Comparing apples to apples: a qualitative investigation of career mobility patterns across four generations

Purpose – This study aims to compare the career patterns of Matures, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials over the various stages of their careers to determine whether there have been notable shifts away from the “traditional” career model characterized by long‐term linear, upward career movement, toward a “modern” career model characterized by increased job mobility, organizational mobility and multi‐directional career movement.Design/methodology/approach – The retrospective career accounts of 105 Canadians were gathered through review of resume information and semi‐structured interviews. The job changes and organizational changes experienced by each respondent in each five‐year career period (e.g. age 20‐24, 25‐29) and the direction of job changes (i.e. upward, downward, lateral or change of career track) were recorded. The generations were compared statistically on each of these measures through analysis of variance (ANOVA).Findings – Significant inter‐generational differences were observed on...

[1]  Carole L. Jurkiewicz,et al.  Generation X and the Public Employee , 2000 .

[2]  Y. Baruch,et al.  Back to square zero: The post-corporate career , 1997 .

[3]  J. Arnett.  Emerging Adulthood: Understanding the New Way of Coming of Age. , 2006 .

[4]  M. Crumpacker,et al.  Succession Planning and Generational Stereotypes: Should HR Consider Age-Based Values and Attitudes a Relevant Factor or a Passing Fad? , 2007 .

[5]  Thomas W. H. Ng,et al.  Determinants of job mobility: A theoretical integration and extension , 2007 .

[6]  W. Wiesner,et al.  Are Men Always Picked Over Women? The Effects of Employment Equity Directives on Selection Decisions , 2007 .

[7]  James W. Westerman,et al.  Generational preferences for work environment fit: effects on employee outcomes , 2007 .

[8]  J. Twenge.  Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before , 2006 .

[9]  Akram Al Ariss,et al.  Modes of engagement: migration, self‐initiated expatriation, and career development , 2010 .

[10]  C. D. Sutton,et al.  Generational differences: revisiting generational work values for the new millennium , 2002 .

[11]  Shawn M. Carraher,et al.  Using the kaleidoscope career model to examine generational differences in work attitudes , 2009 .

[12]  Douglas T. Hall,et al.  Careers in organizations , 1977 .

[13]  S. Sullivan.  The Changing Nature of Careers: A Review and Research Agenda , 1999 .

[14]  D. Guest,et al.  Have careers become boundaryless? , 2010 .

[15]  R. Burke,et al.  The changing nature of work and organizations: Implications for human resource management , 2006 .

[16]  M. Cole,et al.  The psychology of literacy , 1983 .

[17]  S. Carr,et al.  Migration and career success: testing a time-sequenced model , 2010 .

[18]  D. Hall,et al.  The New Career Contract: Developing the Whole Person at Midlife and Beyond , 1995 .

[19]  K. Mannheim,et al.  Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge , 1953 .

[20]  D. Hall.  Protean Careers of the 21st Century , 1996 .

[21]  E. Ng,et al.  New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation , 2010 .

[22]  N. Howe,et al.  The next 20 years: how customer and workforce attitudes will evolve. , 2007, Harvard business review.

[23]  Michael B. Arthur,et al.  The boundaryless career , 2006 .

[24]  Nicky Dries,et al.  Exploring four generations' beliefs about career: Is “satisfied” the new “successful”? , 2008 .

[25]  Lisa M. Bradley,et al.  Have traditional career paths given way to protean ones?: Evidence from senior managers in the Australian public sector , 2005 .

[26]  P. Urwin,et al.  Generational Differences in Work Values: A Review of Theory and Evidence , 2011 .

[27]  B. Kupperschmidt.  Multigeneration employees: strategies for effective management. , 2000, The health care manager.

[28]  N. Hess,et al.  Career stage and generational differences in psychological contracts , 2009 .

[29]  R. Zemke,et al.  Generations at Work , 2000 .

[30]  Ron Zemke,et al.  Generations at work: managing the clash of veterans, boomers, xers, and nexters in your workplace , 1999 .

[31]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[32]  Michael Adam.  Sex in the Snow : Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium , 1998 .

[33]  Nicholas J. Beutell,et al.  Work‐family conflict and work‐family synergy for generation X, baby boomers, and matures , 2008 .

[34]  Y. Baruch.  Transforming careers:from linear to multidirectional career paths , 2004 .

[35]  J. Benson,et al.  Generations at work: are there differences and do they matter? , 2011 .

[36]  P. Cappelli.  Career Jobs are Dead , 1999 .

[37]  Lynne C. Lancaster,et al.  When generations collide : who they are, why they clash, how to solve the generational puzzle at work , 2002 .

[38]  Elliroma Gardiner,et al.  Generational differences in personality and motivation: Do they exist and what are the implications for the workplace? , 2008 .

[39]  T. F. Cawsey,et al.  The Portfolio Career as a Response to a Changing Job Market. , 1995 .

[40]  Lisa M. Finkelstein,et al.  The "New Career" and Organizational Commitment: Do Boundaryless and Protean Attitudes Make a Difference?. , 2009 .

[41]  Stacy Campbell,et al.  Generational differences in psychological traits and their impact on the workplace , 2008 .

[42]  N. Nicholson,et al.  Managerial Job Change: Men and Women in Transition. , 1989 .

[43]  Yehuda Baruch,et al.  Advances in Career Theory and Research: A Critical Review and Agenda for Future Exploration , 2009 .

[44]  Kerr Inkson.  Protean and boundaryless careers as metaphors , 2006 .

[45]  Sanford M. Jacoby,et al.  Are Career Jobs Headed for Extinction? , 1999 .