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Abstract
This study aims to identify the predominant career profiles among Generation Y in Brazil and investigate the influence of demographic and professional characteristics in these profiles. Career profiles are defined as combinations of the presence of Boundaryless and Protean career attitudes. This study is descriptive, the sample is non-probabilistic and intentional and consists of 2,376 people. Cluster Analysis and Chi-square tests were used. The results show that people from Generation Y have a high presence of attitudes related to new careers and that these new careers are associated with high education and high income, mainly the Boundaryless career. However, there is a small portion of the sample that doesn't present new career attitudes, indicating that this is just a movement and cannot be considered a reality for all studied subjects.
Key words: generations; career; boundaryless career; protean career; career profile.
Introduction
New career theories are recent and several studies about them are being conducted, nevertheless, there is still need for empirical verification of concepts (Clarke, 2013; Rodrigues & Guest, 2010). In order to reduce this gap, it has been recommended that researchers develop more empirical studies about new careers and the impact of potential influencers, such as, age, gender, scholarship, etc. (Briscoe, Hall, & DeMuth, 2006; Segers, Inceoglu, Vloeberghs, Bartram, & Henderickx, 2008; R. C. da Silva, Dias, Silva, Krakauer, & Marinho, 2012).
One of these potential influencers is the demographic change that is happening in Brazil related to the larger number of young professionals joining the workforce and the large number of people advancing to retirement age (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], n.d.).
These young professionals are getting attention from media and organizations. Born after 1981, they are named Generation Y (Amaral, 2004). Generation Y has the main characteristic of being born in a digital environment (with the frequent presence of computers, cell phones, internet access, etc.) and that is why Tapscott (2010) calls them the Net Generation. Considering generational differences, these individuals have different expectations and attitudes regarding their careers compared to other Generations (Lyons, Schweitzer, & Ng, 2015).
Taking into consideration the new careers theories and their need for empirical verification and also the economic importance of the large number of professionals from Generation Y joining the Brazilian...