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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore why workers remain in long hospitality careers and to challenge the frequent portrayal of careers in the sector as temporary and unsatisfactory. Design/methodology/approach The study took an interpretative social constructionist approach. Methods used were memory-work, semi-structured interviews and intersectional analysis. Findings A key finding in this study is that career longevity in hospitality is not solely dependent on career progression. Strong social connection, a professional self-identity and complex interesting work contribute to long careers. Research limitations/implications The study contributes detailed empirical knowledge about hospitality career paths in New Zealand. Conclusions should be generalised outside the specific context with caution. Practical implications The findings that hospitality jobs can be complex and satisfying at all hierarchical ranks hold practical implications for Human Resource Managers in the service sector. To increase career longevity, hospitality employers should improve induction and socialisation processes and recognise their employees’ professional identity. Social implications This paper significantly extends the notion of belonging and social connection in service work. “Social connection” is distinctly different from social and networking career competencies. Strong social connection is created by a fusion of complex social relationships with managers, co-workers and guests, ultimately creating the sense of a respected professional identity and satisfying career. Originality/value The contemporary concept of a successful hospitality career is associated with an upwards career trajectory; however, this paper suggests that at the lower hierarchical levels of service work, many individuals enjoy complex satisfying careers with no desire for further advancement.

Law continues to be an attractive career path for women. Yet evidence shows that women's careers in law stagnate with proportionally small numbers of women progressing up the hierarchy from law graduate to partner. In this study we investigated how gendering and class processes impact on women's career progression. A major contribution is that we explored the heterogeneous views held by women below and above the partnership line, in Auckland's top law firms. Drawing on Acker's gendering processes (1990, 2006a) plus the accumulation of appropriate capitals needed to progress, we analysed 52 interview accounts. The women lawyers themselves were divided on how gendering and class processes impact on their career progression. Women partners accepted the hierarchical employment model of law and were confident in their role and place. Women below the partner line, while frustrated by the personal and professional requirements for success, did not demonstrate agency for change. In concluding, we reflect on the potential for change in the profession.

This article explains the value of an intersectional approach in sectoral research, using this lens to examine privilege and penalty in the female‐dominated hotel sector of New Zealand. Memory‐work and semi‐structured interviews explored the career experiences of long‐term hotel workers, highlighting the extent to which gender, intersecting with age, ethnicity and class, shape individual career choices. The key contribution of this article is to suggest that in hotels, as in other employment sectors, the apparent ‘level playing field’ at career‐entry point, where merit is presumed to regulate promotional opportunities, soon disappears as the workings of power and influence within the organizational context take hold: privileges and penalties intersect.

INTRODUCTIONWhile many organisations have been quick to jump onboard the 'sustainability bandwagon' little appears to have been done to consider the role of, and effect on, the HR function and manager. In fact, organisations have tended to treat sustainability and HR in silo. This paper examines questions such as: How are HR managers defining and enacting corporate sustainability? And what is the effect of the HR managers' social and political contexts in this role? We do so b y focusing on the relationships between HR and environmental sustainability. In particular, we explore the challenges posed to, and reactions of, HR and HR managers by the concept of su stainable development and the corporate sustainability rhetoric.Drawing on a set of interviews undertaken wi th 11 New Zealand (NZ) HR managers we explore three related aspects of morality identified by Fineman (1997): private, conventional and enacted. We analyse a group of HR managers' private views on the environment and consider how these relate to their organisations stated position, as well as how they are enacted (o r not) within their work context. In doing so, we begin to examine how green territories are construed and contested within the HR arena, something not considered in the extant literature. Moreover, we explore and analyse the current state of HR and environmental sustainability, examining not only what the HR function is doing in the name of su st ainability, but also, what they believe they can and should be doing. We therefore begin to critically examine the relationship between HR and environmental sustainability and start to explore what sustainability may mean for various HR functions.We s tructure the paper as follows. Fi rst, we review the background literature. Here we consider the sustainable development concept within the business context and the emerging HR literature in the area. Se cond, we present our framework and approach taken in the paper followed by an overview of our data sources and method. Findings are then presented and discussed. The paper ends with conclusions and implications. BACKGROUND LITERATURE

Purpose -This paper aims to report an empirically grounded theoretical framework within which to understand the role of entrepreneurial identity development in the discovery, development and exploitation of opportunity, and to elaborate on how these identity transitions both mobilise and constrain female entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative case study-based research design was used in this study. Primary and secondary data were collected from eight female participants (all of whom can be categorised as "mumpreneurs") and analysed to inform the theoretical framework that is the foundation of the paper. Findings -The authors describe how identity conflict, role congruence and reciprocal identity creation play a critical role in venture creation as a form of entrepreneurship. Drawing on the constructs of identification, self-verification and identity enactment, the authors build a theoretical framework for understanding entrepreneurial identity transitions in relation to opportunity-seeking behaviours. Research limitations/implications -The work is theoretical in character and based on a sample that, whilst rich in the provision of theoretical insight, is small in scope. Additionally, the sample is located in one geographical context (New Zealand) which likely has implications for the way in which the key constructs are perceived and enacted. Originality/value -This paper is an attempt to integrate conceptualisations of entrepreneurial identity development with opportunity-related processes in the context of venture creation. A holistic focus on identity transitions and their relevance to perception and action in relation to opportunity (the root of entrepreneurial behaviour) is novel; at this point, it is exploratory in intention and tentative in reach.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the business assistance realities of New Zealand small and medium enterprise (SME) owner‐managers in order to better understand those experiences in terms of their ability to identify and use what is provided.Design/methodology/approachSite visits were made to 51 small firms that had been recruited from a random sample of 500 New Zealand firms that employed up to 50 full‐time equivalent staff and were in the “manufacturing” or “service” sector. An interview was then carried out with the owner‐manager of the firm.FindingsThe owner‐managers of some SMEs interact with the support infrastructure regularly, while others do not. The sources of business assistance most frequently accessed where not necessarily those that were subsequently perceived as being the most useful or significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited in their generalisability due to the research methodology and research context. However, the conclusions will be of interest to researchers, policy‐makers and business assistance providers.Originality/valueThe paper addresses a gap in the knowledge base surrounding business assistance and SMEs. Typically investigations on this topic focus on supply‐side issues (i.e. how service provision can be improved) rather than those that relate to demand (i.e. investigating the needs of owner‐managers). The project was unique in the New Zealand context (both in terms of scale and research approach).

This article examines how interactions between the doing of gender and class at institutional and organizational levels perpetuate inequality for aged care workers. In particular, it investigates how managers ‘do gender’ and class in relation to their care workers' work–life balance and the unintended consequences of this for aged care workers. The research data comprised interviews with female managers and aged care workers from four case studies in residential aged care in New Zealand. We argue that despite best intentions, the consequences of managers' doing gender and class results in continuing low wages, poor work–life balance and disempowerment at work for aged care workers.