Boundaryless Careers: Bringing Back Boundaries

Abstract

Boundaryless career theories are increasingly prominent in career studies and management studies, and provide a new ‘status quo’ concerning modern careers. This paper contextualizes the boundaryless careers literature within management studies, and evaluates its contributions, including broadening concepts of career and focusing interorganizational career phenomena. It acknowledges the considerable stimulus given to career studies by this literature, but also offers a critique based on five issues: inaccurate labelling; loose definitions; overemphasis on personal agency; the normalization of boundaryless careers; and poor empirical support for the claimed dominance of boundaryless careers. Because these problems render the boundaryless career concept increasingly obsolete as a ‘leading edge’ construct in career studies, we offer new directions for theory and research. In particular we re-examine the role of career boundaries, and suggest the development of new, boundary-focused careers scholarship based on boundary theory, to facilitate studies of the processes whereby career boundaries are created, and their effects in constraining, enabling and punctuating careers.

Using narratives to understand the motivational factors and experience of being a self-initiated academic expatriate in South Africa

“…This study focused on the boundaryless career theory because of its applicability to knowledge-intensive workers (Inkson et al, 2012). For the purpose of this research study, the boundaryless career theory is divided into physical and psychological mobility.…”

“…The major difference between SiEs and traditional expatriates is the initiative to move (Andresen, Al Ariss & Walther, 2012;Selmer & Lauring, 2012;Suutari & Brewster, 2000). Accordingly, SiEs are viewed as those individuals choosing to pursue international careers on their own initiative (Cao, Hirschi &Hall, 2002;Inkson, Gunz, Ganesh & Roper, 2012;Tams & Arthur, 2010). Such career paths are characterised by mobility across different locations.…”

Entry and exit as embodied career choice in professional sport

“…In the vast amount of research generated since the evolution of 'boundaryless careers' as an explanatory concept (see Sullivan andArthur, 2006 andInkson, Gunz, Ganesh andRoper, 2012, for a reexamination of the concept), the notion of what a boundary is seems to expand alongside the number of studies of it. Thus, the boundaryless career has evolved in its meaning from one that describes a changing relationship with the employing organization in the early days of its use to an evocation of potential freedom (Cohen and Mallon, 1999), which has generated much debate.…”

Transición educativa de estudiantes con discapacidad: más allá de la escuela. “¿Qué pasará con él cuando yo ya no esté viva?”

“…La mayoría son menos educados, desempleados y viven en la pobreza (Naami, 2015). Sin embargo, para vivir de manera aceptable, desean tener la oportunidad de contribuir a su propia vida, a la economía de su país; y quienes tienen el deseo o, mejor, la necesidad de vivir libremente, entran a la hefaempresariedad 1 (Sefotho y Ebersöhn, 2013) como manera de construir una carrera sin fronteras (Inkson, Gunz, Ganesh y Roper, 2012) para ayudar a los demás a que entren al mundo laboral.…”