ABSTRACT

This contribution provides an in-context exploration of how middle-managers make sense of their career progress, and particularly focuses on ‘merit’ to understand how careers are driven in a hierarchical organization. The study exposes ‘merit’ as a fragmented and individualized construction that links back to the participants’ broader life ambitions and identity footprint. It also shows a tendency for maintaining trust in ‘merit’ above other circumstantial and opportunity factors, even in face of events which undermine the application of the merit-based principle. ‘Merit’ is hence portrayed to be a rationalized narrative in careers’ trajectory; a marker used by participants to make sense of events in a coherent manner, consequently experiencing self-efficacy and reducing uncertainty. The findings add complexity to the ‘meritocracy’ debate, calling for new critiques which address its underlying inequality dimension while also contemplating the individual psychological purpose driving ‘merit’ beliefs.

摘要

此贡献提供了有关中层管理人员如何理解其职业发展的背景调查，尤其是侧重于“功绩”以了解在分级组织中如何驱动职业。这项研究揭示了“功绩”是一个零散的，个性化的结构，与参与者更广泛的生活抱负和身份足迹相关。它也显示出一种趋势，即即使面对破坏基于功绩原则的应用的事件，也要比其他情况和机会因素更信任“功绩”。因此，“优点”被描绘成职业轨迹的合理化叙述；参与者用来以连贯的方式理解事件的标记，从而体验自我效能并减少不确定性。这些发现增加了“精英主义”辩论的复杂性，