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What is a Successful Career? Introducing Research from Various Perspectives

April 17, 2024

Introduction

What is career success and how do we define it? This is a crucial question for many. Especially for those who are uncertain about the direction of their future careers, the definition of career success serves as a guideline for their choices. In this article, we will introduce the traditional measures of career success and the latest research related to it.

Traditional Measures of Career Success: Salary and Promotion

Historically, career success has often been measured by objective indicators such as the frequency of promotions and the level of salary. These indicators, representing external evaluations and societal status, have become synonymous with career success for many. Especially in the business world and within corporations, these objective indicators have been positioned as the most clear-cut evidence of career success.

The traditional definition of career success has been centered around tangible outcomes like salary increases, the speed of promotions, and the accompanying increase in authority. This was because the mainstream definition of success was based on societal evaluations and comparisons with others. From this perspective, individuals with high salaries or those who were rapidly promoted were typically seen as successful in their careers.

However, the limitations of measuring career success solely based on these objective indicators have also been pointed out. Opinions emerged suggesting that salary and promotions aren't the only indicators of career success. Concerns were raised about the problems of being too confined to these metrics.

The Importance of Subjective Success

In recent years, as people's values and ways of working diversify, the definition of career success is also evolving. Especially with the growing importance of work-life balance, not just work but also personal fulfillment and quality of life are now considered part of career success. Against this backdrop, the importance of subjective career success has been emphasized.

Subjective career success refers to how individuals evaluate their own careers, that is, a definition of career success based on self-assessment. This includes job satisfaction, a sense of career achievement, and pride in one's role and profession. Such subjective evaluations vary based on individual values, goals, and life circumstances, so each person's definition of career success can differ.

Thus, it becomes clear that when evaluating career success, it's important to consider not just objective indicators but also individual subjective evaluations. Career success should be evaluated not just based on external assessments but also on one's own satisfaction and values.

Research on Subjective Career Success: Study by Abele and Spurk

What is career success? To answer this question, Abele and Spurk delved deeply into the relationship between objective indicators (e.g., income and position) and the success one feels personally. In their decade-long study, they tracked the career trajectories of people working in various professions.

The results of the study revealed that as income and position increase, many people feel their careers are successful compared to others. Interestingly, however, job satisfaction did not directly correlate with increases in income or position. Furthermore, it was found that how satisfied one feels with their job, a subjective evaluation, greatly influences future career success.

From this study, it's evident that when thinking about career success, it's essential to value not just external evaluations but also one's own feelings of satisfaction and values.

The 24-Item Inventory by Shockley and Team

In recent years, the methods of evaluating career success have been evolving. Not only traditional objective indicators but also subjective evaluations have become important. In response to this change, Shockley and team developed a new scale called the "Subjective Career Success Inventory (SCSI)."

The SCSI is designed as a comprehensive tool to subjectively evaluate career success. This inventory consists of 24 items that evaluate subjective career success through eight dimensions. This allows for a deep understanding of how individuals feel and evaluate their own careers.

According to the research by Shockley and team, with the changing nature of work, especially the increasing importance of work-life balance, there has been a shift in how many employees define career success. To address this, the SCSI was developed based on interviews and focus groups, and was later validated through confirmatory factor analysis and quantitative analysis.

This new scale offers a fresh perspective when evaluating career success and has practical significance for organizations and career professionals. Using the SCSI, employers can more accurately grasp how employees feel and evaluate their career success, and based on that, provide career support and development.

The Relationship Between Cultural Factors and Career Success: Research by Smale and Team

How one perceives career success is influenced not only by individual values and backgrounds but also by the cultural and national context. Smale and team focused on this aspect, conducting a detailed investigation into how national culture impacts career success.

Their research primarily centered on the relationship between proactive career behaviors and subjective career success, and the role of national culture in this relationship. Specifically, they examined how cultural aspects like individualism-collectivism and power distance influence the relationship between proactive career behaviors and subjective career success.

The results revealed a positive correlation between proactive career behaviors and subjective career success. However, this relationship varied depending on the country and culture. Specifically, in individualistic cultures, the relationship between proactive career behaviors and subjective career success was strong, whereas in cultures with a high power distance, this relationship was weaker.

From this research, it's suggested that when considering career success, one should take into account not only individual behaviors and values but also the cultural and national context. Career success is multifaceted, and the factors shaping it are diverse.

Conclusion

Career success is a very important theme for many people. For a long time, career success was primarily considered in terms of objective indicators like salary and promotions. However, with recent changes in work values and practices, the importance of subjective career success has been on the rise.

Research by Abele and Spurk revealed the relationship between objective and subjective career success. On the other hand, Shockley and team developed a new scale to measure subjective career success. Furthermore, research by Smale and team provided a detailed investigation into how national and cultural backgrounds influence career success.

Through these studies, it's clear that when considering career success, one should not only focus on objective indicators but also consider individual values, backgrounds, and even the influence of national and cultural contexts. Career success is unique to each individual, and understanding this and shaping one's own career accordingly is crucial.

Reference

Jansen, Adela, Dima, Alina Mihaela, Biclesanu, Isabelle and Point, Sebastien. "Career success through the past six decades: A bibliometric analysis" Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, vol.16, no.1, 2022, pp.750-761. https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2022-0070

Elsey, Vicki, B. I. Van der Heijden, Michael A Smith, and Mark Moss. "Examining the role of employability as a mediator in the relationship between psychological capital and objective career success amongst occupational psychology professionals."

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.958226/full

Abele A.E., Spurk D. (2009). How do objective and subjective career success interrelate over time? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(4). https://doi.org/ 10.1348/096317909X470924

Smale, A., Bagdadli, S., Cotton, R. D., Dello Russo, S., Dickmann, M., Dysvik, A., ... & Bosak, J. (2019). Proactive career behaviors and subjective career success: The moderating role of national culture. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(1), 105-122.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.2316

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