Economic changes have resulted in a new contextual spectrum for career development with relatively secure, hierarchical, organizational structures at one end and flatter, de-layered, insecure environments at the other. This narrative review explores the literature relating to the psychological determinants of career plateauing in older managers against such a background. The body of literature informing this issue was analysed using the systematic review method. This is designed to produce a transparent and replicable account of how pertinent studies are located and the basis on which they are either included or rejected through use of explicit relevance, generalisability, and quality criteria. The overall outcome is a synthesis and summary of what is known about the topic, the limitations of the review, and identification of gaps in knowledge - the latter forming recommendations for future research. The findings of this review indicate that a range of subjective determinants may play a part in career plateauing in older managers including fairly stable attributes such as personality, and individual and social identity, and more fluid factors such as attitudes, and motivation. Motivation may be driven by one or more goals including future success, present job satisfaction or ongoing personal development. Numerous other determinants may play a role but little evidence is available as to how the range of potential influences operates at an individual level. Further qualitative research is needed into individual older managers’ experiences and how they may differ according to gender.

Mid-level administrators comprise the largest group of administrative professionals on college campuses today. These professionals affect the daily lives of students and contribute significantly to the overall coordination of institutional resources and activities. Despite the importance of their role in administering programs, services, and other functions central to the mission of the university, little research has been conducted examining the issues that impact their motivation and job performance. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to increase understanding of the factors affecting work motivation of mid-level student affairs administrators through the identification of motivational determinants and an exploration of whether these determinants differed based on the career stage of the mid-level administrator. This study used Vroom’s theory of work motivation, specifically valence, instrumentality, and expectancy, to determine the factors motivating mid-level student affairs administrators to perform in their work roles. Ten mid-level student affairs administrators at a large, public, Hispanic-serving institution were interviewed. Findings suggest that mid-level student affairs administrators are motivated by the opportunity to serve students and influence the development of their subordinate staff. Participants cited internal drives, such as work ethic and a need for achievement, and external factors, such as opportunities to engage in their own professional development, recognition, and pay, as motivators. Some participants maintained that the culture of the institution had an impact on their motivation to perform. Individually and collectively, these motivational determinants influenced the effort and performance of these mid-level administrators in their work roles. Overall, the participants reported that they enjoyed their work and felt rewarded for their efforts in their work roles. Findings suggest that important differences in motivational determinants as a function of career stage are negligible. Implications and recommendations to implement initiatives to promote and support the identified motivational factors are discussed.

This scrapbook of biographical sketches serves as an exhibition of portraits in the elementary school principalship through experiencing a gallery of leadership interviews. Perspectives have been framed in compositions that represent the practical realist, the idealist, and at times even a surrealistic perspective of the elementary principal. Critical incidents were shared from individual participants representing catalysts for momentous change; themes of personal realizations, barriers to effectiveness, and challenges in the career of an administrator also contributed as dominant elements of the final work. A qualitative research method employing interviews explored the variation of colorful experiences that 23 elementary administrators encountered over the tenure of their careers. Each interview file was imported into the NUD*IST program. These files were then systematically coded and analyzed. The thick and rich descriptions provided opportunities for professionals to identify with the comments from practitioners and therefore established the applicability of the study. During a time when the entire nation is engaged in adjusting to the impact of a single catastrophic event, it is appropriate to stop and address the little explored regions of the routines that daily exert constraints on time, and shape consciously or unconsciously how principals are affected as a result of their career choice of administration. This study might be of interest to institutions that prepare instructional leaders for elementary school principalship. It could also assist superintendents and supervisors in public education by making them aware of what they might contribute to the success of their students by establishing an ideal relationship with their principals combining latitude, trust, and support. Finally, it could serve to validate or confront practitioners as they resolve issues of their own practice though vicariously experiencing the events and situations shared by their colleagues and peers.

