The Dynamics of Subjective Career Success: A Qualitative Inquiry

Insights from defining nurses' career success: An integrative review

AIMS

To review the literature and identify factors that make sense of and influence nurses' career success. We sought to provide insights into achieving nurses' career success.

DESIGN

An integrative review conducted in May 2022 using Whittemore and Knafl's methodology of integrative review.

METHODS

The databases searched were PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL. Search criteria included the keywords "nurs*" and "career success" in the title and abstract. The quality of the reviewed papers was assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal Tool for cross-sectional studies and qualitative research. We extracted five types of information from quantitative studies: the definition of career success, factors of career success instruments, reliability or validity of career success instruments, and factors influencing nursing career success. Furthermore, we extracted two types of information from qualitative studies: themes that imply career success and factors that influence nurses' career success. Primary data were categorized into two perspectives: (1) what nurses' career success means and (2) what influences nurses' career success. Categorized data were unified into similar contents. Themes were developed from unified subgroups.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies were included in the analysis. Seven themes were integrated into the factors that make sense of nurses' career success: satisfaction, positive attitude towards work, quality work in nursing, continuation of career and professional development, positive interaction at work, person-organization fit, and enrichment of an individual's life. Three themes were integrated into the factors influencing nursing career success: personal resources, positive behavior toward nursing work and research, and job resources and environment.

NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Patients or members of the public were not involved in this review.

The mediating effect of self-efficacy on career aspiration and organizational support with subjective career success among Malaysian women managers during the Covid-19 pandemic

The lives and jobs of many people have been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns to curb the pandemic have resulted in many people having to work from home. The question that arises is whether women's jobs are more vulnerable to the crisis. In this regard, it would be useful to understand the factors that affect career success, specifically that of Malaysian women managers. The present study sought to examine the impact of career aspiration and organizational support on subjective career success, as well the mediating role of self-efficacy in these relationships. The participants comprised 146 Malaysian women managers who had completed an occupational self-efficacy scale, career aspiration scale, as well as perceived organizational support and subjective career success inventory. The results of multiple linear regression indicated that those with high levels of career aspiration and perceived organizational support were positively associated with subjective career success. In this connection, self-efficacy mediated both relationships. The findings provided a better understanding of women managers' perception of career success in the service sector.

It’s About Time: Understanding Job Crafting Through the Lens of Individuals’ Temporal Characteristics

Job crafting refers to the myriad ways employees customize their jobs, such as by altering their tasks and social interaction at work. Numerous scholars over the past 20 years have remarked on the overall need to better understand the role of time in job crafting. However, the literature has not considered how employees think about time, or, relatedly, how they use and manage it—and why this might matter for job crafting. To address these unresolved issues, the current paper develops a conceptual model of individual-level, time-related characteristics that shape employees’ engagement in job crafting and the effects of job crafting efforts on their well-being. We first review the prevailing understanding of time in job crafting research: merely operating as a medium for change, in the background. We then introduce our new conceptualization of time as central to job crafting—as temporal characteristics of the job crafter—and develop a conceptual model in which time-related constructs play a key role in influencing job crafting and its effects. Our model proposes that employees’ career stage, as well as their polychronicity preference and temporal focus, predicts engagement in job crafting, whereas employees’ time management and time urgency act as key moderators that shape the implications of job crafting for employees’ well-being. By theorizing on time in job crafting, our model thus contributes to understanding relevant antecedents and outcomes of job crafting. We conclude our paper by offering an agenda for future research to further incorporate the role of time in job crafting.