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Career aspirations of generation
Z: a systematic literature review
Bhagyashree Barhate
Department of Educational Human Resource Development,
Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas, USA, and
Khalil M. Dirani
Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to explore the career aspirations of individuals belonging to the Gen Z cohort,
i.e. born between 1995 and 2012.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper is a systematic review of the literature. The authors
accessed five databases to collect literature for review. The databases included were Academic Search
Ultimate, Business Source Ultimate, ERIC and Google Scholar. Keywords used to conduct the search process
were as follows: career development, career aspiration, generation Z, Gen Z and iGen. The authors imported
all articles to RefWorks, read article abstracts and decided on whether to include or exclude the article in the
review.
Findings –Based on this systematic review, the authors found that intrinsic and extrinsic factors determine
Gen Z’s career aspirations. Further, based on past studies’predictions, the authors concluded that Gen Z has
well-defined career expectations and career development plans.
Research limitations/implications –Gen Z is the newest generation to enter the workforce. With
limited research on this cohort, this study synthesized the existing knowledge of Gen Z students’career
aspirations and their future employers’expectations. All research around Gen Z is currently focused on
students, and hence, it is challenging to predict their workplace behavior. In this work, the authors provided
organizations and practitioners guidelines to be prepared with Gen Z’s expectations as they enter the
workplace.
Originality/value –This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical research from around the
world on career aspirations related to Gen Z.
Keywords Students, Career development, Career aspirations, Generation Z, Gen Z, Post millennials
Paper type Literature review
People born in the same chronological, social and historical timeframe are collectively
called a generation (Twenge et al., 2010). Further, generation theory claims that people
born in the same generation share similar characteristics and basic behavioral profiles
(Twenge et al., 2010). Generational research has generalized and highlighted evolving
career needs for different generation groups currently in the workforce –baby boomers
(born between 1946 and 1964), generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and
millennials or generation Y (born between 1981 and 1995). For instance, careers were
central to baby boomers’identity, making them feel distinct from others and loyal to
the organization (Smola and Sutton, 2002). Generation X perceived promotions more
critical than an increase in pay, inspiring loyalty towards the organization (Smola and
Sutton, 2002), whereas millennials easily switch jobs for an increase in pay and
promotions (Smola and Sutton, 2002).
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
Received 28 July2020
Revised 18 December2020
24 January 2021
Accepted 1 February2021
European Journal of Training and
Development
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2046-9012
DOI 10.1108/EJTD-07-2020-0124
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2046-9012.htm
Generation Z or Gen Z or iGen or post-millennials (born between 1995 and 2012) is the
latest generation to join the workforce in 2017. In this literature review, we investigated
theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches informing current empirical
research about Gen Z and their career aspirations. Their career is an emerging research field
and thus we also reviewed prevalent industrial reports capturing Gen Z’s career aspirations.
In addition, we explored Gen Z’s characteristics impacting their career aspirations and
expectations. Lastly, we provide a baseline for future researchers and practitioners to
advance Gen Z specific career development research, theory and practice.
With Gen Z as the newest participants in the workplace, organizations are experiencing
an amalgamation of four generations at the same time. With four different generations in the
workplace, organizations are experiencing a rising work-value conflict and differences in
preferences in learning styles, beliefs and communication styles (Lyons and Kuron, 2014;
Solaja and Ogunola, 2016). Older generations such as baby boomers, generation X and
millennials have been studied exhaustively by researchers in the human resource
development (HRD) field (Callahan and Greenhaus, 2008;Chaudhuri and Ghosh, 2012;Ng
et al., 2010). With Gen Z entering the workplace dynamic, it has become pertinent for
organizations to understand this newest generation in the workforce to meet all employee’s
workplace needs (Perilus, 2020).
Preliminary research in the fields of education and marketing has studied Gen Z and
their educational preferences and how to advertise products to them, respectively. Gen Z-
related research in education and marketing has characterized Gen Z as digital natives
(Barnes and Noble College Insights, 2018;Twenge, 2017), highly achievement-oriented
(Barna Group, 2018), seeking interesting and meaningful work (Schroth, 2019) and
disengaged in absence of challenging work (Bresman and Rao, 2017). With lack of literature
in HRD and organizational research on Gen Z and their career-related aspirations,
organizations are underprepared to host this new incoming generation into the workforce.
In HRD research, generation-based research has important implications to talent
development, career development, career mobility and engagement (Callahan and
Greenhaus, 2008;Lyons et al.,2014;Ng et al., 2010). HRD impacts organization’s ability to
stay competitive by attracting and retaining talented workers (Eversole et al., 2012). With
Gen Z entering the workforce, HRD must focus its attention to first understand what
motivates the newest generation in the workforce and how to adjust the work environment
to retain Gen Z.
