ANALISIS FINANCIERO

Career theories and frameworks also inform this study. Careers have been extensively investigated in academic literature leading to a plethora of different career theories. As Bimrose et al. (2005) have shown in a systematic review of careers’ literature related to higher education students and graduates, that there is a continuous debate regarding career decision making and

determinants of careers. In addition, nowadays, the world of work has altered significantly from the traditional organisational life careers of the past3, thus the “increasing complexity and changing patterns of employment and career” needs to be considered in the investigation of current careers (ibid, p.2). Although a review of existing career theories is not within the scope of this section, a brief overview is provided in relation to theories and frameworks that are relevant to this study.

Career theories can be classified into process theories, content theories or theories that combine both (Patton and McMahon, 1999).

Content theories focus on the individual and its characteristics (such as personality, beliefs, values, interests) (Parsons, 1908; Holland, 1985), while process theories refer to the interaction between the individual and other contextual variables (such as labour market, socio–cultural environment) (Ginzberg et al., 1951; Super, 1957, 1980; Gottfredson, 1981)4. Furthermore, there are theories that combine the individual and contextual influences (Krumboltz et al., 1976; Bandura, 1986; Roe, 1956).

3

In the past, employees would mainly stay within an organisation for their whole career.

4

24 An overarching framework of content and process theories has been recently introduced by Patton and McMahon (1999, 2006), the systems theory

framework (STF), which derives from the ‘general systems theory’ (GST), initiated by the biologist von Bertalanffy5. The GST was s further developed in different disciplinary spheres, such as in biology, anthropology, psychology, engineering and management (Bateson et al., 1956; Lewin, 1951; Ford, 1987; Sirgy, 1988). It was not until the 1990s that Patton and McMahon presented the systems theory in relation to career development6.

Following the classification of theories that it encompasses, the STF is comprised of content and process features. The content influences7 are included in the ‘individual system’ and the ‘contextual system’. While the process influences refer ‘to the recursive nature of the interaction between the individual and the contextual system’, the ‘change over time’ and ‘chance’ (Patton and McMahon, 1999; p.155).

The individual has a central position in this framework as in previous career theories that the STF acknowledges and is built upon (Ginzberg, 1951; Gottfredson, 1981; Super, 1990). It comprises of various personal

characteristics: values; ability; interests; beliefs; personality; self-concept; skills; world of work knowledge; gender; health etc.

5

Von Bertalanffy (1968) and Laszlo and Krippner (1998) provide more extensive accounts of the general systems theory.

6

According to Paton and McMahon, they first introduced the systems theory in 1992 but it has been revised continuously until the 1999.

7 _{Paton and McMahon clarify that they use influences – instead of factors – due to the dynamic}

nature of the word. Influences can be both good or bad helping or hindering career development.

25 The individual is considered as part of the contextual system, which is further divided into two systems: the social system; and the environmental societal system. The societal system is constituted by the social influences (such as family, peers, education institutions, workplace, media and community groups), which reflect the interaction of the individual with these. The environmental societal system depicts the wider environment that the individual resides and interacts. It is comprised of geographical location, historical trends,

globalisation, socioeconomic status and employment market.

Looking closely at the systems theory framework (see Figure 2-1), all these content influences are drawn with intermittent hyphens to reflect their permeability to recursiveness, demonstrating that these influences from all systems are interacting in a way that can be

“nonlinear, acausal, mutual, and multidirectional as well as including the ongoing relevance of the past, present and future” (Paton and McMahon, 1999, p.163).

Reflecting the developmental theories where careers were perceived to

develop during life stages (Super, 1990; Ginzberg et al., 1951), this framework incorporates a time component that expresses the change of these influences over time, including life cycle events, historical or employment market trends. Finally, chance is also integrated in this theory to account for unexpected events that might occur at any level introduced before, and alter career paths such as a natural disaster, an accident or an economic crisis.

The systems theory also developed in response to refute the traditional positivist culture over a ‘constructivist worldview’ that would incorporate the

26 complexity of the current world. Through systems theory, it has been

continuously highlighted how the interconnectedness and the interaction of the individuals with the environment/context around them are part of the meanings and perceptions they develop (Capra, 1975; Berger and Luckman, 1967).

The acknowledgement of the systems theory that individuals’ careers cannot be explored in isolation and the individuals’ perceptions derive from their interactions with different variables, its clarity and comprehensiveness are among the benefits of this framework for this study. McMahon and Patton (1999, p.167) identify as one of the strong points of this framework the ‘richness’ of STF in bringing to other disciplines:

“Principles from fields such as economics and political science can be incorporated in exploring the environmental – societal system. Thus the STF offers the potential for integrating psychological and sociological theories of career”.

This framework is used to contextualise this study by providing a frame for the determinants of the career paths of PhD graduates who participated in this study. Therefore, individual characteristics (such as gender, skills and

interests) are taken into account while the interaction of the individual with the societal system is explored through doctoral education decisions. These decisions include the motivation for the doctorate, the choice of institution, the funding process and the relationship with the supervisor and how they fit in the career trajectories of the participants. The role of the family, peers and

networks are also investigated in relation to the doctorate and employment decisions beyond the PhD.

27

Figure 2-1 The system theory framework (Patton and McMahon, 1999, p.164)

The interface between the societal and the environmental societal system is explored through the lenses of the academic and non-academic workplaces, the disciplinary labour markets within the macroeconomic and policy

28 complexity of PhD graduates’ careers and the interconnectedness of a diverse set of influences which determined their career choices. There was a constant interaction between individual and systemic influences where time and chance also played an important role.