Career Outcomes Research Articles

No (Startup) Experience Required: Entrepreneurship Education Effectiveness for Early Career Graduates

Entrepreneurship as a discipline in higher education has enjoyed significant growth in student enrollment and attention. Venture formation drives employment and innovation, and founding a startup remains the ultimate incarnation of entrepreneurship. Yet, evidence shows that most entrepreneurship students will not start a new venture upon graduation. This research looks beyond venture formation to explore early career outcomes of entrepreneurship education (EE) graduates as compared to alumni with no EE. Alumni were surveyed one to five years following graduation from three universities in the United States, resulting in the examination of responses of 353 participants, 107 of whom completed a major, minor, or concentration in entrepreneurship. Human capital theory was employed to investigate the impact of EE on early career success. Findings of the study confirm a positive relationship between EE and venture formation, but also indicate EE increases generalizable competencies and indicators of professional advancement. Further, entrepreneurial behaviors mediate the relationship between EE and professional competencies, and professional competencies mediate the relationship between EE and advancement. This suggests that no startup is required for students of entrepreneurship to achieve early success and advancement, as the active, experiential, and goal-oriented nature of EE accentuates generalizable workplace attributes desired by employers.

How Does Forgone Identity Dwelling Foster Perceived Employability: A Self-Regulatory Perspective

The dramatic changes in modern careers call for more knowledge about employability, a key indicator of career sustainability. In reply, this study introduces the recently developed concept of forgone identity dwelling (FID) into the employability debate and aims to explain whether and how FID promotes employees’ perceived employability. Specifically, we draw on a self-regulatory perspective to propose that FID may serve as a meaningful way to enhance employability through a proactive career self-regulatory pathway characterized by career crafting, especially for employees high in promotion regulatory focus. To investigate this, we used the method of a three-wave survey study conducted among 435 Chinese employees and tested the hypotheses using path analysis with Mplus. The findings showed that FID motivated the employees to engage in career crafting, which in turn positively affected their perceived employability. Furthermore, promotion focus strengthened the positive effects of FID, such that the employees high in promotion focus were more likely to translate FID into employability through career crafting. These results highlight the importance of leveraging FID experiences to enhance employees’ proactive behaviors and employability. This study is the first to link FID to sustainable career outcomes, inspiring future research to explore additional mechanisms for the nuanced effects of FID on career sustainability.

Career Outcomes Among Neurosurgery Resident Graduates in Canada: An Update.

Many Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) graduates in neurosurgery face significant challenges in finding full-time employment. The current study describes the career outcomes of neurosurgery residents from Canadian programs. All RCPSC neurosurgery graduates (n = 106) who completed their residency between 2015 and 2020 were included in this study. Baseline characteristics were determined for the entire cohort and then stratified by employment status. Several logistic regression models were used to identify predictors of full-time employment after residency. Overall, 26.4% of neurosurgery graduates from 2015 to 2020 have been underemployed, defined as locum and clinical associate positions (6.6%), the pursuit of multiple fellowships (16%) and career change/nonsurgical career (3.8%). Only 52.0% of graduates were fully employed in Canada, with 30.2% appointed at academic institutions. Skull-base/open vascular (OR: 0.055, 95%CI [<0.01, 0.74]) and general neurosurgery (OR: 0.027, 95% CI [<0.01, 0.61]) fellowships were associated with underemployment. Advanced research degrees (master's or Ph.D.) and sex were not associated with full-time employment. Over one-quarter of recent Canadian neurosurgery graduates were underemployed, and nearly half do not find employment in Canada. These results reflect a concerning reality for current and prospective neurosurgery graduates in Canada and will hopefully serve as a call to action for the Canadian neurosurgery community.

The gendered effects of parenthood on career outcomes: Do family gaps explain gender differences along the science pipeline?

This study, based on data from 2225 faculty members at a Portuguese research-intensive university, investigates the combined impact of gender and parental status on academic rank and salary. Parenthood significantly influences women's concentration at lower tenure-track ranks, leading to wage gaps that disadvantage mothers. However, the impact of family status on women's career progression shows that while having young children initially hinders their transition to the tenure track, it does not significantly reduce their chances of earning tenure or reaching higher academic ranks. Lower wages for mothers result from slower academic grade advancement, not within-rank disparities, which poses barriers to progression. The study illuminates the interplay of gender and parenthood, shifting the focus from individual factors to gendered institutional processes shaping career trajectories, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the persistent gender gap in academia.

