Careers between the past and the future - A social representation theory approach

• This paper will present an on-going research project concerned with social representations of careers in today´s working life. Organizational structure has been characterized by hierarchical dependence, fixed and stable organizations, influenced by the industrialization and working life conditions of the 20th century. Furthermore, our understanding of career phenomena is based upon theories, models and concepts developed during the past century. Today, companies and working places need to relate their activities to new conditions of a globalized, knowledge based society, characterized by rapid and constant changes. These conditions appears to reinforce a transformation of working life, that consequently challenges the career field when new demands are imposed upon individuals in their careers. Occupational and educational prospects are no longer linear, predictable or stable. Employments are no longer secure or lifelong. Practitioners in different countries and working fields of career guidance, counselling and human resource departments, are all concerned with career related issues among adults. However, the understanding of career phenomena is neither common nor clarified; the notion of career lacks a definition, has multiple meanings and is also an everyday word, used for different purposes. Because of this lack of clarity and conceptual confusion, together with the on-going transformation of working life, there is a need to deepen our understanding of careers related to these new conditions, as they seem to be caught somewhere between the past and the future. With social representation theory, as both theoretical and methodological approach, this study explores social representations of career among workplaces and employees in processes of work related changes. The purpose of this study is to illuminate how social representation theory can contribute to our understanding of career phenomena in today´s working life, with relevance for both Nordic and international contexts.

Nyckelord

career

social representation theory

working life

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)