Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-157)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-251).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2004. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-108).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-172).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-119). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 9, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Lehigh University, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-149).

PURPOSE. This thesis takes a contextualised stakeholder approach to exploring alignment between organizational talent management and individual career development. The contribution and nature of career conversations as an opportunity for alignment is considered. DESIGN. This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. Phase one involved semi-structured interviews with Human Resources and Organizational Development professionals (n = 30). Phase two involved semi-structured interviews using career narratives with line managers and individuals from five case study organizations which were also involved in phase 1 (n = 40). Data were analysed thematically by stakeholder group and within each case study. LIMITATIONS. The sample used within the study were not selected to be representative. The conversations described by participants may not be representative of all of the conversations they have experienced. The case study organizations were all UK based. FINDINGS. For most HR professionals, talent management was driven by organizational goals with little reference to individual needs, hence, alignment was not a priority for them. In contrast, individuals and line managers described a commitment to seeking overlap between organizational and individual goals, with some line managers describing their role as brokers . Career conversations were seen by all stakeholders as an important part of talent management and career development, with the potential to be a vehicle for alignment. Detailed analysis of the career conversations described by individuals identified a broad range of helpful conversations, the majority of which took place informally. Additional categories of career shaper (from Bosley et al, 2009) were also identified as collaborators and catalysts . A variety of contextual features were found to influence the enactment of talent management and career development. These were summarised as a contextual map indicating local, organisational and environmental dynamics. ORIGINALITY/VALUE. The research reinforced the value of taking a contextualised perspective of both organizational talent and individual career (e.g. Cohen et al 2004; Sparrow, 2014). It also captured the voices of different stakeholder groups (e.g. Collings, 2014; Thunnissen et al, 2013).

Career guidance is a core element of labour market and education policy. Young people’s transitions from education to employment need support through active career guidance. This body of research examines aspects of place and partnership working as it applies to career policy and practice for young people with a particular focus on the role of schools. The engagement of diverse partners from different sectors and interests has become an essential element of public policy and its implementation. To understand partnership working it is critical to pay attention to the relationship between the selection of partners, their combined remit, the scale of their activities and the diverse places in which they emerge. Many of the issues that policy attempts to address are also shaped by, and in, the places in which they are experienced. The research informing these papers has been undertaken as either academic research projects or as funded research over more than two decades. Many have used place-based case studies. The overall finding of this is that deliberative multi-partner engagement has become essential to the provision of pathways to the labour market that would otherwise be blocked for some young people. The centre of gravity in these discussions is the school. As organisations with a geographic footprint, the active engagement of schools in partnerships builds infrastructures, pathways and new spaces of engagement that help their pupils understand the work place. Through the twin policy paths of territorial economic development policy and a progressive socio-political approach to career guidance, policy makers have endowed schools with this responsibility. Schools are spaces of engagement with a wider world and simultaneously they are places that reflect their economic, social and cultural context. Their role as partner and place-maker needs acknowledgement within any national careers strategy that hopes to connect a spatially sensitive industrial policy with a locally enacted careers and labour market policy.

The purpose of the proposed study was to understand the process of career identity development among women immigrants arriving as applicants with dependent status, where career identity refers to a generalized perception of one’s career-related interests and potential in terms of acceptable career roles. Previous research has shown that the majority of dependent applicants under the economic class of immigrants are women and constitute a group of talented persons, possessing the skills to contribute positively to Canada’s economy. However, immigrant women who arrive on a dependent visa to Canada have largely been ignored within immigrant literature. Exploring their career-related experiences upon immigration may assist in understanding the effect of these experiences on their developing career identity. This in turn may lead to useful information in terms of how to tap into their potential and help them realize their career goals, within an evolving process of career development. Adopting a constructivist approach, a qualitative enquiry inspired by a grounded theory methodology was carried out to identify some of the key themes relevant to immigrant women’s career identity development and possible interactions between those themes. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit six participants for the study. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with each participant. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2012) six-phase method of conducting thematic analysis to generate themes and subthemes. Eight main themes were generated and include: On board the Canadian dream, Coming to terms with “dependent” status, Maintaining equilibrium, Tipping point, Grieving the loss of preferred career trajectory, Taking agency, Redirecting one’s career path, and Emergence of a strengthened career identity. Findings from the study shed light on some of the gender-specific experiences that women immigrants undergo in their career journey, and may provide useful information to career counsellors who play a critical role in helping immigrants navigate through career transitions in a new country.