Thus, it is essential to explore Gen Z’s career aspirations and expectations to understand
attraction and retention strategies for Gen Z employees and prepare organizations for this
incoming generation into the workforce and meet Gen Z’s career aspirations. The following
three research questions guided this review:
RQ1. What theoretical perspectives were used to inform empirical studies and
industrial reports about Gen Z’s career aspirations?
RQ2. What methodological approaches were used in empirical studies and industrial
reports to inform Gen Z’s career aspirations?
RQ3. How are Gen Z’s career aspirations characterized in reviewed empirical studies
and industrial reports?
To answer the research questions, we first describe our systematic literature review (SLR)
methodology, followed by a summary and discussion of the findings. We then conclude the
article with implications for future Gen Z research, theory and practice.
EJTD
Methodology
The purpose of SLR is to have researchers report a systematic search process, selection,
inclusion and exclusion criteria for review (Briner and Denyer, 2012). Using the SLR
methodology, researchers can avoid biases by providing a systematic trail of decision-
making to include studies in the review (Denyer and Tranfield, 2009). Four major steps
highlight the SLR methodology, and they are described in the following sections: identify
clear research questions, illustrate a clear search protocol, provide critical reasoning to
include studies for review and synthesize findings to contribute new knowledge in the
research area (Briner and Denyer, 2012;Denyer and Tranfield, 2009).
Search process
First, we identified the overarching bodies of literature relevant to our topic to focus our
literature search: career aspirations, career development and generational research specific
to generation Z. We searched six databases –Academic Search Ultimate, Business Source
Ultimate, ERIC and Google Scholar. The following keywords with variations of Boolean
connectors (“AND”and ”OR”) assisted our literature search: “career,”“career development,”
“career aspirations,”“job,”“employment,”“vocation,”“Generation Z,”“gen Z,”“iGen,”“post-
millennials”and “career aspirations.”Our search engine allowed us to eliminate duplicates
from appearing in our search results leading to 154 unique results. As Gen Z is a new
research area, limited publications were available across databases; however, there might be
more empirical studies not captured through the search process because they were beyond
this review’s scope.
Screening
We screened the 154 publications produced during the initial search process to shortlist
articles further. Considering that Gen Z is a new research area, many newspaper articles,
periodicals, blogs, infographics and non-research-intensive material published after 2016
showed up in our search. We further applied two search filters to yield peer-reviewed
articles published in English, leading to 33 search results. We further assessed the 33
articles to include articles in our data pool with relevance to our research questions using the
inclusion and exclusion criteria described below.
Inclusion criteria
To include studies inour final data pool, we applied the following inclusion criteria:
(1) The article’s abstract included keywords related to Gen Z to ensure we select
articles with Gen Z and their careers as the central phenomenon.
(2) The article must be empirical in nature. Based on our research questions, we
wanted to review evidence-based research to provide recommendations and
implications for future research, theory building and practice.
(3) The article must be peer-reviewed. Gen Z is a young research area; we also
included peer-reviewed articles published in conference proceedings.
Guided by the inclusion criteria listed above, we recorded 24 articles in our data pool using
RefWorks. We used Garrard’s (2013) matrix system to note the essential features of articles
in our data pool. To include more articles in the literature review, we reviewed the reference
list of all 24 shortlisted articles and noticed some industrial reports cited across the articles
repeatedly. As the objective of this systematic review is to gather emerging knowledge and
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
provide a comprehensive review of Gen Z’s career aspirations, we decided to include eleven
industrial reports by applying the following criteria:
(4) Standalone industrial reports.
(5) Industrial reports with an empirical research design.
Exclusion criteria
Of the 24 empirical articles and nine industrial reports, we excluded some articles and
reports by applying the following exclusion criteria:
Article’s central focus was not on Gen Z’s career aspirations. Some articles only
fleetingly mentioned Gen Z and focused on other generations in the workforce,
especially millennials or Gen Y. We excluded two articles using this criterion.
Articles did not clearly distinguish between Gen Z and other generations in the
workforce. Some articles used Gen Z as an umbrella term for both Gen Z and Gen Y.
We excluded them as data presented in these articles did not clearly describe Gen Z-
related findings. We excluded three more articles using this criterion.
Articles did not present any empirical evidence of their findings. These articles were
literature reviews, editorial and books, which infiltrated our inclusion criteria but
excluded during this second stage of article selection. We further excluded five
articles using this criterion.
Industrial reports did not present comprehensive evidence of data collection and
analysis. Some reports focused solely on Gen Z as students and how education
systems must improve to engage these students with no reference to their careers.
We excluded three reports as we could not link the report to Gen Z and their careers.
After eliminating ten articles and six industrial reports, we had 14 articles and 5 industrial
reports for the final review (total 19 studies). Figure 1 gives an overview of the SLR process.
Data management
Using Garrard’s(2013)matrix to organize articles from our initial search, we recorded key
articles features including title, year of publication, authors, the purpose of the study,
research design, participant description and methods. Using the matrix, we decided whether
to select the article in the final review. The first column in the matrix recorded our final
decision as “yes”or “no”based on theexclusion criteria listed above.