This three-phase qualitative study examined the significance of personal learning in the lives of full-time elementary school teachers in Ontario, Canada. The research aimed to provide an awareness of the effects of engaged personal learning on teachers’ in-school practices and on student engagement in school. An online questionnaire was used as the initial exploratory tool. The questionnaire was completed by 87 Ontario elementary teachers, and results were stratified by age, gender, range of learning experiences, and career stage. The questionnaire was used to generate descriptive statistics, identify how elementary teachers pursue personal learning interests across different career stages, and gather open responses, in order to determine how teachers characterize their engagement in personal learning opportunities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants to characterize the teachers’ learning experiences, and to explore their views as to how their learning affected them personally and professionally. Classroom observations ensued with three of the interviewees. The data analysis indicated that the nature of personal learning varies across different career stages, and that such learning occurs most often in an informal setting. It also revealed the significance of learning opportunities that both challenge and extend knowledge in real-life contexts and/or that is social or collaborative in nature. Three themes—connections, self as learner, and vitality—emerged from the reported effects of teachers’ personal learning on their students and their classroom practice. The teachers’ passion for learning was evident in the many ways that they provide meaningful, collaborative, and challenging opportunities for their students in a very supportive and nurturing environment. Through the data collection and analysis, it became clear that some of the most profound learning experiences were not preplanned or intentional in nature, but arose as a result of life. In some cases, the participants did not consider these experiences to be learning—until they began to detail the effects that these experiences had on them, both as individuals and as educators. Suggestions for future research are offered to continue learning from teachers who take part in personal learning, and from the students that they teach. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-19 08:38:23.555

Registered nurses perceive the healthcare work environment as stressful. Stress can have a negative effect on patient care and nurses' attrition and health. In the literature, mentors have been identified as having a positive influence on nurses. This qualitative study was an examination of nurses in mentoring relationships in the early, middle, and late career stage and working in a hospital setting. Two research questions addressed mentoring relationship preferences and mentors' influence on perceived stress. Fourteen nurses were interviewed in the study. The conceptual framework was based on the career and psychosocial mentoring theory, the mentoring the adult learner theory, and the attachment theory. Data were analyzed electronically and manually into intuitively and inductively derived themes. The results of the study related to preferences showed nurses prefer mentors to be in the work setting, mentors to help nurses develop nursing competencies, and mentors to help nurses develop a positive self-concept. The difference among the nurses in the career stages was the type of competencies developed. The nurses identified that mentors had a positive influence on the perception of stress through the development of emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills with similarities and differences in the type of challenges nurses' experience. The implications for future research are studies with nurses working in other healthcare settings and quantitative studies to measure levels of stress with and without a mentor. Implications for practice are the development of mentoring programs where career stages and perception of stress are addressed. Limitations of this study were the setting and sample size. Implications for social change include the development of humanistic approaches to mentoring to address nurses' challenges and stressors in the healthcare work environment.

Purpose: The aim of this bachelor thesis is to explain how advancement factors affect men and woman to advance in their careers in the accounting profession.                                  Methodology: A positivist approaches and a deductive approach, with a quantitative method was used to obtain the results of the analysis.   Theoretical perspective: The theory describes the career stages, audit assistant, approved auditor, registered auditor, manager and partner. Their responsibilities and what it takes to get there is explained. Theory section also describes the different advancement factors from a gender perspective.   Empirical: The empirical material is based on a survey conducted in respondents who represent the five career stages. The collected data is then analyzed using statistical tests.   Conclusion: The analysis shows that the identified career advancement factors that limit and stimulates the male and female auditors’ career ladder. Some advancement factors limited female auditors’ career ladder more than a generation. / Syfte: Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är att förklara hur avancemangsfaktorerna påverkar män och kvinnor att avancera på karriärstegen inom revisionsbranschen. Metod: Ett positivistiskt angreppsätt och en deduktiv ansats, med en kvantitativ metod har använts för att få fram resultatet till analysen. Teori: Teorin beskriver de olika karriärstegen, revisorsassistent, godkänd revisor, auktoriserad revisor, chef och partner. Deras arbetsuppgifter samt vad som krävs för att ta sig dit förklaras. Teoridelen beskriver också de olika avancemangsfaktorerna utifrån ett könsperspektiv. Empiri: Det empiriska materialet är baserat på en enkätundersökning utförd på respondenter som representerar de fem karriärstegen. Datainsamlingen har sedan analyserats med hjälp av statistiska tester. Resultat: Analysen visar att de identifierade avancemangsfaktorerna både begränsar och stimulerar manliga och kvinnliga revisors karriärstege. Somliga avancemangsfaktorer begränsade en kvinnlig revisors karriärstege mer än en mans.