Does grade point average have a long-lasting impact on career success later in life? A resource caravans' perspective from adolescence to mid-career

We draw on a resource caravans' perspective to explain pathways to career success among a longitudinal sample, covering the first 15 years of their careers. By applying a latent growth model, we investigate how the role of university grade point average (GPA) on career success changes across time. The results from latent growth curve analysis revealed that GPA was not positively related to initial levels of career success (i.e., salary and leadership level), however, GPA was positively related to increases in career success over time and positively related to subjective career success. These findings indicate that the positive impact of GPA on career success accumulates over time, in line with the resource caravans and gain spirals of conservation of resources theory. Further, we examine the joint role of GPA and affective-identity motivation to lead (MTL) measured at the start of university studies to explain growth in career success over time. As expected, affective identity MTL moderated the relationship between GPA and leadership level, salary level and subjective career success, such that the positive relationship was stronger for individuals higher on affective-identity MTL. Our findings highlight that the pathway to career success is based on gain spirals that may develop slowly over time as individuals accumulate resources in their resource caravan and invest these resources further to achieve their career outcomes. Implications for practice are discussed.

Will Psychedelics Propel Your Career? Exploring the Potential Impact of Psychedelics on Work, Productivity and Well-Being

With growing research demonstrating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA in treating mental health conditions, interest is mounting around potential applications beyond health. This article explores emerging evidence on the impact of psychedelics in key domains relevant to careers and the workplace including creativity, focus, stress and burnout, leadership, teamwork, and well-being. It surveys both practitioner accounts and early research studying the effects of microdosing psychedelics on enhancing performance and career outcomes. While acknowledging current legal restrictions and the need for more research, implications are discussed for how individuals and organizations could ethically and responsibly approach psychedelics if regulations change. The goal is to begin a fact-based discussion on psychedelics' untapped potential to fuel growth, fulfillment and peak workplace functioning—if pursued prudently under proper guidance as the science continues to rapidly advance.

Blocked Paths, Unequal Trajectories: Examining the Career Outcomes of Health Professions Graduates by Race, Gender, and Place of Education

Blocked Paths, Unequal Trajectories: Examining the Career Outcomes of Health Professions Graduates by Race, Gender, and Place of Education

Gender and Job Satisfaction: Examining the Role of Leadership Behavior and Gender Congruence Over Time

This article examines the longitudinal relationships between leader gender, leadership style, gender congruence between leaders and followers, and employee job satisfaction over time. Drawing on gender stereotype and role congruity theories, it reviews how communal attributes ascribed to females can initially disadvantage women in leadership roles by compromising their perceived competence. However, evidence indicates such bias may fade as individuals gain experience observing a leader's actual behaviors, values and competencies through ongoing interactions. Specifically, a five-year longitudinal field study found women leaders initially received marginally lower evaluations than men but ended with equal or higher ratings as preconceptions diminished. Additionally, demonstrating a transformational leadership style emphasizing inspiration and development associated positively with follower well-being across genders and leader-follower gender alignments. Practically, organizations that implement regular assessment and mentoring activities appear most effective at fostering truly inclusive cultures where talent, not attributes, drive satisfaction and career outcomes long-term.

Navigating protean career paths in medical education: insights from outstanding medical educators in South Korea

BackgroundThis study explored the career development experiences of Korean medical educators who have forged their paths amid dynamic medical education landscapes. Additionally, it explored their career development process by introducing a protean career theoretical framework, that is, an individual-led career development theory.MethodsThis study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to gather in-depth insights regarding the experiences of medical educators who have successfully built their careers in Korea. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine medical educators to investigate the significance of these experiences. The emerging themes were categorised based on the protean career theory during data analysis.ResultsThe findings revealed that medical educators navigated their careers in line with the protean career development model, characterised by protean career orientation, process and outcomes. Their experiences in the medical education domain were aligned with eight factors of the protean career model – self-direction, intrinsic work values, awareness, adaptability, agency, subjective career success, objective career success and organisational commitment.ConclusionIn the context of less structured career pathways and a rapidly evolving regional environment, medical educators have developed individual-driven careers with self-direction and intrinsic values, formed their identities and demonstrated flexibility and proactive strategies. Hence, the protean career model successfully explains the characteristics of self-directed career development for medical educators, while emphasising the need for organisational support.

Career duration and later-life health conditions among former professional American-style football players

ObjectivesCareer duration is often used as a metric of neurotrauma exposure in studies of elite athletes. However, as a proxy metric, career length may not accurately represent causal factors, and...

Where Are They Now? Alumni Outcomes From a Medical School Primary Care Pathway Program.

