The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The dynamics of diplomatic careers: The shift from traditional to contemporary careers

The dynamics of diplomatic careers: The shift from traditional to contemporary careers
The dynamics of diplomatic careers: The shift from traditional to contemporary careers
Career research has focused on the changing structures of careers, mainly in the private sector. Recent literature on employment patterns in the public sector suggests that career structures are evolving, gradually moving away from their signature traditional structures to contemporary ones. However, empirical evidence of this change is scarce and inconclusive. This qualitative study examines the changes currently unfolding in the career structure of the civil service by eliciting the experiences and views of senior Foreign Offices (FOs) staff in four countries: 198 state ambassadors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Denmark were interviewed about their career trajectories. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. The findings revealed a gradual breakdown of the structures and policies that support traditional careers, and the emergence of new principles and practices that characterize contemporary careers. However, as they were captured midway through the process of change, all FOs display a combination of traditional and contemporary career structures at this point. The findings offer unique insights into the drivers of this evolution and highlight some of the consequences.
ambassadors, boundaryless career, diplomats, protean career
0090-4848
Hart, D
1d1f15cd-05f4-488d-abdc-a5466eb55195
Baruch, Yehuda
25b89777-def4-4958-afdc-0ceab43efe8a
Hart, D
1d1f15cd-05f4-488d-abdc-a5466eb55195
Baruch, Yehuda
25b89777-def4-4958-afdc-0ceab43efe8a

Hart, D and Baruch, Yehuda (2021) The dynamics of diplomatic careers: The shift from traditional to contemporary careers. Human Resource Management. (doi:10.1002/hrm.22092).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Career research has focused on the changing structures of careers, mainly in the private sector. Recent literature on employment patterns in the public sector suggests that career structures are evolving, gradually moving away from their signature traditional structures to contemporary ones. However, empirical evidence of this change is scarce and inconclusive. This qualitative study examines the changes currently unfolding in the career structure of the civil service by eliciting the experiences and views of senior Foreign Offices (FOs) staff in four countries: 198 state ambassadors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Denmark were interviewed about their career trajectories. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. The findings revealed a gradual breakdown of the structures and policies that support traditional careers, and the emergence of new principles and practices that characterize contemporary careers. However, as they were captured midway through the process of change, all FOs display a combination of traditional and contemporary career structures at this point. The findings offer unique insights into the drivers of this evolution and highlight some of the consequences.

Text
Dynamics of Diplomatic Careers - As accepted HRM 2021 - Accepted Manuscript
Download (164kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 13 October 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 November 2021
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Keywords: ambassadors, boundaryless career, diplomats, protean career

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 452533
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452533
ISSN: 0090-4848
PURE UUID: 7078f59a-4936-449d-8e69-5bfa26eeb148
ORCID for Yehuda Baruch: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0678-6273

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Dec 2021 11:26
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:54

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: D Hart
Author: Yehuda Baruch ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×