Organizers: Mari Kira, University of Michigan, and Katja Wehrle, Justus Liebig University of Giessen
Dear Colleagues,
We are putting together a presenter symposium entitled "Non-Institutionalized work role and career transitions: Antecedents, processes, and outcomes" to be submitted for the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Chicago, IL. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your work for the inclusion in this symposium.
We organize this symposium to highlight scholarship that seeks to understand the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of people's non-institutionalized work-role and career transitions, i.e., transitions "not form[ing] part of an established occupational ladder or organizationally planned career path" (Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010, p. 139). Departing from career paths trodden by the majority, non-institutionalized transitions require people to invest heavily on efforts to forge new work-related identities, retrain in a new profession, build new professional networks, and/or develop their work-related well-being in a situation where their role/career transition may be questioned by others. We seek to bring together organizational scholars exploring non-institutionalized work-role and career transitions in various contexts, focusing on various processes and outcomes (e.g., career construction, identity dynamics, and personal and work well-being). A more detailed symposium description is attached below.
If you are interested in joining this symposium, please, email Mari Kira (marikira@umich.edu) with a title and a 250- to 500-word abstract of your research relevant to this symposium proposal by November 20th, 2023. We will complete the selection process and notify you of our decision latest by December 1st, 2023. Extended abstracts are due December 15th, 2023. The deadline for the AOM final submissions is January 9th, 2024.
Best wishes,
Mari and Katja
Academy of Management 2024 Presenter Symposium: Call for Contributions
Symposium Title: Non-Institutionalized work role and career transitions: Antecedents, processes, and outcomes
Symposium chairs: Mari Kira, University of Michigan, USA (marikira@umich.edu) & Katja Wehrle, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany (Katja.Wehrle@psychol.uni-giessen.de)
Symposium format: Presenter symposium
Targeted divisions: Careers (CAR), Organizational Behavior (OB), and Human Resources (HR)
Abstract
Work-role and career transitions involve complex processes shaped by institutional, organizational, and individual factors (Chreim et al., 2007; Rhodes & Doering, 1983) in a specific cultural and historical context (Hall et al., 2018). Some work-role and career transitions are considered institutionalized; they follow expected career patterns with upward trajectories in terms of cumulative skill and status development, representing continuity and advancement often in the same professional field (De Vos et al., 2008; Owan, 2004). Non-institutionalized work-role and career transitions can be defined as transitions that "do not form part of an established occupational ladder or organizationally planned career path" (Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010, p. 139), and these transitions are perceived by observers as relatively uncommon, sometimes even counterintuitive. Non-institutionalized transitions may lead workers to utilize their existing professional training in unusual work contexts (Eden et al., 2009; Hennekam & Ananthram, 2020) or necessitate retraining in a new field (Maitlis, 2009). Such work-role/career transitions may also go counter the stereotypes attached to specific worker groups, such as when an older worker seeks to transition in a career that usually is considered more appropriate for young workers (Ferraro et al., 2018). Departing from career paths trodden by the majority, non-institutionalized transitions require people to invest heavily on efforts to forge new work-related identities, often while lacking helpful role models or scripts to follow (Caza et al., 2018; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010). Non-institutionalized work-role/career transitions also require people to re-build the foundations for their work-related well-being in a situation where their role/career transition may be unfamiliar to and questioned by others (Caza et al., 2018).
While institutionalized work-role and career transitions have attracted much research, their non-institutionalized counterparts have been scantly studied. Yet, non-institutionalized work-role/career transitions have been identified as especially challenging, effortful, but also enriching, phases in people's careers (Caza et al. 2018; Hoyer & Steyaert, 2015). We organize this symposium with an aim to highlight scholarship that seeks to understand the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of people's non-institutionalized work role and career transitions. We seek to bring together organizational scholars exploring non-institutionalized work and career transitions from various perspectives and focusing on various processes and outcomes (e.g., career construction, identity dynamics, and personal and work well-being). We hope to learn more about how people, first, experience and navigate non-institutionalized work-role transitions within an organization (e.g., demotions). Second, our goal is to include contributions addressing non-institutionalized career transitions, such as when people transition from professional careers to operational work (e.g., a corporate leader retrains to practice as a nurse), or when people switch between work roles and careers within the same institutional space (e.g., an experienced corporate-finance attorney switches to immigration law). Third, we also are interested in including contributions addressing how people make drastic transitions to their work roles or career paths to have a better work-life balance and/or more meaningful work (e.g., a tenured university professor transitions to work for a non-profit organization). Finally, we hope to include contributions addressing workers transitioning to work-roles or careers that are not stereotypically considered to align with their age, gender, or other category identities (e.g., a mature-aged worker switching from a health care job to a tech start up). Given that there is a lack of research on non-institutionalized work-role and career transitions, these topics simply offer examples, and we welcome scholars to submit ideas beyond them.
If you are interested in joining this symposium, please, email Mari Kira (marikira@umich.edu) with a title and a 250- to 500-word abstract of your research relevant to this symposium proposal by November 15th, 2023. We will complete the selection process and notify you of our decision latest by December 1st, 2023. Extended abstracts are due December 15th, 2023. The deadline for the AOM final submissions is January 9th, 2024.
References
Caza, B. B., Moss, S., & Vough, H. (2018). From synchronizing to harmonizing: The process of authenticating multiple work identities. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(4), 703-745. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839217733972
Chreim, S., Williams, B. E., & Hinings, C. R. (2007). Interlevel influences on the reconstruction of professional role identity. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 1515–1539. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.28226248
De Vos, A., Dewettinck, K., & Buyens, D. (2008). To move or not to move? The relationship between career management and preferred career moves. Employee Relations, 30, 156 –175. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450810843348
Eden, M., Schafheutle, E. I., & Hassell, K. (2009). Workload pressure among recently qualified pharmacists: An exploratory study of intentions to leave the profession. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 17(3), 181-187. https://doi.org/10.1211/ijpp.17.03.0009
Ferraro, H. S., Prussia, G., & Mehrotra, S. (2018). The impact of age norms on career transition intentions. Career Development International, 23(2), 212-229. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-06-2017-0110
Hall, D. T., Yip, J., & Doiron, K. (2018). Protean careers at work: Self-direction and values orientation in psychological success. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 129-156. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104631
Hennekam, S., & Ananthram, S. (2020). Involuntary and voluntary demotion: employee reactions and outcomes. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29(4), 586-600. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2020.1733980
Hoyer, P., & Steyaert, C. (2015). Narrative identity construction in times of career change: Taking note of unconscious desires. Human Relations, 68(12), 1837-1863. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726715570383
Ibarra, H., & Barbulescu, R. (2010). Identity as narrative: Prevalence, effectiveness, and consequences of narrative identity work in macro work role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 35(1), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.35.1.zok135
Maitlis, S. (2009). Who am I now? Sensemaking and identity in posttraumatic growth. In Exploring positive identities and organizations (pp. 47-76). L. M. Roberts & J.E. Dutton (Eds), Exploring positive identities and organizations: Building a theoretical and research foundation. Taylor & Francis.
Owan, H. (2004). Promotion, turnover, earnings, and firm-sponsored training. Journal of Labor Economics, 22, 955–978. https://doi.org/10.1086/423160
Rhodes, S. R., & Doering, M. (1983). An integrated model of career change. Academy of Management Review, 8(4), 631-639. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1983.4284666
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Mari Kira
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor MI
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