Many medical schools have implemented primary care tracks to increase the number of medical students pursuing primary care. The Primary Care Program (PCP) at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California is a 4-year primary care pathway that trains medical students to work in urban, underserved communities and has shown high student match rates into primary care residencies. This study evaluates the PCP graduates in residency and after residency, and assesses their career outcomes, their career characteristics, and the impact their PCP experience had on their careers. All PCP alumni who graduated between 2015 and 2022 were invited to complete a 21-item Qualtrics (Qualtrics, LLC) survey. Descriptive data analysis was conducted through Qualtrics, and open-ended data were coded for themes. Seventy percent of PCP alumni (86/122) responded to the survey, with 65% (56/86) in residency/fellowship and 35% (30/86) in practice. Among those who matched into primary care residencies (61/86, 71%), the percentage that practiced or intended to practice general primary care was 70% (43/61). Respondents in practice (30) described their practice characteristics, including locations and payor mix consistent with majority underserved communities. Open-ended responses captured the impact that the PCP had on alumni's careers, with themes including mentorship, friendship/community, educational/service experiences, future career, exposure to types/kinds of practice, and social determinants of health exposure. PCP alumni credit this program with impacting their retention in primary care and their career trajectories. This program can serve as a model for other institutions to help increase the number of medical students who pursue primary care careers.

Too much work frustrates me! A mediation model of career-related outcomes of work overload

PurposeWork overload implies that there are excessive work demands that cannot be adequately fulfilled within the given deadlines. This research examines the effect of work overload on career outcomes, i.e. career satisfaction and occupational commitment through the mediating role of work frustration.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from employees working in the schools of Punjab, Pakistan in three waves. Out of the total, 248 valid responses were analyzed by PROCESS model 4 using SPSS 24.FindingsBased on affective event theory (AET) the results demonstrated that negative workplace events such as work overload create negative emotions like frustration at work and cause poor job outcomes (i.e. low satisfaction and commitment).Research limitations/implicationsHowever, the outcomes should be interpreted in the light of single sector and time-lagged data tested on the mediation-only model.Practical implicationsThe current study has implications for workload management in school staff to retain their career satisfaction and commitment.Social implicationsThis study has implications for society by offering to enhance the career outcomes of school staff that are prime institutions for socio-economic development.Originality/valueThis is one of the initial research studies that have examined the career-related outcomes of work overload based on AET via the mediating role of work frustration.

NFL Quarterback Development—The Role of Competing Quarterbacks, Rookie Playing Time, and Team Quality

Using data from 1994 to 2017, we consider characteristics that affect quarterback (QB) development in the National Football League. Our analysis leads to three key findings. Firstly, we show that a young QB’s career is worsened when he plays alongside a Pro Bowl QB. Secondly, we find that QB’s career outcomes are better when they are drafted by a bad team. Finally, we investigate the role of rookie playing time and find evidence that playing as a rookie reduces career outcomes. In all three cases, the effects are largest in the latter portion of a QB’s career.

Weighing Down My Career? An Exploration of the Mechanisms for Body Fat’s Impact on Long-Term Career Success and the Moderating Role of Employee Sex and Industry

ABSTRACT Much of the worldwide population is obese or overweight. However, the effects of body fat on a person’s workplace success, especially in the long term, are not well known. Further, we have little insight on the dominant mechanisms by which body fat influences career outcomes. Aiming to understand if, how, and when employee body fat impacts career success over time, we challenge prior theory (i.e. stigma theory) and employ a novel medical perspective to suggest that an employee’s health – in the form of illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes – determines the relationship between employee body fat levels and long-term work success. Furthermore, we integrate research from evolutionary biology to consider the moderating role of employee sex in the health process and probe effects by industry. Longitudinal results from a nationally representative, multi-wave sample (across 20 years) show that employee health – but not stigmatization or other explanations – mediates the negative relationship between employee body fat levels and career success. Moreover, findings reveal that employee sex does not moderate this indirect effect, indicating that high body fat men and women equally experience adverse career effects due to the serious medical impairments they incur. Industry further qualifies these effects.

The Impact of Job Stress on University Teachers' Career Development: The Mediating Role of Social Support

This article investigates the impact of job stress on the career development of Afghan university teachers, considering the mediating role of social support. Using a cluster sampling approach, data were collected from 370 teachers in both government and private universities through questionnaires. The analysis utilized SPSS and SPSS AMOS for regression analysis, guided by the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model. Findings indicate a negative relationship between job stress and career development across all stages: early, mid, advanced, and continuing professional development. Higher job stress correlates with lower career development, while social support mitigates these negative effects. This underscores the need for interventions that address job stress and enhance social support to promote positive career outcomes for university teachers.

