Early Career Success Research Articles

Working Smarter and Harder: A Longitudinal Study of Managerial Success

We thank Glenn Carroll, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Bob Sutton, and James Wade for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We measure the effects of motivation and ability on the early career success of a sample of Master's of Business Administration (MBA) graduates in the early years of their careers. We argue that performance is a joint effect of two important individual characteristics: general cognitive ability and motivation. General cognitive ability, which is representative of the general population, refers to individual differences in tasks or pursuits that demand mental effort, such as abstraction, rule inference, generalization, and manipulating or transforming problems. Motivation is conceptualized as a stable mental state that energizes human behavior. Results show that the combination of high general cognitive ability and motivation is significantly associated with more early career success. MBAs who were both smarter and worked harder were more successful in their job search upon graduation, were earning higher salaries, had more rapid pay increases, and received more promotions in their early careers. These findings add to the mounting evidence that studying enduring individual characteristics is critical to predicting behavior.'

The Impact of Professional Commitment on Early Career Success in Accounting Firms

The Impact of Professional Commitment on Early Career Success in Accounting Firms

Favoritism versus Search for Good Papers: Empirical Evidence Regarding the Behavior of Journal Editors

Journal editors who publish papers authored by colleagues and former graduate students have been charged with practicing favoritism, with the implication that the papers in question are of lower quality than those written by scholars with no ties to the editor. Using citation analysis, the authors find strong evidence that although journal editors occasionally publish subpar papers authored by colleagues and former graduate students, on balance their use of professional connections enables them to identify and 'capture' high-impact papers for publication. This implies that a practice interpreted as favoritism by many scholars in fact serves to enhance efficiency in the market for scientific knowledge. Copyright 1994 by University of Chicago Press.

Cognitive ability and career attainment: Moderating effects of early career success.

Three explanations regarding the prediction that early career success will moderate the relationship between cognitive ability and career attainment are presented along with an empirical examination of this issue. Using longitudinal data provided for 156 managerial, professional, and technical employees, significant moderating effects for an age-graded index of early career success were observed. The relationships between two measures of cognitive ability and later career job level were stronger for individuals identified as below average with respect to early career success than for their above average counterparts. These results agree with the proposition that the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and information is particularly dependent upon cognitive ability for inhviduals competing without the advantages associated with early career signals of high potential.

Cognitive ability and career attainment: Moderating effects of early career success.

Cognitive ability and career attainment: Moderating effects of early career success.

Chairpersons' and hirees' opinions, knowledge, and experiences with affirmative action guidelines

Chairpersons and recent hirees at the University of Kentucky were surveyed concerning their knowledge, opinions, and actual experiences with affirmative action guidelines. The responses of both groups suggested the utility of public advertising procedures but pointed toward the lack of clarity in the guidelines for other facets and decisions involved in the hiring process. Chairpersons and hirees varied widely concerning opinions about resentment of the guidelines, reverse discrimination, etc., but both groups generally agreed that affirmative action had made the job market more open. These results were discussed in light of the actual (small) number of women and minority persons hired at this university with the recommendation that greater emphasis be placed on factors involved in early career choice and success.