Data analysis
We moved the final 19 studies to a new matrix for analysis and report our findings and
answer the research questions. We added the columns: country of origin, theoretical
framework, Gen Z characteristics and key findings describing Gen Z’s career aspirations.
Seven columns from our Garrard’s (2013) matrix thus became themes for data analysis. We
coded and cataloged each article individually and extracted specific theme-based ideas,
keywords and phrases deductively (Creswell and Creswell, 2017)inGarrard’s (2013) matrix.
The column for the theoretical framework informed the first research question in this study.
The column’s research design, participant selection and methods informed the second
research question.
For the last research question, we identified commonalities across all 19 studies through
a second round of thematic analysis focused on the article’sfindings and discussion
EJTD
sections. We analyzed each article separately to ensure rigor in our data analysis. The first
round of emic coding led to 142 codes representing a broad range of Gen Z’s characteristics
and attitudes towards their career. Emic codes allowed us to tag the text in the article’s
findings and discussion sections, which we combined to reveal broader themes relating to
Gen Z’s career aspiration characteristics.Some emic codes were: persevering, hard-working,
innovative, which resulted in a broader theme of Gen Z’s characteristics. Another example
was: technology, stability, reputation, which resulted in a broadtheme representing GenZ’s
career expectations.
After grouping all like codes, we formed themes describing Gen Z’s characteristics and
career aspirations. In case we were unable to categorize a code, we referred to academic
literature in HRD on career development and developed suitable themes. All reviewed
literature collected data from Gen Z students as they are the youngest generation with only
some in the workforce. We thus categorized the following sub-themes under the broader
career aspirations theme:
intrinsic factors shaping career aspirations;
extrinsic factors shaping career aspirations;
career expectations; and
perceived career development.
Findings
In this section, we first provide an overview of the theoretical frameworks used to study Gen
Z and their careers in the past, followed by the study’s methodological approaches. Last, we
conceptualize Gen Z and their career aspirations through four broad themes: intrinsic and
extrinsic factors shaping Gen Z’s career aspirations, Gen Z’s career expectations and
perceived career development.
Figure 1.
SLR process
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
Guiding frameworks
Out of the 19 studies reviewed, 6 used distinctive theoretical frameworks resulting in
disparate views of Gen Z and their career aspirations. Despite the diversity, all six theories
are rooted in explaining personal and organizational factors governing Gen Z’s career
aspiration.
Boundless careers
Arar and Önerenb (2018) defined boundless careers as career growth across several
organizations. However, Arar and Önerenb ’s (2018) research revealed that Gen Z aspires to
grow in their career within one single organization. Gen Z’s perception of boundless careers
is thus to grow laterally across the organization by exploring multiple roles across the
organizational system. Arar and Önerenb (2018) call on HR managers to update their talent
management systems to increase career development and growth opportunities to retain
Gen Z employees.
Career anchors
Bohdziewicz (2016) used the career anchors’conceptual framework proposed by Schein
(2006).Schein (2006) provided a framework of three career anchors for all individuals and
suggested that these anchors help individuals make career-related decisions: talent-based,
needs-based and values-based. Bohdziewicz (2016) indicates that Gen Z highly desires the
lifestyle career anchor, which falls under the needs-based career anchor. As a result, Gen Z
asserts the need for a psychological contract with the organization to maintain a work-life
balance. In addition, Bohdziewicz’s (2016) study suggests Gen Z expect freedom and
flexibility at work to meet their personal and family needs.
Theory of planned behavior
Goh and Lee (2017) investigated Gen Z’s planned behavior by studying their attitudes,
subjective norms and perceived difficulties (p. 22). Goh and Lee (2017) found that Gen Z is
attracted to a career, which requires them to work with people. At the same time, a lower
salary was the more commonly perceived barrier, which will govern their workplace choice.
Career theory
Maloni et al. (2019) emphasized that individual values must match their organization’s
culture or environment. Similarly, Vogel and Feldman (2009) introduced the person–
environment fit framework, which explained high turnover rates in organizations. The
individual and the organization are expected to have a psychological contract to meet each
other’s needs (Vogel and Feldman, 2009). The current organizational environment and
values are calibratedby boomers and Gen X generations. Maloni et al. (2019) illustrated that
Gen Z’s work values are much different from the older generations raising the need to adjust
the organizational work environment to accommodate Gen Z’s needs.
Social capital theory
Grow and Yang (2018) explored Gen Z’s perception of career success using Lin’s (2001)
social capital theory, which focuses on building relationship networks contributing to an
individual’s career success. Grow and Yang (2019) claimed that men would be more
successful in their careers than women in leveraging social capital. This study confirmed the
hypothesis and concluded that even Gen Z would experience gender discrimination in the
workplace, as men are more successful in leveraging their social capital than women.