Career trajectories in retail and wholesale –turnover, retention, and labor status

ABSTRACT This study evaluates career trajectories in the retail and wholesale sectors, focusing on individual attributes and the underlying factors influencing diverse career outcomes. Employing quantitative (sequence analysis and logit estimations) and qualitative (interview study) methodologies, we examine the pre-pandemic era to systematically map prevalent career trajectories in retail and wholesale. We identify personal traits associated with each career outcome, examine the reasons behind these trajectories, and explore strategies businesses can implement to retain their workforce. Our findings indicate that retail and wholesale sector employees typically experience either a prolonged career or a transient one, where initial jobs serve as a springboard to other industries or higher education. In retail, the likelihood of industry switching is lower among males, older individuals, those without children, and individuals with less education. In wholesale, a similar trend is observed, albeit without notable gender disparities. A key factor for employee turnover is the absence of skills development opportunities.

Reflections on the Health System Impact Fellowship and the Future of Embedded Research; Comment on "Early Career Outcomes of Embedded Research Fellows: An Analysis of the Health System Impact Fellowship Program"

The Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship program in Canada offers a transformative approach to health services and policy research (HSPR) training, preparing PhD graduates for diverse career pathways and leadership roles within learning health systems. This commentary builds on Kasaai et al.'s evaluation of the HSI Fellowship to discuss the diverse career paths of alumni and highlight the multifaceted benefits of the program. Further, we emphasize the need for future research and knowledge mobilization to better understand and evaluate embedded research roles. Developing a robust evaluation framework is essential to capture the unique impacts of embedded research, fostering a culture that prioritizes and integrates it, thereby driving the transformation towards learning health systems.

Humble leader, successful follower: Linking leader humility with follower career outcomes via leader competence from an implicit leadership theory perspective

Drawing on implicit leadership theory, this study examines the key conditions under which leader humility facilitates the career outcomes of employees. First, considering both similar-attraction and opposite-attraction perspectives within implicit leadership theory, we propose two competing hypotheses, and suggest that leader humility interacts with follower narcissism to predict perceived leader competence. Second, in accordance with implicit leadership theory, we propose that humble leaders are perceived to be more competent when the power distance climate is relatively lower. Further, we suggest that perception of their leaders as competent is positively related to followers' career satisfaction and proactive career behavior. To test our model, we implemented a multi-wave, time-lagged survey with 187 subordinate–supervisor dyads from 79 teams. The results demonstrate that followers who are highly narcissistic or who are members of groups with a lower power distance climate are more likely to regard humble leaders as competent, which allows them to experience enhanced career satisfaction and engage in more proactive career behavior. Both the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Career Adaptability Across Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review

Southeast Asia has recently seen a number of developments and transformations that requires one to adjust to as the region’s skill requirements are evolving. For some these new changes brings new opportunities, however, for some greater levels of career adaptability is need to manage these new developments and transformations. The necessity of systematically reviewing articles on career adaptability in Southeast Asian nations is made apparent by this particular instance. A systematic review of career adaptability in Southeast Asia was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. About 22 eligible studies were identified. The findings indicated that the most prevalent groups in career adaptability studies were students, followed by working adults. Antecedents such as role modeling and cultural intelligence were identified. Four categories of predictors were identified such as personal, educational, career behavior, and environmental factor. Two categories were identified for the outcomes of career adaptability, namely, personal and career outcomes. Findings revealed that career adaptability offers several beneficial outcomes such as improved employability skills and life satisfaction. Discussion includes conditions faced in Southeast Asian countries and cultural differences. The dearth of studies within multicultural settings calls for further research in exploring career adaptability, as this broaden cultural understanding and awareness of educational and career behaviors pertaining to one’s career adaptability. This study offers important practical implications and recommendations for career counseling practices and policymakers in Southeast Asia that would potentially benefit students and working adults.

Good personality traits in bad times: Does conscientiousness mitigate the adverse effects of graduating in a recession?

This paper studies whether and how conscientiousness, a personality trait, helps individuals mitigate the adverse effects of graduating during a recession on early career outcomes. By analyzing college-educated individuals who graduated in the 1980s, we find that conscientiousness reduces the income losses of workers who graduated during a recession. This effect results mainly from workers’ adjustments in the labor supply. When graduating during a recession, college graduates high in conscientiousness are more likely to find full-time jobs and work more hours per week than their counterparts low in conscientiousness. Regarding the other four Big Five personality traits, while agreeableness has a modest effect on mitigating the effects of adverse labor market entry conditions on hourly wages, extraversion, openness to experience, and emotional stability do not appear to buffer against such early career losses. Additionally, cognitive ability does not offset the challenges posed by graduating during a recession.