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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/13620439810368619. When citing the article, please cite: Ghulam R. Nabi, David Bagley, (1998), “Graduatesʼ perceptions of transferable personal skills and future career preparation in the UK”, Career Development International, Vol. 3 Iss: 1, pp. 31 - 39.

This research examined the different profile of individual, opportunity structure, and career strategy variables related to both objective (salary) and subjective (self‐perceived) career success. Questionnaire data were obtained from a stratified sample of 723 full‐time employees at several higher education institutions in the north of England. Controlling for age, tenure, gender, and occupation, a different profile of factors predicted objective and subjective career success. The highest objective career success was reported by employees with a high level of education, who worked in larger organizations with well‐structured progression ladders and invested considerable effort in their work role. In contrast, the highest subjective career success was reported by employees who were high on work centrality, who worked in organizations with well‐structured progression ladders and employment security, and who networked frequently yet reported a lack of ambition. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

This paper examined the role of career‐enhancing strategies (CESs) as mediators of the relationship between situation‐centred characteristics (e.g. career prospects) and subjective career success. CESs included self‐nomination, networking behaviour and consultation with mentors. Subjective career success was measured using two criteria, intrinsic job success and perceived career success. Questionnaire data was collected from 283 full‐time support personnel in the UK. Results provided partial support for the mediating role of CESs between situational characteristics and subjective career success. Specific CESs played a mediating role in the relationship between specific situation‐centred variables and intrinsic job success. Self‐nomination and networking played a mediating role between career prospects and intrinsic job success. Networking also played a mediating role between security and intrinsic job success. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

It is generally assumed that career‐enhancing strategies are instrumental in the career self‐management process. Yet, there is a paucity of empirical research on the predictors of career‐enhancing strategies. Using a career strategy model as a guiding framework, this paper examined the relationship of motivational attributes and organizational experiences with career‐enhancing strategies (expertise development, self‐nomination and networking). Motivational attributes were conceptualized as advancement motivation and work/career centrality, whereas organizational experiences incorporated advancement prospects and job security. Questionnaire data were collected from full‐time public sector employees (N = 288) in the UK. The results indicated that, according to expectations: advancement prospects were positively and consistently related to all three career‐enhancing strategies; advancement motivation was positively related to expertise development and self‐nomination; and work‐orientated centrality was positively related to expertise development and networking. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

Graduate underemployment continues to be a serious and growing problem in the UK. Yet, there is a scarcity of research that has attempted to identify the nature, extent and specificity of the problem. This study examines the opportunity for skill use (skill requirements of the job, personal skill levels, congruence between these two measures) and intrinsic (job, career, life satisfaction) and extrinsic career success (salary, promotion) amongst underemployed graduates. Appropriately employed graduates (those who were in jobs for which they required their degree) were used as a comparison group. Questionnaire data were collected from 203 business graduates in the UK. The key findings suggested that underemployed graduates reported significantly lower levels of opportunity for skill use and intrinsic (job, career, life satisfaction) and extrinsic career success (salary). The implications of these findings and avenues for further research are discussed.

Three young women who had been friends at university met up for a reunion lunch. All had been working for almost three years, one as journalist, one for a financial institution and the third for a London‐based Web‐site design company. After talk of old friends and new relationships, hairstyles, fashion and how good the cappuccino tasted, the conversation got down, as it does, to work. All three had decided that, after their huge experience (three years that is!) in the world of working for a living, they were all seeking “a change of direction”.