EJTD
Personal branding
Vițelar (2019) conceptualized “personal branding”to highlight Gen Z is using technology
uniquely to “create an online reputation for future jobs and careers”(p. 266). Gen Z is
disseminating their career aspirations to future employers by investing in their social media
posts and build a positive online brand (Vițelar, 2019). Gen Z then uses the online brand as a
virtual resume to assert their personal values to the hiring organizations (Vițelar, 2019).
Methodological approaches
This section discusses the methodological approaches by highlighting the research design,
participants and context of the reviewed study (Table 1).
Methods
Among the 19 reviewed studies, 15 studies were quantitative and exclusively relied on web-
based surveys to collect data. Barnes and Noble College Insights (2018),Bohdziewicz (2016),
Deloitte (2019),Dell (2018),Ernst and Young (2018),Grow and Yang (2018),Šafr
ankov
a and
Šiký
r (2017),Silinevica and Meirule (2019) and Vițelar (2019) stated they used online surveys
with no further description of the questionnaire ortools used. Maloni et al. (2019) stated they
used Qualtrics; Puiu (2017) used Google Forms by administering the survey through social
media, and Hampton and Welsh (2019) administered Lyons Work Value Survey to elucidate
Gen Z nurses’work values.
Of the 19 studies, 4 were qualitative, using distinct data collection methods. Arar and
Önerenb (2018) used a case study approach to explore talent management practices in one
organization to evaluate organizational readiness to hire and retain Gen Z employees. Arar
and Önerenb (2018) conducted semi-structured interviews with the organization’sHR
manager. They also conducted observations and document review of company reports,
Table 1.
Methodological
approaches in
reviewed empirical
studies and
industrial reports
Author(s) Methodology Methods Participants
Empirical Research
Arar and Öneren (2018) Qualitative Case Study HR Managers
Bohdziewicz (2016) Quantitative Survey 108 Students
Cseh-Papp et al. (2017) Quantitative Survey 112 Students
Fodor and Jäckel (2018) Qualitative Focus Groups 180 Students
Fodor et al. (2018) Mixed Focus Groups
Survey
180 Students
1,178 Students
Goh and Lee (2017) Qualitative Interviews 71 Students
Grow and Yang (2018) Quantitative Survey 98 Students
Hampton and Welsh (2019) Quantitative Survey 103 Students
Iorgulescu (2016) Quantitative Survey 156 Students
Maloni et al. (2019). Quantitative Survey 1,537 Students
Puiu (2017) Quantitative Survey 111 (Students or Employees)
Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r (2017) Quantitative Survey 484 Students
Silinevica and Meirule (2019) Quantitative Survey 115 Students
Vițelar (2019) Quantitative Survey 100 (Students or Employees)
Industrial Reports
Barnes and Noble College Insights (2018) Quantitative Survey 1,300 Students
Dell (2018) Quantitative Survey 12,086 Students
Deloitte (2019) Quantitative Survey 3,009 Students
Ernst and Young (2020) Quantitative Survey 2,054 Students
Glassdoor Quantitative Content Analysis 304,192 Gen Z Job applications
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
survey data and the company’sofficial website to collect comprehensive data to meet their
research goal. Goh and Lee (2017) employed face-to-face interviews, and Fodor and Jäckel
(2018) used focus groups to understand Gen Z’s personal and organizational career
expectations. Lastly, Glassdoor (2019) applied content analysis to review documents to
assess whether technology-based jobs attract Gen Z. They used Glassdoor’s job application
portal to access Gen Z applicants’database, who created job applications over four months
(between October 2018 and January 2019). Fodor et al. (2018) aimed to identify Gen Z’s
career and workplace expectations using a mixed-methods approach. They used focus
groups followed by a survey questionnaire to illustrate Gen Z’s attraction to teamwork, high
income, an opportunity for promotions and exposure to various job-related tasks.
Participants
As observed in Table 1, 17 studies in this review exclusively studied Gen Z students. All
studies explored Gen Z’s perceived career aspirations by collecting data from college
campuses. Gen Z students on college and school campuses responded to surveys,
participated in interviews and focus groups to identify factors shaping Gen Z’s career
aspirations. Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r(2017)reported that some students in their sample had
work experiences through internships. Other studies did not provide specific information on
Gen Z’s work experience. As these studies included data from education campuses, it is safe
to assume students reportedno prior organizational workexperience other than internships.
Arar and Önerenb (2018) interviewed HR managers to understand their perception of Gen
Z’s response to their organization’s current talent management processes. Puiu (2017) and
Vițelar (2019) referred to their participants as individuals and did not indicate whether they
collected data from students or employees.
Data presented by all studies provided an insight into Gen Z’s career aspiration
variables: opportunity to work with people, satisfaction, stability, competitive pay, respect,
safety, autonomy in tasks, feel challenged and self-fulfillment. Data also presented Gen Z’s
institutional career aspiration variables: travel opportunity, colleagues’diversity,
technology availability, work–life balance, flex work opportunities, engaging work culture,
proximity to family, career development and personal development.
