Jenny Bimrose Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick

Like constructivist approaches, Arthur et al. (1999) reject traditional approaches to careers as outdated. They develop their alternative approach from research carried out in New Zealand with seventy five participants over a ten year period and argue that their research findings are representative of the career context of developed economies and new labour market conditions. The researchers set out to ‘hear the voices’ (p.ix) of working people across a range of social groups, occupations and employment contexts. They propose that ‘we are both the products and producers of the work environment in which we participate’ (p.7) and that career development can only be understood as the result of a ‘dynamic interplay between episodes of the career itself’ (p.6). ‘Flexibility’, they argue, ‘is a word that turns conventional career thinking on its head’ (p.9). The central image they present is one of a wandering troubadour, moving from company to company, gaining new experiences and skills and then moving on (p.37), compared with the image of the classical, scripted theatre typical of the industrial age and encapsulated in traditional career theory.

Boundaryless careers, supposedly typical of the new economy, are characterised by multiple employment situations, wide inter-company networks and multi-employer arenas of choice for the implementation of their careers. All workers accumulate learning and develop networks, using these acquisitions to enact their careers on the surrounding environment. ‘As individuals enact their careers, they enact the environment itself’ (Arthur et al., 1999, p.12).

From their research data, Arthur et al. (1999) found that participants reported a strong pattern of relative job stability within a larger context of persistent career mobility. Specifically, most participants performed one job for a considerable period of time, but then took their next job with a different employer. Typically, this represented a lateral move rather than orthodox career advancement. Most career moves took place across company boundaries, implicating high levels of movement across occupational, industrial and geographical boundaries as well (p.37). The cyclical model of careers, evident in feminist careers counselling, is cited as relevant to the way careers are played out (p.36) in these ways.

Five common elements in career stories are identified.

• First, improvisation: most participants improvised fresh choices in response to changing circumstances, rather than implementing pre-determined plans.
• Second, sense-making: participants were found to act, reflect upon and make sense of their actions with the benefit of hindsight.
• Third, adaptation: with new experiences, participants were able to see new patterns in, and make new sense of, their earlier career behaviour.
• Fourth, learning: participants learned from their experiences, maintained this learning and applied it to new situations.
• Fifth, agency and communion: career stories reflected ‘agency’ (the pursuit of independence and autonomy) or ‘communion’ (the nurturing of relationships and connectedness). Most career stories contained elements of both.

Arthur et al. (1999) conclude that the enactment of careers will persist, that employing organisations will have to adapt, that institutions will change and that the study of careers must change. This is because careers are now situated in a more complex and broader milieu than previously and that individuals will:

(Arthur et al., 1999, p.177)

Arthur et al 1999

Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K.& Pringle, J. (1999) The New Careers: individual action and economic change, London, Sage.

Arthur 2003

Arthur, M.B. (2003) New Careers, New Relationships: Understandings and Supporting the Contemporary Worker, Derby, CeGS. Available [Online]: http://www.derby.ac.uk/cegs/publications/M.ArthurOccPaper.doc