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Career development and understanding consequences of context : Angolan perspectives from the oil industry

Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Despite multidisciplinary and extensive coverage, existing career theory is largely premised on Western frameworks and limited research has been conducted into career development experiences of individuals from African countries in local or transnational settings.Thus the research presented in this thesis extends on existing constructionist career development commentary by gaining insight into the interplay between societal structures and individual action in an African context.The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing the career development of professional Angolans working in the oil and gas industry and how experiences associated with living and working in Western contexts influences the career development of such individuals.The aim was to go beyond discovery of factors and analyse data in the form of highly personalised accounts from key informants to deepen understanding of African career development in transnational settings, mindful of postcolonial factors.Data were collected over an 18-month period using ethnographic fieldwork and semi-structured interviewing with 24 participants.Within an ethnomethodological framework and drawing on developments in postcolonial theory, constructionist grounded theory approaches informed the hermeneutic analysis of data.Findings revealed that multiple and distinctly nuanced dynamics between institutional micro structures (e.g., family, education and employment) and societal macro structures (e.g., socio-economic, political, historical and cultural environments) significantly shape individual career decision making, behaviour and aspirations in the Angolan context.Experiences of living and working in Western settings were found to have a i vii 8.
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W581393193
Cites: 169
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10