Introduction to Career Dynamics in a Global World

Abstract

An important question for researchers and practitioners in human resource management in general, and career development in particular, is this: are existing knowledge and practice developed in the West directly applicable to non-Western and particularly collectivistic societies? Or, to put it more specifically, does a predominant one-way influence of Western career concepts interfere with our understanding of careers in other parts of the world? There is good reason to ask these questions. Differences in national context, governance and culture have been widely shown to co-vary with people’s career-related attitudes, orientations and behaviours across countries (Khapova, Briscoe and Dickmann, 2012; Tlaiss, 2014; Tsai et al., 2019). In this book we take up the challenge to look beyond an emphasis on Western careers research. Specifically, we set out to compare ideas from a distinctly Eastern society, India, with related ideas from recognized Western societies. We hope that this comparison will not only serve careers research and practice across the two kinds of society, but also set an example for other international initiatives. We further hope that this will lead to a greater appreciation of career phenomena in a turbulent, substantially globalized economy. We have also tried to position this book to encourage a conversation among and between career theorists and practitioners. In doing so we have created something very different from a typical comparative study, where matching research samples and methodologies are applied across geographies. Instead, we present eight pairs of chapters, with each pair involving one contribution from an Indian perspective and one from a Western perspective. Each pair also addresses a different topic, and each chapter offers a specific view of its subject within the topic area. In this way, we left greater scope for each authorship team to investigate and discuss phenomena of their own choosing within their adopted topic area. In every case, you are reading about something the authors consider to be important, and worth their time and energy in delivering their chapter to you.