how changes in one way of knowing entail changes in the others (Zikic and Ezzedeen, 2015).…”

“…Likewise, knowing-how and knowing-whom are linked, as trust and reputation built from work performance can facilitate developing social contacts. The relations between the ways of knowing were further developed by Beigi et al (2018), who found that, in addition to dyadic ties, one way of knowing can connect the other two types.…”

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“…These three different ways of knowing have been regarded as the critical aspects of career competency in the modern career environment (Suutari & Mäkelä, 2007). The previous studies showed that the three aforementioned career competencies are the critical predictors of many work performance aspects in various research settings (Beigi, Nayyeri, & Shirmohammadi, 2020;Beigi, Shirmohammadi, & Arthur, 2018;Colakoglu, 2011;Dickmann & Mills, 2010;Eby, Butts, & Lockwood, 2003;Suutari & Mäkelä, 2007;Zikic & Ezzedeen, 2015).…”