Meandering pathways to success: a careers perspective on self-employment

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to provide a career perspective on self-employment (SE) by focusing on how engaging in SE shapes the career experiences of MBA graduates in a distinct cultural and institutional context.

Design/methodology/approach

We thematically analyse interviews with 29 Indian MBA graduates (including 10 women) who have engaged in both SE and salaried employment, using the conservation of resources (COR) theory as the theoretical framework.

Findings

Participants took up SE in a challenging institutional and cultural environment. Resources such as financial stability, social networks and family support enabled participants to pursue SE. Participants noted that the SE experience boosted their psychological resources, providing them with greater confidence, perseverance and self-awareness. Participants observed that SE had a negative impact on subjective career success (SCS) dimensions of financial success and positive work relationships but positively impacted other SCS dimensions such as entrepreneurship, learning and development, positive (social) impact and work–life balance (particularly for women).

Research limitations/implications

Participants were highly educated with strong social networks from past work experience in a developing economy, so the transferability of the findings to other contexts may be limited.

Practical implications

Individuals could benefit from considering a broader career canvas that includes SE as a career option. Policymakers should work towards removing institutional barriers and changing cultural perceptions towards SE.

Originality/value

Our study is distinct in that it comprises participants who had engaged in both SE and salaried employment during their careers. Few studies have looked at the impact of one employment episode on another. We show that SE episodes can contribute to career sustainability by developing psychological resources.

Citation

Nair, V.G., Chatterjee, L. and Bagga, N. (2024), "Meandering pathways to success: a careers perspective on self-employment", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 2802-2828. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2023-0505