Context
Although most studies targeted students, it is interesting to note that the reviewed studies
provided a global perspectives on Gen Z’s career aspiration. Deloitte (2019) and Dell (2018)
conducted global studies across ten and seventeen countries, respectively. A total of 12
studies originated in Australia, Europe and the UK (Table 2), whereas the remaining six
studies originated in the USA (Barnes and Noble College Insights, 2018; Ernst and Young,
2020; Glassdoor, 2019;Grow and Yang, 2018;Maloni et al.,2019). Barnes and Noble College
Insights (2018), and Ernst and Young (2020) surveyed Gen Z students to highlight their
career expectations. Glassdoor (2019) reviewed Gen Z applications on its website and
revealed that Gen Z is most attracted to software-related jobs. Grow and Yang (2019)
emphasized that Gen Z men and women perceive careers differently, with women expecting
gender-based discrimination at the workplace. Maloni et al. (2019) studied students in the
business school and identified their work values. In Table 2, we present the context and
purpose of other international studies.
Findings on gen Z’s career aspirations
This section expands our understanding of Gen Z’s career aspirations through four main
themes:
EJTD
intrinsic factors shaping career aspirations;
extrinsic factors shaping career aspirations;
career expectations; and
perceived career development (Table 3 presents sub-themes and codes from
thematic analysis).
Intrinsic factors
As demonstrated in Table 3, we subsumed several codes to generate three main intrinsic
factors shaping Gen Z’s career aspirations: attitudes, relationships and motivations.
Attitudes.Iorgulescu (2016) described Gen Z as self-confident with a strong perception
and understanding of themselves. Research suggests that Gen Z has technology readily
available to them aiding in their knowledge for success as entrepreneurs (Silinevica and
Meirule, 2019). Through a self-directed approach to gain and practice knowledge, Gen Z
develops high self-confidence and tenacity (Cseh-Papp et al., 2017). Their tenacity further
helps them acquire a positive and self-assured attitude required for success as entrepreneurs
and attain financial goals (Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Goh and Lee, 2017).
Self-perception. Gen Z exhibits confidence and a self-assured attitude making them
comfortable to rely on their self-abilities and thus do not rely on their entire team to achieve
goals (Silinevica and Meirule, 2019;Vițelar, 2019). Arar and Önerenb (2018) reported that
Table 2.
International
contexts and purpose
for gen Z studies
Author(s) Country Context Purpose
Goh and Lee (2017) Australia Hospitality Positive and negative attitudes among
Gen Z students towards career in
hospitality
Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r
(2017)
Czech Republic Labor market Characteristics and potential
employability of Gen Z in Czech labor
market
Fodor et al. (2018), Hungary Career Choice Factors influencing Gen Z’s career and
workplace choice
Fodor and Jäckel (2018) Hungary Career Expectations Characteristics of Gen Z influencing
their workplace expectations
Cseh-Papp et al. (2017) Hungary Career Expectations Career expectations of Gen Z
Silinevica and Meirule
(2019)
Latvia Labor market Characteristics of Gen Z and
differences among generations in
contrast to Gen Z in Latvian labor
market
Bohdziewicz (2016) Poland Career Anchors Gen Z’preferred career anchors
Iorgulescu (2016) Romania Career Expectations Characteristics of Gen Z and career
development expectations from
organizations
Vițelar (2019) Romania Personal Branding Benefits of personal branding for career
advancement of Gen Z
Puiu (2017) Romania Career Expectations Characteristics of Gen Z and their work
expectations
Arar and Öneren (2018) Turkey Talent Management Advantages of talent management to
develop Gen Z careers
Hampton and Welsh
(2019)
United Kingdom Nursing Determine work-values of Gen Z
nursing students
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
Gen Z suffers from being a team member, especially when the team is ineffective and not
achieving its goals at a pace satisfactory to Gen Z. However, all studies confirm that Gen Z
wants social contact with their co-workers to expand their network and expand
relationships at work. This indicates that Gen Z may prefer to work alone and rely on self to
achieve goals but still crave teamwork and social contact to achieve holistic professional
goals.
Relationships. Relationships at work are essential to Gen Z, and they aspire for a good
working relationship with their co-workers (Fodor et al.,2018; Grow and Yang, 2019;
Hampton and Welsh, 2019). Gen Z wants to have social contact with their co-workers to
extend their network and form a professional relationship (Hampton and Welsh, 2019).
Grow and Yang (2019) emphasized that Gen Z characterizes a supportive work environment
as a close-knit environment with respect and loyalty for their co-workers. Some articles
reported Gen Z’s preference for a friendly team (Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r, 2017), team spirit
(Goh and Lee, 2017), a good team (Fodor and Jäckel, 2018;Fodor et al.,2018), a cheerful team
(Cseh-Papp et al., 2017) and need to work in a large team (Iorgulescu, 2016) as a top priority.
