Non‐linear careers: desirability and coping

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to analyse the question of whether women freely choose to pursue a non-linear career or whether they are forced by their circumstances to take this path. Design/methodology/approach -Semi-structured interviews with older female employees, who had non-linear careers, were conducted. The qualitative analysis of women's biographical narratives was achieved through adopting a socio-biographical approach. The subjective view of success in the non-linear careers was addressed. Findings -All respondents would have preferred a linear career. However a non-linear career is accepted as a possibility to follow one's own professional interests and to cope with professional insecurity. Moreover women discover strategies to cope with insecurity, organizational injustice or life course stereotypes, such as networking, additional qualifications, and making the change over to a self-employed position.Research limitations/implications -As all interviews were conducted with German professionals and a small qualitative sample, the results need an adaptation for other countries, younger generations and different social strata. Social implications -The need for social political concepts for non-linear careers became evident. The risk of the non-linear careers should be pooled between individuals and organizations. Originality/value -The study found that some decisions, which aim to avoid professional insecurity (e.g. additional qualification), produce non-linearity and hence increase the insecurity. The importance of social constraints for individual career decisions has been emphasized in the paper.

Rebooting and Rerouting: Women's Articulations of Frayed Careers in Science, Engineering and Technology Professions

“…Other scholars have developed models that have specifically addressed women's careers, such as 'kaleidoscope' (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005) and 'careerscape' (McKie et al, 2013). These new career models present alternatives through which to analyse the experiences of women's working lives in the SET professions where the linear career has not lost its normative status (Schilling, 2012).…”

Advancing careers through ‘merit’: a rationalized-sensemaking narrative in hierarchical organizations

“…Around the linearity debate, efforts have focused on providing alternative paradigms and metaphors which account for new societal conditions. Gender and feminist scholars have spearheaded these efforts, concerned with coining new metaphors which are sensitive to women 'cycles' or 'rhythms', and how they balance their career ambitions with other aspects of their lives such as maternity (see, for example : Halrynjo 2009;Mainiero and Sullivan 2005;Sabelis 2010;Sabelis and Schilling 2013;Schilling 2012). Career scholars have followed (see, for example: Baruch 2004;DeFilippi and Arthur 1994;Hall 1996), aiming to account for contemporary values, greater flexibility, challenge and personal life-style (Beer et al 1985;Yankelovich 1979;Zemke 1987).…”

Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population

“…The results also hold broad practical implications. Although beyond the scope of this paper, artists' increasing reliance on non-artistic activities outside the creative industries raises political and cultural challenges for governments wanting to invest in the creative industries as drivers of innovation and future economic growth (European Commission, 2010, 2012Federation of Dutch Creative Industries, 2013). To meet their objectives, governments will need to consider supports such as subsidies and taxation relief, physical spaces for arts practice, career support, and support for professional networks.…”

“…In the past, careers were thought of as linear pathways of individual development within a stable employing organization (Schilling, 2012). Now, many workers encounter interruptions, setbacks, highlights and downtimes during their working lives as they follow meandering career paths that feature many organizational and thematic changes (Sabelis, 2010).…”