The purpose of this study was to construct portrayals of teachers7 work conceptions in various career stages from the stories they told and the metaphors they used to describe the ways in which teachers learned about their work. Specifically, the study included preservice teachers, first-year teachers, third-year teachers, and teachers with more than four years of teaching experience at the elementary and secondary school levels. Thirty-five elementary and secondary school teachers from the North-Central area of Texas participated in this study (nineteen inservice and sixteen preservice teachers). Qualitative techniques were employed to collect data. The preservice teachers filled out a questionnaire and wrote short stories about their preconceptions of their first year of teaching. Inservice teachers were interviewed using a short questionnaire and a long interview schedule. Nine inservice teachers participated in a storytelling workshop/focus group session. Group stories based on predetermined scenarios were constructed, tape-recorded and transcribed. The focus group session was videotaped and transcribed. Fifteen categories emerged from the analysis of the data: cyclical, ritualized, hierarchical, reciprocal, developmental, experiential, reflective, cumulative, body of knowledge, folkloric, individualized/personalized, order/control/manage, disciplinarian, facilitative, and replicative. These categories represent a summary of the constructs, images, contextual maps and metaphors held by these teachers to describe their enculturation process. The descriptive categories developed in this study offer teacher educators, supervisors and teachers a basis for understanding the culture of teachers. The storytelling technigues used in this study provide a means by which teachers and teacher-related personnel can generate further information about the enculturation process that can be applied to recruitment, orientation/ induction programming, reflective teacher preparation and change strategies.

Motivation är ett relevant ämne för att företag ska kunna motivera och styra anställda på ett optimalt sätt. Anställda som är motiverade är mer produktiva (Linder, 1998) och det leder till att organisation gynnas genom en ökad prestation (Sekhar, Patwardhan, & Singh, 2013). Det finns många faktorer att ta hänsyn till när människors motivation studeras, exempelvis kan typ av målgrupp påverka hur motivationen ser ut. Syftet med studien är att utforska vad professionella motiveras av och vidare undersöka om motivationen skiljer sig mellan olika karriärstadier, med hänsyn till både ålder och titel, och i så fall hur. Utefter det teoretiska ramverket som delat in motivation i inre och yttre motivation har sedan hypoteserna utvecklats. Hypoteserna har vidare testats med en validerad skala (Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, & Tighe, 1994). Uppsatsen baseras på en enkätundersökning med professionella akademiker inom företagsekonomi som målgrupp, vilket resulterade i 134 svarande. Datamaterialet har sedan genom en explorativ faktoranalys kunnat dela in motivation i fem faktorer; kontroll och förståelse, erkännande, motprestation, problemlösning samt belåtenhet. Utfallet av studien visar att det inte kan fastställas att det finns samband mellan karriärstadier och titel. Däremot kan det fastställas att professionella är mer inre motiverade individer utifrån målgruppen akademiker inom företagsekonomi. / What motivates professionals in various career stages? Motivation is a relevant subject for companies to motivate and direct employees in an optimal way. Employees that are motivated are also more productive (Linder, 1998), benefitting the organization with an overall increased performance (Sekhar, Patwardhan, & Singh, 2013). There are several factors to consider when studying the motivation of people, e.g. the type of target group can affect the motivation. The aim of this study is to investigate what professionals are motivated by and further study the difference in motivation between various career stages, regarding age and title, to study their effects. The hypotheses were put forth in accordance with the framework that divides motivation into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, the hypotheses were tested with a validated scale (Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, & Tighe, 1994). The study is based on inquiries of professional academics within the business field of study, with 134 respondents. With an exploratory factor analysis, the motivation was divided into five factors; control and understanding, recognition, return, problem solving, and contentment. The results of the study show that the correlation between career stages and title are inconclusive. However, it was determined that professional academics, within the business field of study, are more intrinsically motivated individuals.

