Mapping the Career Journey of Male and Female Accountants in Australia

Abstract

"Career is not a destination, it is a journey." --participant David (accountant with a large IT company, age 43). This quote encapsulates how many individuals conceptualize their career history. Like any journey, there are a myriad of factors that can influence how careers are enacted, including the speed of career progression, the hazards that may be encountered along the way, or the various pathways available to travelers. The challenge for career researchers today is to develop a model that depicts or maps the career experiences of men and women. There are a number of research questions, however, that confront scholars in the field of career theory. (1) Do men and women enact similar careers? (2) Do individuals follow a more traditional, linear career path or a boundaryless career as outlined by Arthur and Rousseau (1996)? (3) How do changing definitions of career and career success influence the nature of an individual's career journey? Finally, (4) What factors influence an individual's career journey? The purpose of this chapter is to explore some of these questions outlining the results of a qualitative study into the career experiences of 59 men and women employed in the accounting profession in Australia.