Constructing a career identity in the aged care sector: overcoming the “taint” of dirty work

Published date04 February 2019
Date04 February 2019
Pages76-97
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2017-0244
AuthorMarilyn Clarke,Katherine Ravenswood
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
Constructing a career identity in
the aged care sector: overcoming
the taintof dirty work
Marilyn Clarke
Adelaide Business School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, and
Katherine Ravenswood
Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore career identity within the aged care sector.
Design/methodology/approach The research employs a descriptive interpretive methodology using
32 in-depth, semi-structured interviews.
Findings This paper shows that social processes and occupational and professional status issues shape
career identity in an aged care context. Individuals seek positive career identities through emphasising job fit
in relation to their personal experience and values in order to counteract the impact of taint.
Research limitations/implications This study was based in one organisation. Future research could
explore its findings in the context of multiple organisations, and include the concept of career identity in other
low status, taintedoccupations, such as childcare, in order to develop a more complete understanding of
identity construction processes.
Practical implications The findings suggest that aged care providers could employ a values-driven
approachto recruitment,complementaryto pay and career development, to enhancerecruitmentand retention of
aged care employees. Universities andprofessional bodies could consider more active use ofaged care student
placementsto highlight the opportunities that aged care offerto new graduates in allied healthprofessions.
Originality/value This paper extends our understanding of career identity in relation to taintand dirty
workin the context of two occupational groups in the understudied sector of aged care.
Keywords Qualitative, Dirty work, Aged care, Career identity
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
As careers have become less constrained by organisational str uctures and more a product
of individual agency (Baruch, 2003), there is growing interest in career identity
(LaPointe, 2010; Meijers et al., 2013; Meijers and Lengelle, 2012). Fugate et al. (2004)
describe career identity as a cognitive compass that can assist people when making sense
of career decisions and can guide career behaviours. At the individual level, a well-d efined
career identity can address questions such as what does work mean in and for my life, and
what do I want to mean to others through my work? (Meijers, 1998). At the organisational
level, career identity has been associated with individual decisions about membership of
organisations, occupations and professions (Walsh and Gordon, 2008; Park, 2014). These
decisions then influence roles that individuals adopt and the behaviours that they d isplay
on behalf of their organisations (Golden-Biddle and Rao, 1997). For example, identity has
been linked to organisational commitment, loyalty and more co-operative behaviours
(Ashforth et al., 2008; Ashforth and Mael, 1996; Mael and Ashforth, 1995) as well as overall
job performance and turnover intentions (Walsh and Gordon, 2008).
In this paper, we explore the process of career identity construction in the context of
aged care. In developed countries, rapidly aging populations, increased longevity and
fewer extended family support structures are creating a growing demand for paid care
services, ranging from medical and allied health professionals to administrative support
staff and community care workers (LoanClarke et al., 2010; Martin and King, 2007;
Richardson and Martin, 2004). A recent Australian report predicted that by 2050 over
Personnel Review
Vol. 48 No. 1, 2019
pp. 76-97
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-08-2017-0244
Received 22 August 2017
Revised 29 November 2017
22 February 2018
Accepted 3 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
76
PR
48,1
3.5m people will need aged care services (Productivity Commission, 2011) and that much
of the support would be delivered in the community rather than in residential or nursing
home care (AIHW, 2017; King et al., 2012). These trends are mirrored in other countries
(e.g. UK and the USA) which highlight the need for, and value of, developing a better
understanding of the career motivations and experiences of individuals wh o choose to
work in the aged care sector.
Our focus is on how career identity is shaped among two quite distinct groups of
employees allied health professionals and community aged care workers employed by
an Australian aged care organisation. Allied health professionals are defined as university
trained health professionals other than nurses and medical practitioners who are involved in
direct patient care or services, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists or
dieticians (Schoo et al., 2005, p. 3). In contrast to allied health professionals, community care
workers require only minimal qualifications such as a Certificate in Aged Care. Their role is
to provide in-home support with activities such as cleaning, shopping, personal care and
transport to medical appointments which enables older people to remain in their own homes
rather than moving into residential care (King et al., 2012).
We argue that aged care offers a unique perspective on career identity given that
although the sector provides a critical and increasingly important service to society, it
suffers from the stigma or taintassociated with dirty work(Ashforth et al., 2007;
Hughes, 1958).
Ashforth and Kreiner (1999) and Ashforth et al. (2007) describe dirty work as jobs that
are perceived to be physically, socially or morally less attractive than other occupations.
These jobs not only have lower status but are also seen as bearing taintwhich impacts on
the ability of organisations to attract and retain employees (Austen and McMurray, 2012)
and, potentially, on the career identity of individuals working in those jobs.
Aged care is often regarded as a low status sector in comparison to other health
specialisations (Stacey, 2005). In keeping with other care jobs (England et al., 2002; England,
2005), it tends to be relatively low paid and characterised by extensive casual or part-time
employment, yet not all aged care jobs have the same level of taint. In fact, Kreiner et al.
(2006) suggest that there is a need to broaden the concept of dirty workand to recognise
the differences between occupations that have varying levels of taint. We address this
issue by comparing two occupations that, to a different extent, engage in dirty workbut
share the common taintassociated with aged care. We contribute to the literature by
focussing on occupations that have been under-researched in comparison to other aged care
workers (e.g. residential care) (Stacey, 2005), but provide key support services to elderly
clients. Community care is unique in aged care because employees have little direct contact
with, and work remotely from, the head officeor management as they visit clients in
clientsown homes (Bailey and Robertson, 2015; Charlesworth and Malone, 2017).
This poses challenges for a range of issues including identity with the organisation and
identity with a career. In contrast, allied health professionals generally work in an
organisational setting, are members of well-established professions, and are perceived as
being in high status occupations. Despite this it is unclear how they deal with the taintof
aged care and how they construct a positive career identity in this context.
Through identifying their motivations for choosing a career in aged care, and the role of
career identity in that choice, we offer insights into attraction and retention for the aged care
sector. We also make two theoretical contributions. First, we highlight the role of social
processes in career identity construction. We describe how life experiences, particularly
within the family unit, shape values and beliefs which, in turn, influence career decisions
and career identities (Hall, 2004; Hall and Chandler, 2005). This expands on previous
research which examines socialisation primarily from an organisational viewpoint
(Van Maanen and Schein, 1979) and through a framework of organisational cultures,
77
Constructing a
career identity

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