Most previous research on career success has examined the differential importance of predictors of objective career success (e.g. salary) between men and women. The aim of the present paper is to investigate hypotheses pertaining to male‐female differences in subjective career success (SCS) prediction. Two measures of SCS, intrinsic job success (IJS) and perceived career success (PCS), were employed as criteria and a range of organisational policy perceptions and social support strategies as predictors. Questionnaire data was collected from 439 administrative full‐time employees in the UK. Results provided modest support for the differential predictive power of the above predictors of SCS for men and women. The main results suggested that peer support was a more powerful predictor of men’s SCS, whereas personal support was a more powerful predictor for women’s SCS. The implications of these findings are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

A sample of 1996 undergraduate students from the University of Central Lancashire were surveyed soon after graduation. Responses were obtained from 143 graduates of the University from an initial census of 315 (45 per cent) drawn from six departments. Although the initial purpose of the survey was to assess the usefulness of survey methodology as a means of assessing graduates’ skills development, the research also addressed a number of key questions relating to the importance and quality of graduates’ generic transferable skills and competencies. Basic findings in terms of skills development are threefold: (a) graduates tend to rate the importance of particular skills more highly than their own ability in those skills, (b) graduates tend to rate their level of ability lowest in IT skills and highest in their ability to work without supervision, and (c) that there are possible differences between the views of males and females. The research has implications for undergraduates, employers and careers advisers. Furthermore, academic departments facing teaching quality assessment might find that this approach offers useful evidence for their self assessment.

Building on authoritative studies on inspiration in the field of psychology (e.g. Thrash and Elliot, 2013, 2014), this study aims to clarify how entrepreneurial inspiration – an emotional state of personal attraction toward entrepreneurship – is created and how it affects entrepreneurial intentions. First, receptiveness to inspiration is introduced as a potential entrepreneurial feeling trait that constitutes a universal enabler of entrepreneurial inspiration alongside typically idiosyncratic inspirational triggers. Second, this study proposes to reinforce the theoretical base of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions by applying the affect infusion model (AIM) and empirically testing its explanatory power.

Hypotheses are tested through independent and dependent sample t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses with an interaction effect. Data originate from a pre-post course survey among 342 entrepreneurship students from various countries and institutions.

The results confirm a positive relation between receptiveness to inspiration and entrepreneurial inspiration. Receptiveness to inspiration precedes and increases with entrepreneurial experience, suggesting that it can be both inborn and cultivated. In line with the AIM, entrepreneurial inspiration stimulates only the entrepreneurial aspirations of participants without entrepreneurial experience. Experienced individuals, on the other hand, derived more entrepreneurial inspiration from their courses, but this was not translated to higher entrepreneurial intentions. Instead, they could benefit from this inspiration in other ways proposed in the literature, such as enhanced opportunity recognition.

This study provides much needed, theory-informed, insight into the formation of entrepreneurial inspiration. Furthermore, it is the first research to propose and test a specific theoretical underpinning of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions, which also accounts for the moderating role of entrepreneurial experience. Finally, the rare multi-country, multi-institution nature of the sample reinforces the external validity of the findings.

This study aims to examine the impact of boardroom diversity on the financial stability of Chinese financial listed firms. Boardroom diversity is quantified in the following aspects: relation-oriented diversity and task-oriented diversity.

Panel data on Chinese financial listed firms between 1998 and 2017 are used in this study. Panel regression is used to analyze the firm data for fixed effects and robust standard errors.

Task-oriented diversity of the board increases financial stability. Regarding the impact of boardroom diversity on firm risk, the results reveal that task-oriented diversity of the board reduces firm risk, which supports the predictions of this research. Regarding the moderating effect of state ownership on the relationship between boardroom diversity (task- and relation-oriented diversity) and financial stability, the results show that state ownership enhances the positive impact of the board’s task-oriented diversity on financial stability.

Task-oriented diversity of the board enhances the financial stability of Chinese financial listed firms. As existing studies on bank boards in China are limited, the findings of this research can be used when crafting policy initiatives to enhance financial stability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of boardroom diversity, particularly task- and relation-oriented diversity, on financial stability. It provides empirical support that boardroom diversity positively affects the financial stability of Chinese financial listed firms. This research also offers empirical evidence that state ownership enhances the positive impact of the board’s task-oriented diversity on financial stability.