Chapter 8: Career inaction in Belgium: when you want to make a career change, but you just … dont
Category:
Chapter
Published:
21 Apr 2023
Page Range:
64–72
Collection:
Business 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035308415.00015
Keywords:
agency; barriers and resistance; career transition; goals; job mobility; personal needs and well-being
Open access

In this chapter, we discuss the career story of Ellen, a 48-year government employee who has been wanting to make a substantial change in her career for at least ten years, but doesn’t seem able to go through with it. Overall, she feels stuck in her current job. Ellen is not alone in this experience of feeling stuck - we all know people who have career dreams, aspirations, and goals which for some reason or another have not (yet) translated into action, a phenomenon which Verbruggen and De Vos (2020) recently labelled “career inaction”. Using Ellen’s case, we explore the drivers and explanations of career inaction and discuss how it can impact people’s emotions and subsequent career actions.

Cover Understanding Careers Around the Globe
Understanding Careers Around the Globe
Monograph Book
Published:
21 Apr 2023
Print ISBN:
9781035308408
eISBN:
9781035308415
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035308415
Pages:
276
Collection:
Business 2023
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