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Eddy Ng receives Best Paper Award at ASAC

Posted by Rowe School of Business on July 10, 2014 in Research

Eddy Ng received a Best Paper Award in Human Resources at the 2014 Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) Conference for his article, “Careers Profiled: Investigating Differences in Career Behaviours and Experiences” with Lisa Kuron (Wilfrid Laurier), Linda Schweitzer (Carleton) and Sean Lyons (Guelph). This is his fourth Best Paper Award from ASAC.

In the paper, the authors seek to determine if the career profiles in the literature are evident in the contemporary career context, and whether these profiles sufficiently capture the experiences of today’s career actors. They employed cluster analysis to create career profiles and found that only four of the 16 profiles identified by Briscoe and Hall (2006) are emergent in today’s managerial and professional careers. The four career profiles are Wanderers, Protean Career Architects, Solid Citizens, and Trapped/Lost Individuals. Wanderers are more likely to be younger males, report the lowest levels of career satisfaction, and have low levels of career commitment. Protean Career Architects are the most educated, engaged in more career planning behaviours, and report the strongest psychological and physical mobilities. Solid Citizens have strong career identities and are the most career satisfied, but also report high external locus of control, with low physical mobility (think NASA engineers!). Finally, Trapped/Lost individuals are less driven by their values, report high external locus of control, and are reactive in their career management strategies. Trapped/Lost individuals also have few career options, fear failure, but develop a high degree of career resilience. Findings from the study can inform career counsellors and managers on how to guide individuals on their career development to achieve a greater probability of career success.

Eddy Ng holds the F.C. Manning Chair in Economics and Business and is an associate editor for Personnel Review. He has a PhD in Human Resources and Management from McMaster University and has been with the Rowe School since 2010. His research focuses on managing diversity for organizational competitiveness, the changing nature of work and organizations, and managing the millennial generation.