They believe their team is their family and would assist each other in performing their tasks.
They also believe teamwork leads to productive work and ultimately meeting organizational
goals. Gen Z expects to be friends with all their co-workers and would prefer to collaborate
to meet both organizational and personal goals. On the other hand, some studies report Gen
Z’s discomfort with working in a team and preference to work alone, relying on themselves
(Puiu, 2017; Silinevica and Meirule, 2019;Vițelar, 2019). These contradictory findings about
Gen Z’s relationship preferences further suggests their ability and inclination to create
personal relationships at work separate from professional relationships.
Motivation.Silinevica and Meirule (2019) found more than three-quarters of their
participants’perceived achievements and self-realization as motivating factors to set and
achieve high career goals. As a result, their career orientation motivates them to pursue their
values and serve a meaningful purpose for humanity (Bohdziewicz, 2016). This heightened
sense of purpose comes from the awareness of their capability, which further drives more
robust career goals (Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Grow and Yang, 2019). Gen Z’s motivation to
perform in organizations would grow more potent after recognizing an alignment between
their personal and organizational values (Bohdziewicz, 2016). Besides, Gen Z is intrinsically
motivated when their team and, more importantly, their supervisor recognize their
contributions and implement their ideas (Fodor et al.,2018;Hampton and Welsh, 2019;
Table 3.
Gen Z and their
characteristics
Theme Sub-Theme Codes
Intrinsic Factors Attitudes confident, tenacious, entrepreneurial
Relationships network, co-workers, personal, team
Self-perception self-assured, self-reliant
Motivation recognition, purpose, feeling valued
Extrinsic Factors Environmental technology, world events
Familial parenting, responsibility
Organizational values, reputation, brand, size
Career Expectations Organizational culture activities, communication, diversity
Work-life balance flex work, friendships at work, travel
Stability benefits, security, safety, salary
Career Development Learning skills, facilitator, medium to learn
Mentoring supporting manager, informal support
Growth change roles, promotions
EJTD
Silinevica and Meirule, 2019). Deloitte (2019) reported that Gen Z would need instant
gratification for a job well done through promotions and career advancement opportunities.
This suggests that expectations of rewards may keep Gen Z motivated and engaged in the
workplace making it an effective retention strategy for organizations.
Extrinsic factors
Gen Z has evolved as a generation because of societal and cultural changes, which indirectly
affected Gen Z’s career outlook. In this section, we describe the impact of changes in Gen Z’s
closest environment, family and organizations on their perception of careers.
Environmental. Gen Z is alternatively termed as digital natives in all 19 global studies
reviewed in this article resulting from Gen Z’access to, and use of, technology. Gen Z uses
technology to learn (Barnes and Noble College Insights, 2018; Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Maloni
et al.,2019;Silinevica and Meirule, 2019), socialize (Puiu, 2017; Vițelar, 2019) and work (Arar
and Önerenb, 2018; Bohdziewicz, 2016; Goh and Lee, 2017;Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r, 2017;
Silinevica and Meirule, 2019). It is thus not surprising to find that Gen Z expects to work
with technology at their jobs (Deloitte, 2019) and many also aspire to work in a technology
field (Glassdoor, 2019).
In six studies conducted in the US context, another event defining Gen Z as a generation,
apart from technological innovation, is the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001 (popularly known as the 9/11 attacks). Gen Z learned about 9/11 through
their parents, social media and history books in school (Goh and Lee, 2017). They remember
experiencing major political and social upheavals post this terrorist attack (Barnes and
Noble College Insights, 2018;Deloitte, 2019;Goh and Lee, 2017). Some other events in the
USA that shaped Gen Z’s outlook towards life include recession, terrorism, malevolent
companies, corporate scandals and corporate indifference to increasing climate change
(Deloitte, 2019). The instability in their environment may have led Gen Z to expect
instability in their careers, too (Deloitte, 2019).
Familial. Gen Z has witnessed career resilient parents in the middle of an economic and
political crisis (Deloitte, 2019; Ernst and Young, 2018). Deloitte (2019) highlighted a response
from one participant that may explain why Gen Z have more relaxed career attitudes
compared to older generations:
We have less trust in employers because so many of our parents did lose their jobs, and they had
been loyal to companies. We have less trust in the stock market because it crashed. And I think
that a lot of us are worried that it is going to happen again. We are either putting offbig life
moments and keeping money in our savings [accounts], or we’re saying, ’You know what? It
could fall apart again tomorrow. Let’s travel the world’(p. 1).
Further, Goh and Lee (2017) categorized the family under a “subjective norm”governing
Gen Z’s career aspiration. “Generation Z acknowledged that the role of family members
posed a dominant influence over the individual’s decision of joining the hospitality
workforce”(Goh and Lee, 2017, p. 25). Gen Z is concerned with how their family perceives
their chosen career (Barnes and Noble College Insights, 2018; Cseh-Papp et al., 2017).
