From ideal workers to ideal work for all: A 50-year review integrating careers and work-family research with a future research agenda

By E. Kossek, Matthew B. Perrigino, Alyson Gounden Rock. 2020

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Looking over fifty years, we review the careers literature,grounded in vocational psychology; and the work-family literature,rooted in industrial-organizational psychology and organizational behavior (IO/OB); in order to identify commonalities and gaps. Historically, these streams were not well-integrated, developed at separate speeds, and differed in gender focus. Early career studies targeted men's careers. Work-family studies centered on women's careers. The 71 studies identified clustered into three main approaches: careers studies emphasizing vocational psychology lenses; work-family theories from IO/OB research, and dual-realm focused theories from other disciplines. Two-thirds of the articles were conceptual. Most empirical articles took a trade-off lens, assuming an incompatibility between high dual role investments in career and family. To guide the next decades' future research, we propose expansion to four integrative lenses: Whole Life Demands-Resources; Linked-Lives of Family Life Course and Career Stages; Diversity, Inclusion and Multiple Identities; and Ideal Work in Changing Social, Technological, and Economic Contexts.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6cb99600682a6ac049f6cbc29113a26f57a00785