Seminar Directors & Guest Editors:
Dennis Heinrich, University of Hamburg, Germany
Wenzel Matiaske, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Germany
Florian Schramm, University of Hamburg, Germany
Simon Jebsen, University of Southern Denmark
Seminar at the IUC Dubrovnik (May 19-23, 2025) & Special Issue
Career research, with a history of around one hundred years, is hardly manageable, even if some key questions and topics can be identified (Moore et al., 2007). Social, economic and technological trends such as advancing globalisation, changing forms of employment, digitalisation and the subjectivisation of work mean that careers can no longer be adequately understood as a sequence of activities in an organisation (cf. Sullivan & Baruch, 2009, (Gunz & Mayrhofer, 2018). In any case, the career does not exist. The above trends lead to different career types (cf. e.g. Arthur, 1994; Briscoe et al., 2006), career paths and their inherent logic, in which contextual factors play a significant role. Empirically, however, traditional careers continue to play a decisive role (cf. Hall & Las Heras, 2009).
The Social Chronology Framework (Gunz & Mayrhofer, 2018) provides a framework for orientation with its focus on the person or being space and time, although the state of research has the following blind spots (cf. Latzke et al. 2019).
- On the one hand, careers take place in a historical and cultural context; on the other hand, the focus is often predominantly on white male protagonists with university degrees.
- Although careers are a result of the individual life course and socio-historical interaction, the focus is on the action of the individual.
- A progression aspect is inherent in the career concept. Nevertheless, longitudinal analyses of both a qualitative and quantitative nature tend to be the exception.
The seminar and the accompanying special issue aim to contribute to career research, focussing on the following topics and research gaps:
- Empirical evidence: There is a tension between the theoretical discussion on the one hand and the empirical evidence on the other. How do conceptualisations of career and career success prove themselves empirically in a comparison of countries and over time (cf. 5C; e.g. Briscoe et al., 2021)?
- Career patterns today as fancy concepts – Career research offers a colourful bouquet of career models. Some of the career concepts are outdated. Can successors be identified?
- Unusual target groups: Careers are usually considered for office managers (white collar) or academics. What do careers, career organisation and career conditions look like for target groups that are rarely considered (e.g. blue collar, employees with disabilities, etc.)?
- How does digital change affect the careers and career management of organisations and individuals (e.g. through platforms or AI)?
- Unusual methods and data approaches: From both a theoretical and empirical perspective, the dynamics of career patterns present a challenge. This brings longitudinal analyses to the fore. Social network data also offers new possibilities.
This list is not exhaustive but serves as a better categorisation.
Deadline
Potential contributors to the seminar at the Inter-University Centre (IUC) Dubrovnik are encouraged to submit a five-page abstract electronically via management revue’s online submission system, using ‘IUC Dubrovnik’ as the article section, before 28 February 2025.
Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik
The IUC Dubrovnikhttps://iuc.hr/ is an independent centre for advanced study, grounded in and sustained by its international network of partner universities where scholars and students from different countries, cultures and academic disciplines to advanced research and higher education programmes are brought together.
Special Issue of management revue – Socio-Economic Studies
management revue – Socio-Economic Studieshttp://www.mrev.nomos.de/ is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary European journal publishing qualitative and quantitative work, as well as purely theoretical papers that advance the study of management, organisation, and industrial relations. Management Revue publishes articles contributing to theory from several disciplines, including business and public administration, organisational behaviour, economics, sociology, and psychology. Reviews of books relevant to management and organisation studies are a regular feature.
All contributors to the seminar are invited to submit their paper for the special issue of management revue – Socio-Economic Studies. Full papers for this special issue must be submitted by 30 September 2025. All contributions will be subject to double-blind reviews. Papers invited to a ‘revise and resubmit’ are due 31 March 2026. The publication is scheduled for issue 3/2026. Please submit your papers electronically via the online submission systemhttps://ojs3.nomos-journals.de/index.php?journal=manrev using ‘SI Career Research Nowadays’ as the article section.
Manuscript length should not exceed 10,000 words (excluding references), and the norm should be 30 pages in double-spaced type with margins of about 3 cm (1 inch) on each side of the page. Further, please follow the guidelines on the journal’s homepagehttp://www.mrev.nomos.de/guidelines/.
Hoping to hear from you!
Dennis Heinrich, Wenzel Matiaske, Florian Schramm ([email protected][email protected]), Simon Jebsen
References
Arthur, M. B. (1994). The boundaryless career: A new perspective for organisational inquiry. Journal of organizational behaviour, 15(4), 295-306.
Briscoe, J. P., Hall, D. T. & DeMuth, R. L. F. (2006). Protean and boundaryless careers: An empirical exploration. Journal of vocational behaviour, 69(1), 30-47.
Briscoe, J. P., Kaše, R., Dries, N., Dysvik, A., Unite, J. A., Adeleye, I., Andresen, M., Apospori, E., Babalola, O., Bagdadli, S., Çakmak-Otluoglu, K. Ö., Casado, T., Cerdin, J.-L., Cha, J.-S., Chudzikowski, K., Dello Russo, S., Eggenhofer-Rehart, P., Fei, Z., Gianecchini, M., … & Zikic, J. (2021). Here, there, & everywhere: Development and validation of a cross-culturally representative measure of subjective career success. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 130, 103612.
Gunz, H. & Mayrhofer, W. (2018). Rethinking Career Studies. Facilitating Conversation across Boundaries with the Social Chronology Framework. Cambridge University Press.
Hall, D. T. & Las Heras, M. (2009). Long live the organisational career. In A. Collin & W. A. Patton (Eds.). Vocational psychological and organisational perspectives on career: Towards a multidisciplinary dialogue (Vol. 3). (181-196). Sense Publishers.
Moore, C., Gunz, H. & Hall, D. T. (2007). Tracing the historical roots of career theory in management and organisation studies. In H. P. Gunz & M. Peiperl (Eds.). Handbook of career studies. (13-38). SAGE publications.
Latzke, M., Schneidhofer, T., Mayrhofer, W. & Pernkopf, K. (2019). Career research: Conceptual framework, central discourses and new fields of research. In S. Kauffeld & D. Spurk (Eds.). Handbook Career and Career Management, Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48750-1_41
Sullivan, S. E. & Baruch, Y. (2009). Advances in career theory and research: A critical review and agenda for future exploration. Journal of management, 35(6), 1542-1571.