Bohdziewicz (2016) provided another view of the family’sinfluence on career choice and
stated that even if Gen Z honors family values; they will not let values interfere with their
career choice. In addition, Grow and Yang (2019) explained Gen Z’s desire to start their own
families by age 33 and aspire to have a settled career to support their future family. Puiu
(2017) highlighted that most participants in his study expected to receive a generous salary
to fulfill their ambitions and support a family.
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
Organizational. Two studies highlighted Gen Z’s aspirations to work in technology-
intensive organizations (Dell, 2019; Glassdoor, 2019). Dell (2019) reported that 80% of
surveyed respondents aspired to work with cutting-edge technology. Companies such as
IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Deloitte arefive of the most aspiring places to work for
because of the independent work culture promised by them (Glassdoor, 2019). They used
terms such as “work environment,”“flexible hours”and “good pay”to justify their choice
(Glassdoor, 2019). Roles such as software engineers and software developers attracted one
out of five Gen Z applicants over three months across all industries, such as IT, retail,
manufacturing and finance (Glassdoor, 2019).
Iorgulescu (2016) and Cseh-Papp et al. (2017) brought forward other organizational
features that attract Gen Z employees, such as size. For example, nearly half of Iorgulescu’s
(2016) sample expressed that they wanted to work in a large international corporation.
Nearly a quarter of the participants wanted to work in a mid-sized company. Maloni et al.
(2019) emphasized that Gen Z’s needs to align their personal values with its value. Maloni
et al. (2019) based their findings on Gen Z’s responsibility to find employment in
organizations they believe in so they can derive personal satisfaction from their jobs.
Hampton and Welsh (2019) emphasized Gen Z’s beliefs when their personal values align
with organizational values; they can produce better results for themselves and the
organization.
Career expectations
We coded and generated themes from studies that describe Gen Z’s career expectations.
This section describes the impact of expectations rooted in organizational culture, the need
for work–life balance and stability on Gen Z’s career aspirations.
Organizational culture
Educational institutions sometimes expect students to perform a mandatory internship as
part of their curriculum, which is their only exposure to organizational culture (Cseh-Papp
et al., 2017). Studies by Cseh-Papp et al. (2017), Goh and Lee (2017) and Puiu (2017) studied
interns to explore students who are attracted to professionalism, communication, activity-
based engagement, career growth opportunities, the opportunity to build personal
relationships, no discrimination and diverse colleagues. In earlier sections, we demonstrate
Gen Z’s inclination to build relationships, which is actively facilitated through open style
workplaces. Iorgulescu (2018) stated that half of their participants aspired to work in large
teams that sit close to each other in an open-space office layout. In contrast, only one out of
ten participants wanted a closed-door office. Clearly, an attractive organizational culture
helps attract and retain Gen Z employees (Arar and Önerenb, 2018).
Work–life balance
Ernst and Young (2020) reported irrespective of gender; Gen Z expected to have work-life
balance when they start work. Men and women in Ernst and Young’s (2020) data reported
almost equal expectations: flexible hours (men: 63%; women: 65%), taking time off to fulfill
personal interests (men: 58%; women: 58%) and remote work options (men: 53%, women:
49%). Deloitte (2019) and Puiu (2017) both reported that half their participants want work-
life balance and expect to choose their work hours. Arar and Önerenb (2018),Fodor and
Jäckel (2018),Hampton and Welsh (2019) and Bohdziewicz (2016) also found Gen Z’s
preference to have a work-life balance in their future careers. Further, Bohdziewicz (2016)
warned Gen Z might exert pressure on organizations to facilitate work–life balance. Fodor
EJTD
and Jäckel (2018) indicated organizations that promote and promise work–life balance are
more likely to attract and retain Gen Z employees.
Stability
For Gen Z, stability in careers is achieved through personal fulfillment (Grow and Yang, 2019),
benefits at work such as health plans (Hampton and Welsh, 2019;Maloni et al., 2019), paid
family leave (Grow and Yang, 2019), retirement fund (Maloni et al.,2019), job security
(Bohdziewicz, 2016; Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Puiu, 2017; Šafr
ankov
aandŠiký
r, 2017), feeling safe
at work (Goh and Lee, 2017) and a competitive salary (Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Fodor et al., 2018;
Hampton and Welsh, 2019; Puiu, 2017). Bohdziewicz (2016) reported participants’aspiration for
career stability by choosing this anchor as the second most crucial career anchor. Studies found
salary, although important, was not the driving factor for Gen Z to attain stability in a career
(Cseh-Papp et al., 2017; Fodor et al., 2018;Hampton and Welsh, 2019; Puiu, 2017). These studies
state, Gen Z’s self-confident attitude, perception of self-worth and clear expectations from a
career would help them negotiate desirable salaries. For example, Cseh-Papp et al. (2017)
reported their participant’s expectation of a salary between 300–400 thousand HUF
(Hungarian currency), where the average salary is 250,000 HUF. Puiu (2017) stated that three-
quarters of their participants expect a net salary between 1000 to 2000 lei (Romanian currency),
where the average salary is 925 lei.