Le rôle modérateur des étapes de carrière n’a jamais cessé d’attirer l’attention des chercheurs dans cette période où ce concept fait l’objet de beaucoup de débats dans milieu de scientifiques. Dans le présent travail notre objectif est d’étudier le rôle modérateur des étapes de carrière dans les relations d’un groupe de variables, avec but de clarifier leurs relations afin d’identifier les variables pouvant contribuer à l’amélioration de la satisfaction au travail et l’engagement organisationnel. Pour atteindre notre objectif, nous avons conçu un modèle de recherche ayant quatre niveaux de variables. Le premier est en rapport avec les facteurs de stress au travail, le deuxième concerne la satisfaction au travail, le troisième s’occupe de l’engagement organisationnel et enfin le dernier bloc traite des étapes de carrière. Ce modèle est testé sur un échantillon de 242 enseignants universitaires en Angola. Après différentes analyses (Analyse Multi-groupes et autres), nos résultats indiquent que les étapes de carrière jouent un rôle modérateur global dans les relations de nos variables. Cette modération se manifeste de manière spécifique dans les relations directes et indirectes de nos variables au niveau des étapes de carrière retenues dans notre étude. Ces résultats nous ont ainsi permis de présenter les apports et recommandations de type managérial allant dans le sens d’aider les professionnels et les gestionnaires des institutions pour améliorer leur politiques sur le bien-être des employés / The moderating role of career stages has never ceased to attract the attention of researchers in this time when a career concept is the subject of much debate in the middle of scientists. Our goal in this study is to investigate the moderating role of career stages in relationships of a group of variables, with a view to clarifying these relationships and to identify variables that may contribute to the improvement of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. To achieve our goal, we developed a research model with four variables levels. The first is related to stress factors at work, the second is job satisfaction, the third deals with the organizational commitment and the last level deals with the stages of career. This model is tested on a sample of 242 university teachers in Angola. After various analyzes (Multi-Group Analysis, and others), our results indicate that career stages play a moderating role in the overall relations between our variables. This moderation is manifested specifically in direct and indirect relationships of our variables in career steps included in our study. These results have allowed us to present the contributions and recommendations of managerial types in line to help professionals and institutional managers to improve their policies on the well-being of employees

