From the invisible hand to the gladhand: Understanding a careerist orientation to work

Abstract

This article explores the concept of a careerist orientation to work, which is defined as the propensity to pursue career advancement through non-performance-based means. A scale is developed to measure this concept using a sample of 227 business school alumni. Exploratory empirical data suggest that careerism is associated with consistently more negative job attitudes, a greater desire to advance and to change jobs, and more frequent promotions. Implications of a careerist orientation to work for both individual career management and organizational career development are discussed.