Research Summary
Research Summary
Building Career Foundations
Description
Building Career Foundations is a multi-dimensional longitudinal project that focuses on the career development of MBAs from HBS, the Class of 1996. Employing a relational approach to career development, Higgins collected both individual-level data and relationship-level data on individuals' multiple developmental relationships. These data include (a) videotaped interviews with 10 focal individuals and the individuals who have provided developmental assistance to them in their careers thus far (i.e., members of their developmental networks), and (b) surveys to a representative sample of the Class of 1996 that focus on participants' career histories, developmental relationships, and career decision-making processes. Three waves of survey data have been collected thus far along with multiple waves of interview data from the focal 10. The project has yielded research papers on career decision-making and five multimedia cases for use in the MBA classroom. The next wave of data collection will occur in 2006, ten years since this Class of 1996 graduated from business school.