Na agenda de pesquisa sobre comprometimento organizacional, predomina o modelo de pesquisa de corte transversal, quantitativa, que busca relacionar os vínculos com antecedentes e consequentes de maneira direta, considerando variáveis internas à organização. Esta abordagem tem sido foco de discussão nesta área, que começa a apontar a necessidade de estudos exploratórios buscando compreender a dinâmica dos vínculos ao longo do tempo. O presente trabalho busca contribuir com esta lacuna, e tem por objetivo compreender o papel de elementos de contexto individual na dinâmica dos vínculos do trabalhador com a organização ao longo de sua trajetória. A etapa preliminar quantitativa foi realizada por meio de uma survey que obteve 1584 respostas válidas, coletando com escalas validadas padrões dos vínculos de comprometimento e entrincheiramento com a organização. A partir destes padrões, foram destacados 30 indivíduos com diferentes padrões de vínculos para uma etapa principal qualitativa, que ocorreu por meio de entrevistas exploratórias com estes participantes. As análises de narrativa, conteúdo e eventos foram combinadas para processar estes dados, visando compreender o papel do contexto individual nos vínculos. Estas análises buscaram compreender o papel de diferentes temas da vida do indivíduo: A fase da vida e careira, as âncoras de carreira, eventos marcantes de sua vida, elementos de seu contexto individual (família, comunidade, lazer, amizade, outros trabalhos e autodesenvolvimento) e fenômenos da literatura de vínculos organizacionais. Como resultado, foi encontrado que as fases da vida e carreira exercem papel relevante na dinâmica dos vínculos, e as fases de equacionamento e manutenção são mais propensas a registrarem alto comprometimento, e a fase de manutenção também com alto entrincheiramento. As âncoras de carreira modelam as expectativas que geram os contratos psicológicos, e atuam também na forma com que o indivíduo lida com os eventos em sua vida. Em termos dos eventos, os que se relacionam com mudança cultural e liderança/gestão tem relação com quebras de contrato psicológico, que geram diminuição ou quebra do comprometimento com a organização, se relacionando com o fenômeno da literatura de quondamcommitment. No contexto individual, ele atua como um mediador entre a dinâmica dos vínculos e os eventos vivenciados pelo indivíduo, sendo também pautados pela permeabilidade entre a vida pessoal e profissional. As dimensões de amizade, família e comunidade tem relação mais relevante com a dinâmica de vínculos. Por fim, foi elaborado um modelo teórico que organiza e sistematiza todas as áreas observadas neste estudo, apontando o papel delas na dinâmica dos vínculos. Conclui-se que os vínculos de comprometimento e entrincheiramento são afetados indiretamente pelas fases da vida, e que a depender da âncora de carreira, o indivíduo tenderá a desenvolver maior comprometimento com diferentes focos. Ainda, o estudo explicita o papel de eventos de liderança/gestão e cultura organizacional, que estão associados à quebra de contrato psicológico e diminuição dos níveis do comprometimento. Por fim, o presente trabalho possibilita uma maior compreensão dos fenômenos contextuais na agenda de pesquisa dos vínculos organizacionais, trazendo elementos à tona que podem ser aprofundados em futuras pesquisas. / In the research agenda on organizational commitment, the cross-sectional, quantitative research model predominates, which seeks to relate the links with antecedents and consequents in a direct way, considering internal variables to the organization. This approach has been a focus of discussion in this area, which begins to point out the need for exploratory studies seeking to understand the dynamics of bonds over time. The present work has the objective to contribute to this gap, and aims to understand the role of individual context elements in the dynamics of the worker \'s bonds with the organization throughout its trajectory. The preliminary quantitative stage was accomplished by means of a survey that obtained 1584 valid answers, collecting with validated scales standard of the bonds of organizational commitment and organizational entrenchment. From these standards, 30 individuals with different patterns of bonds were selected for a qualitative main stage, which occurred through exploratory interviews with these participants. Narrative, content, and event analyzes were combined to process these data to understand the role of the individual context in the bonds. These analyzes sought to understand the role of different subjects in the individual\'s life: the life stage and career, career anchors, life events, elements of their individual context (family, community, leisure, friendship, other work and self-development) and bond´s organizational phenomena. As a result, it was found that the life stages and career stages play a relevant role in the dynamics of the bonds, and the phases of equation and maintenance are more likely to register high commitment, and the maintenance phase also with high entrenchment. Career anchors shape the expectations that generate the psychological contracts, and also act on how the individual deals with the events in his or her life. In terms of events, those related to cultural change and leadership / management are related to psychological contract breaches, which generate a decrease or decrease in commitment to the organization, related to the quondam commitment literature phenomenon. In the individual context, it acts as a mediator between the dynamics of the links and the events experienced by the individual, and are also guided by the permeability between personal and professional life. The dimensions of friendship, family and community are more relevant to the dynamics of links. Finally, a theoretical model was elaborated that organizes and systematizes all the areas observed in this study, pointing out their role in the dynamics of the links. It is concluded that the bonds of commitment and entrenchment are affected indirectly by the life cycle, and that depending on the career anchor, the individual will tend to develop greater commitment with different foci. Furthermore, the study explores the role of leadership / management events and organizational culture, which are associated with psychological contract breakdown and decreased levels of commitment. Finally, the present work contributes to a greater understanding of the contextual phenomena in the research agenda of organizational bonds, bringing elements to the fore that can be deepened in future researches.