Occupational therapists' experiences of career progression following promotion

BACKGROUND/AIM: The recruitment and retention of a skilled occupational therapy workforce is highlighted as a key issue for the profession, and yet there have been relatively few studies into the career progression of occupational therapists. METHODS: A qualitative, naturalistic approach was adopted to answer the research question, using semi-structured interviews to gather data. Eleven purposefully selected participants at an Australian health service were interviewed as part of this study. Categories representing the most common themes and topics supplied by participants within their individual interviews were identified and consolidated by the research team. The trustworthiness of this study was supported by strategies to maximise its credibility, dependability and confirmability. RESULTS: Four main themes were elicited from the data - (i) Readiness for progression, (ii) Tools and processes, (iii) Expectations and (iv) What I wish I had known first. Within these themes, related findings were also identified by both Grade 2 and Grade 3 staff. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the readiness of occupational therapists to climb the career ladder is influenced by the tools and processes they can utilise, and the expectations they have around the realities of their new position. With hindsight, participants highlighted some things they wish they had known at the time of transition, which appeared to have been implicit. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY: This study is the first to address the common issues for occupational therapy staff around progression between grade levels. It therefore provides a basis for further research in other practice settings and for the development of supports for therapists climbing the career ladder.

Researching early career teachers and gender differences: ramifications for rural education

Recent research into the lives of early career teachers’ in Victoria and Queensland suggest that gender remains a significant factor in shaping the careers of those teaching in rural and regional schools. The cohort of nearly 5,000 teachers involved in the ARC-funded research project, ‘Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education’ (SETE) has a high proportion of females (78%). This composition is consistent with other large-scale datasets and across four rounds of SETE surveys between 2010-2014, and reflected in Case Studies of a selection of Victorian rural and regional schools. Continued perceptions of teaching as an ‘appropriate’ career for women remains - that is, it is reasonably well paid, with holidays and hours that allow a combination of responsibilities in work and family contexts (Acker, 1994). Yet, the analysis of SETE career progression data shows that employment and career chances of female and male graduate teachers diverge. Male graduates were more likely to be employed in full time positions and saw themselves in a leadership role in three years’ time, while female graduates were more likely to be employed in part-time positions and saw themselves teaching or in other education related occupations in the future. Interestingly, there was also significant difference in the perceptions of preparedness and effectiveness scores for males and females, with female teachers consistently reporting higher scores for both scales. In this paper, we examine the research data with regards to gender differences in rural and regional primary schools and ask the question: thirty years after the first Affirmative Action Plan for Women in the Victorian Teaching Service (1986), why do these gender differences in teaching careers still hold true—and does it matter in rural education?

Developing career aspirations of information technology students at Deakin University

It is important for students to develop informed and realistic career aspirations to gain the most value from their university studies towards achieving their initial career goals. However developing students’ career aspirations, goals, and expectations is a complex and discipline-specific process. In Information Technology (IT) no clear career development framework is evident in the literature. Recent research in Australia argues that electronic portfolios are a useful way for students to develop, articulate and document career objectives to enhance their employability. IT students at Deakin engage in formal training and assessment with respect to developing their professional skills and career understandings. Currently electronic portfolios feature as a useful method for evidencing professional competencies for employability. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative analysis of 306 students’ articulated current career aspirations, qualitative analysis of 7 staff opinions of desired student career competencies, and a quantitative analysis of 28 students’ current work personality traits assessments (Work Personality Index), this work presents an analysis of the current state of IT students’ career development. The results indicate that while students reported short-term career aspirations, navigating to their long-term career goals is going to require addressing difficult barriers such as confidence (self-perception) and motivation. This research will influence a larger program-wide endeavour to build student career competencies for employability in IT at Deakin University.

Career facilitators and obstacles of Australian football development coaches

Career development is considered integral to the success of individuals, organisations and professions. Coaches play a vital role in the success of sport, yet little is known about their career development. Despite the advances in career development for athletes, there has been very little scholarly attention, nor resources provided for coach career development, especially for coaches working outside elite and professional sport. This pilot study explored the career development facilitators and obstacles of junior development Australian football coaches. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data on the career development of six practicing junior development Australian football coaches. These six (of only 12 employed) coaches worked in the main elite junior development league for Australian football, the Transport Accident Commission Cup. The themes that emerged from the data revealed that the career development of junior development Australian football coaches was facilitated first by their high motivation to coach because of their enjoyment of seeing young players develop and transition into the elite competition. The second facilitator was the coach’s awareness of their career development needs and their willingness to do their own career development despite limited opportunity, guidance or support. The key obstacles to Transport Accident Commission Cup coach career development included a lack of opportunity to spend time at elite clubs to observe and interact with elite coaches; a lack of time due to having a non-coaching job to financially support their coaching work and their family as well; the high demands of the coaching role had a negative impact on their work–life balance and often conflicted with time they would rather spend with their families; and finally, the lack of institutional support for coaches who were asked to work long hours for low wages and little reward despite their vital role in the elite player development pathway for the Australian Football League. This research suggests that junior development Australian football coaches have a clear understanding of their role and how it changes as their career develops; however, the coaches are limited by external forces in their career development. Junior development Australian football coaches are vital for Australian Football League development; however, there is disconnection between Australian Football League goals and their capacity to nurture elite athletes into the sport’s system due to part-time coaching roles, limited resources and few opportunities for coaches to develop their careers.

Cognitive cultural intelligence and life satisfaction of migrant workers: the roles of career engagement and social injustice

This paper examines the mediating effect of career engagement on the relationship between cognitive cultural intelligence (CQ) and life satisfaction among international migrant workers in Australia. It also examines the moderating effect of perceived social injustice on the cognitive CQ–career engagement relationship, as well as on the indirect cognitive CQ–life satisfaction relationship via career engagement. Using survey data from four hundred and sixty-two migrant workers in Australia, it was found that cognitive CQ was positively related to life satisfaction and that career engagement mediated this relationship. Social injustice moderated the impact of cognitive CQ on career engagement such that the impact was stronger among those perceiving a higher rather than a lower level of social injustice. Furthermore, the indirect effect of cognitive CQ on life satisfaction via career engagement was also stronger for those perceiving higher social injustice. These findings provide new insights regarding the antecedents of life satisfaction as well as reveal a vocationally relevant mechanism underlying the relationship between cognitive CQ and life satisfaction. The results inform potential practical strategies to enhance the career progression and life satisfaction of international migrant workers.

Telling tales: the value of storytelling for early career teachers

This article examines how early career teachers, participants in a research project, make sense of their experiences through storytelling. The teachers’ stories provide a significant counterpoint to the way standards-based reforms construct their professional development, prompting us as teacher educators to think again about what it means for our students to make the transition from initial teacher education into the institutional setting of a school. We draw on Ricoeur’s understanding of narrative to show the complexity of the identity work they perform and how their stories position them as authorities when it comes to the experience of beginning teaching and of negotiating a pathway within existing policy environments. Close attention to the language of these narratives produces rich insights into early career teachers’ experiences and raises questions as to how researchers might solicit and respond to such narratives.