The internal career: an explorative study of the career anchors of information technology workers in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The interest of career scholars in exploring individual careers has not been matched by equivalent attention on the influence of national context on careers. This paper describes the findings of a qualitative study, which explored the career anchors of information technology workers in a relatively neglected area in the literature-Nigeria. The result of this study suggest that IT workers in Nigeria exhibit six different career anchors namely being stable, being marketable, being in-charge, being free, being balanced and being challenged. The key conclusion is that beyond the individual career interest, individual career actions and decision are shaped and constrained by the wider societal factors embedded in the context in which careers are enacted.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Staffing

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION
      K.7.1 Occupations

General Terms:
Human Factors, Management, Theory

Keywords:
IT workers, Nigeria, career anchor, career orientation, careers, eveloping countries