ABSTRACT
In the light of this flux, we see this as an opportune time to consider some of the ways in which the relationships between individuals, organizations, and careers have been theorized and researched. First, we will introduce two macro sociological theories which have been applied to the career context: structuration theory, based on the work of Anthony Giddens (1976, 1984), and the field theory of Pierre Bourdieu (1977, 1986). At the heart of both approaches is the nature of the relationship between social structure and individual agency-a relationship which (more or less explicitly) underpins much career theorizing. After that we shift our gaze from a macro to a more micro perspective, introducing two contrasting ways in which this relationship has been explored at the level of the individual’s career: career as a disciplinary mechanism (Grey, 1994), and career self-management (King, 2004). With this broad theoretical context in mind, we then examine mobility because this is a key aspect of most organizational careers, and a key arena in which individual and contextual factors intertwine. By mobility we mean movement between work roles, either within or between organizations. If we can understand the processes involved in mobility, then we have succeeded in anchoring general and perhaps abstract career concepts in the observable events that constitute careers. Then we turn to career success because in its various forms it is an outcome that matters to individuals, organizations, and societies. Indeed, some might even argue that it is implicit to the concept of career itself. As citizens/workers, we might benefit from developing new and/or well-articulated ways of construing our own career success, and an understanding of the reasons why we have (or have not) experienced success so far and how we can influence our success in the future. As employers, careers advisers or policy makers, we might benefit from understanding what kinds of success people want, knowing how to craft HR/careers guidance policies and practices to facilitate people’s career success, and evaluating the distribution of opportunities in the labour market. Finally, we turn to the role of specific careers interventions in organizations in order to see what specific steps organizations sometimes take to play a part in career management. The reader might have expected this to be the biggest part of this chapter, but we only devote a modest share. There are three reasons why we have taken this approach to this chapter. First, strong research evaluating these interventions and placing them into their broader context is thin on the ground. We cannot instantly create good evaluation research, but we can provide an analysis that offers a holistic view of careers in organizational settings rather than a focus on the operation of specific interventions. Second, we believe that in psychology there is insufficient consideration of the wider context in which careers are played out (Johns, 2006), especially regarding social structures and macro power relationships in careers. Third, Gottfredson’s (2005) chapter about career development in organizations in the previous edition of this handbook is very helpful in discussing important operational aspects of how careers are managed in organizations. Many of the points made are, so to speak, timeless, as witnessed by the fact that only about one-third of the references Gottfredson cited were in the six years before publication of the third edition of the handbook. On the whole, then, we do not aim to repeat them here.
