Why people enter and stay in public service careers: the role of parental socialization and an interest in politics
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852319886913 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Carina Schott,Caroline Fischer |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Why people enter and
stay in public service
careers: the role of
parental socialization and
an interest in politics
Caroline Fischer
University of Potsdam, Germany
Carina Schott
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Abstract
This article examines the effect of parental socialization and interest in politics on
entering and staying in public service careers. We incorporate two related explanations,
yet commonly used in different fields of literature, to explain public sector choice. First,
following social learning theory, we hypothesize that parents serve as role models and
thereby affect their children’s sector choice. Additionally, we test the hypothesis that
parental socialization leads to a longer stay in public sector jobs while assuming that it
serves as a buffer against turnover. Second, following public service motivation process
theory, we expect that ‘interest in politics’ is influenced by parental socialization and
that this concept, in turn, leads to a public sector career. A representative set of
longitudinal data from the Swiss household panel (1999–2014) was used to analyse
these hypotheses (n¼2,933, N¼37,328). The results indicate that parental socializa-
tion serves as a stronger predictor of public sector choice than an interest in politics.
Furthermore, people with parents working in the public sector tend to stay longer in
their public sector jobs.
Points for practitioners
For practitioners, the results of this study are relevant as they highlight the limited
usefulness of addressing job applicants’ interest in politics in the recruitment process.
Corresponding author:
Caroline Fischer, University of Potsdam, Social Sciences, August-Bebel-Straße 89, Potsdam 14482, Germany.
Email: Caroline.fischer.ii@uni-potsdam.de
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
!The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020852319886913
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
2022, Vol. 88(1) 59–75
Human resources managers who want to ensure a public-service-motivated workforce
are therefore advised to focus on human resources activities that stimulate public
service motivation after job entry. We also advise close interaction between universi-
ties and public organizations so that students develop a realistic pictu re of the govern-
ment as a future employer and do not experience a ‘reality shock’ after job entry.
Keywords
human resources management, panel analysis, public sector choice, public service moti-
vation, socialization
Introduction
The question ‘What causes individuals to choose public service careers?’ is a classic
question in research focusing on sector preferences. However, due to the predicted
public sector labour shortage in many European countries (e.g. in Switzerland)
(Wunsch et al., 2014), this question and the question why individuals stay in public
sector jobs seem to be as topical as ever, as suggested by a recently published meta-
analysis and systematic literature review on this topic (Asseburg and Homberg,
2018; Korac et al., 2018).
Psychologists commonly agree that parental influences have an impact on the
careers of their children (Watson and McMahon, 2005). In particular, fathers who
are close to their children are likely to inculcate particular values related to occu-
pational choice and career aspirations (Johnson, 2002). A theoretical explanation
for this relationship is provided by Bandura’s social learning theory, in which one
of the prime mechanisms of socialization is observational learning (Bandura and
Walters, 1977). By observing that working for the government is valuable, children
may develop positive perceptions of public service careers, which influence their
career decisions later in life. In the field of public management, a commonly held
assumption is that public service motivation (PSM) affects individuals’ attraction to
the government as an employer of choice (e.g. Christensen and Wright, 2011; Perry
and Wise, 1990; Vandenabeele, 2008). This assumption is based on the idea that
individuals with high PSM levels are more attracted to organizations with consis-
tent values (person–organization fit hypothesis).
This study aims to incorporate these two streams of supplementary research in
order to generate a better understanding of why individuals decide to enter a public
service career and why they stay with the government as an employer. On the basis
of Perry’s (2000) PSM process theory, it has been argued that an ‘individual’s
desire to serve the public is influenced by extra-organizational factors prior to
their entry to public organizations[, which occur] throughout a person’s childhood
and early adult life’ (Gould-Williams, 2016: 766). This suggests that PSM could
present an important link that helps explain how parents both directly and
60 International Review of Administrative Sciences 88(1)
To continue reading
Request your trial