Kaleidoscope Career Model (KCM)

Women make up 48% of the working population in Aotearoa, up from 42% in 1986. We are getting married later than in previous generations, at the ripe old age of 30 and a half (Statistics New Zealand, 2019). Further, women in Aotearoa are also either having a family later in life, or are choosing not to at all; and for women aged 30 or younger, the 2018 fertility rate was the lowest ever recorded (Statistics New Zealand, 2019). These simple statistics show us a shifting societal pattern.

Research into the careers of sixty women showed three distinct career phases (Inkson et al., 2015; O’Neil & Bilimoria, 2005), those of:

• Idealistic achievement: early career stage satisfaction, achievement, and personal control which appears from the research to be important to women
• Pragmatic endurance: mid-stage career is alongside the need to juggle multiple relationships and responsibilities both personally and professionally, often with limited personal control
• Re-inventive contribution: Later career where there is a sense of freedom arising from caring responsibilities being lightened. Further, women develop a stronger sense of self and a stronger drive to self-express in this stage, perhaps due to a broadening range of potential as children gaining independence.

At the same time O'Neil and Bilimoria (2005) were conducting their research, Mainiero and Sullivan (2005) were considering why there were so many well-qualified women were working part-time, or were not working for a full year. Mainiero and Sullivan's research resulted in a new theory of career stages (2005). Termed 'kaleidoscope' because when we turn a kaleidoscope it creates a cascade of patterns, symbolising the shifting pattern of our lives (Elley-Brown, 2010), the Kaleidoscope Career Model (KCM) has diffuse career stages (Mainiero & Sullivan, 2005), different to more age-structured models such as Super (1957) or Levinson et al. (1978), both of the latter resulting from research into men's careers.

KCM allows for "career interruptions, employment gaps, top-outs, opt-outs" and other interruptions due to building relationships in harmonising work and non-work environments, and in seeking balance (Mainiero & Sullivan, 2005, p. 108). It has "three mirrors [or...] motivators" (Elley-Brown, 2010) which sit alongside the career phases of O'Neil and Bilimoria (2005), called the ABC Model:

• Authenticity: where women make "choices allowing them to be true to themselves"
• Balance: how women achieve "equilibrium between work and other non-work roles, such as family, friends and interests"
• Challenge: "the individual's need for stimulating work and career advancement" (Elley-Brown, 2010).

In our current generations, women make "career decisions from a lens of relationalism – they factored in the needs of their children, spouses, aging parents, friends, and even coworkers and clients – as part of the total gestalt of their careers" (Mainiero & Sullivan, 2005, p. 111). Society allows women the opportunity to be in the “idealistic Achievement” phase for longer before they enter “Pragmatic Endurance”; or to skip “Pragmatic Endurance” altogether. Women seem able to manage multiple relationships and responsibilities while being authentic in their work, continuing to progress their careers, AND seeking that important balance of work and non-work commitments (Elley-Brown et al., 2015).

It will be interesting to see what further research is undertaken in this area.

Anushka

References:

Elley-Brown, M. J. (10 August 2010). Career Paths In State of Flux. New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/career-paths-in-state-of-flux/PI5G3427L3JD3JQSYJ3SHEJ5CQ/

Elley-Brown, M. J., Pringle, J. K., & Harris, C. (2015). How Some Women Are Opting In: A New Perspective on Kaleidoscope Career Model. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015, 1-39. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2015.11825abstract

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J., (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). Sage Publications Ltd.

Levinson, D. J. with Darrow, C., Klein, E., Levinson, M., & McKee, B. (1978). The Seasons of a Mans Life. Knopf.

Mainiero, L. A., & Sullivan, S. E. (2005). Kaleidoscope careers: An alternate explanation for the "opt-out" revolution. Academy of Management Perspectives, 19(1), 106-123. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2005.15841962

O'Neil, D. A., & Bilimoria, D. (2005). Women's career development phases: Idealism, endurance, and reinvention. Career Development International 10(3), 168-189. https://doi-org./10.1108

Statistics New Zealand. (8 March 2019). Women in Paid Work. https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/women-in-paid-work

Super, D. E. (1957). The Psychology of Careers: An introduction to vocational development. Harper & Bros.

* Anushka Verma kindly prepared the material for this post