When meaning overpowers experience: A longitudinal study of synchronic and diachronic relations between objective career success and career plans

Abstract

Objective career success is a central concept in the study of trajectories because it allows the respective positions of several individuals to be measured comparatively. The concept of a career plan makes it possible to propose successful hypotheses to explain these differences in objective career success. But we still know very little about the feedback effects between success and career planning. This paper presents a longitudinal and quantitative study conducted using a sample of 582 French executives over four years, which allows us to test the effects of time on the relations between the variables. The results confirm that four career paths identified by previous works determine objective success synchronically. They reveal that plans are determined by objective career success. This influence is time-lagged. The link between plans and success is explained by the existence of a structural-functional loop.