Career management attitudes among business undergraduates

Jackson, Denise; Wilton, Nicholas

Abstract

© Australian Council for Educational Research 2016. Globalisation, organisational restructuring and new technology have been connected with a shift to ‘protean’ and ‘boundaryless’ career attitudes with workers, including new graduates, increasingly required to be self-reliant in successfully navigating their careers. This study explores protean and boundaryless career attitudes among Business undergraduates and the influence of demographic, background and employment characteristics on these attitudes. Data were collected for Business undergraduates at a UK (N = 88) and Australian university (N = 284). Results indicate the students score more highly, on average, in the self-direction and boundaryless mindset dimensions. Relatively lower mean scores for physical mobility and values-driven suggest a ‘one high, one low’ pattern among the two items that constitute protean and boundaryless career attitudes. Employment status and Business degree specialisation were found to significantly predict career attitudes. Findings develop our understanding of whether emerging professionals are equipped to effectively self-manage their careers and implications for educators and professional practitioners are discussed.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 11, 2015
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: May 27, 2016
• Journal: Australian Journal of Career Development
• Print ISSN: 1038-4162
• Electronic ISSN: 2200-6974
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 7-22
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416215604002
• Keywords: career management, graduate, protean, boundaryless, career attitudes
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/913116
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1038416215604002
• Contract Date: Mar 21, 2016