Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the career shocks that young, newly graduated entrepreneurs experience in the process of starting a business.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a qualitative approach, drawing upon 25 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs who recently graduated from university (up to the age of 30) in different European countries.FindingsThe analysis identifies several career shocks that can confront entrepreneurs before and after starting a business and reveals how these shocks influence graduates’ decisions to become and continue to be an entrepreneur.Research limitations/implicationsThe study sheds light on the diverse nature of career shocks and the importance of integrating agency concepts and environmental influences in career research. It identifies important factors relevant for school-to-work transition research and complements work in entrepreneurship research on necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship, push and pull motives, and entrepreneurial intentions.Practical implicationsOrganizations can use the findings to attract and retain young entrepreneurial employees, while higher education organizations can use the findings to better prepare students for a successful transition into entrepreneurship, whether in the corporate or independent form.Originality/valueThe paper integrates the concept of career shocks with literature on entrepreneurship and offers a categorization of career shocks in the pathway to entrepreneurship.
Highlights
The purpose of this paper is to explore the career shocks that young, newly graduated entrepreneurs experience in the process of starting a business
We are interested in the role of career shocks among young entrepreneurs who recently obtained a university degree, and we investigate the kinds of career shocks that these newly graduated entrepreneurs have experienced as well as the impact of these shocks on their careers
The results stress the importance of incorporating career shocks in the scholarly discussion on contemporary careers and studying career shocks over time (Akkermans et al, 2018)
Summary
The purpose of this paper is to explore the career shocks that young, newly graduated entrepreneurs experience in the process of starting a business. Research limitations/implications – The study sheds light on the diverse nature of career shocks and the importance of integrating agency concepts and environmental influences in career research It identifies important factors relevant for school-to-work transition research and complements work in entrepreneurship research on necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship, push and pull motives, and entrepreneurial intentions. Originality/value – The paper integrates the concept of career shocks with literature on entrepreneurship and offers a categorization of career shocks in the pathway to entrepreneurship There was this one moment where I was at home, and I had an Airbnb guest over. Contemporary career research has predominantly focused on individual agency aspects of careers, thereby putting less emphasis on the influence of external events (Akkermans et al, 2018). By focusing on these career shocks, the first contribution of this study is that it heeds calls for a stronger integration of contextual factors in career research to study agentic and non-agentic factors in career development in concert (e.g. Akkermans and Kubasch, 2017; Inkson et al, 2012; Mayrhofer et al, 2007)
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