Career advancement
Iorgulescu (2016) found that nearly all Gen Z individuals considered career advancement
opportunities in an organization as their top priority. Studies reviewed in this article
highlight that Gen Z is confident that they can attain career development through learning,
mentoring and growth.
Learning
Articles reviewed showcase Gen Z’s attraction to informal learning methods, which are both
autonomous and cooperative. Autonomous learning occurs at a pace decided by Gen Z
outside a traditional learning environment (Cseh-Papp et al., 2017). Simultaneously,
cooperative learning occurs in collaboration through team member interactions (Goh and
Lee, 2017). This combination of autonomy and cooperation explains Gen Z’s attraction to
organizations that will allow learning through networking, as Grow and Yang (2019)
illustrated. Iorgulescu (2016) found that Gen Z expects to continually learn something new to
successfully advance their careers. Further, Maloni et al. (2019) ascertain Gen Z’s anticipated
technology use for learning in organizations to fulfill career development needs. Gen Z also
expects to learn from their leaders and thus ranked it as the fourth important factor to
choose an organization (Iorgulescu, 2016).
Mentoring
Gen Z expressed their desire to refer to successful people and emulate their behavior (Fodor
et al., 2018). Usually, Gen Z finds these successful people in their immediate environments,
such as a family member (Fodor et al., 2018) or a teacher (Maloni et al.,2019). These
successful people are mentors, role models, reference persons (Fodor et al., 2018). Further,
Maloni et al. (2019) emphasize the faculty’s role as mentors to motivate students to emulate
successful career practices. Iorgulescu (2016), Puiu (2017) also demonstrated Gen Z’sneed
for mentorship. Puiu (2017) further revealed that nearly half of their participants would
choose to work for a supervisor who has leadership and mentoring abilities.
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
Growth
Gen Z mainly perceived growth as career growth by acquiring professional competencies
(Bohdziewicz, 2016). Bohdziewicz (2016) further demonstrated Gen Z’s preference for lateral
career growth instead of hierarchical growth. Gen Z would rather fully develop their
potential and grow professionally by learning new competencies (Bohdziewicz, 2016). Gen Z
aspires to become functionally competent and technically strong in their chosen career
(Bohdziewicz, 2016; Šafr
ankov
a and Šiký
r, 2017). Opportunity for growth also drives Gen
Z’s loyalty towards theorganization(Iorgulescu, 2016).
Discussion and implications
Through our analysis of 14 articles and 5 industrial reports, we uncovered a more in-depth
understanding of Gen Z’s career aspirations by categorizing them into four different
influencing factors –intrinsic, extrinsic, career expectations and perceived career
development. Intrinsically, Gen Z aspires to have careers based on their attitudes, self-
perception, relationships and motivations. Although relationships at work are essential to
Gen Z, it is unclear from our findings whether they prefer to work in teams. Some studies
highlight Gen Z’s preference to work in teams, whereas other studies state that Gen Z is
more self-reliant and individualistic when they want to achieve goals. We also found,
extrinsically Gen Z base their aspirations on their environment, family and organization.
Gen Z’s career expectations also include an attractive organizational culture, work-life
balance and stability. It is especially noteworthy that Gen Z did not consider salary as an
attributing factor to stability, which may result from their young age. Later with age,
increased familial and personal responsibility, salary may become a priority for them.
Further, it is not clear from the reviewed studies how Gen Z develops career-related
expectations. We propose that their parents may have played a role. Gen X parents have
mainly raised Gen Z (Chawla et al., 2017), which may have shaped their ideas,
understanding and philosophy of careers. Past research has explored Gen X’s aspiration to
achieve career satisfaction through meaningful work, providing them work–life balance
(Arthur et al., 2005;Feldman and Ng, 2007;Hall, 2002). We found similarities between Gen Z
and Gen X’s career-related expectations through the articles reviewed in this paper.
Lastly, we found, Gen Z is motivated and assertive about their career development in the
organization. They expect organizations to support career development by considering Gen
Z’s needs for learning, mentorship and growth. It is noteworthy that Gen Z expects their
supervisors to be provide them with leadership skills, influence their learning and support
their career growth through meaningful mentorship. Gen Z’s expectations of having
meaningful relationships at work extend to their relationship with their supervisor, who is
expected to play a mentoring role in Gen Z’s career development.
Technology plays a significant role in overall human development and has already put
Gen Z ahead of the curve. All participants in the reviewed studies expressed their need for
technology to fulfill their learning, development and career needs. Although the studies
included in this review belong to several different countries and contexts, all studies refer to
technology’s impact on Gen Z’s career aspirations. With the technology available widely,
this generation has seamlessly incorporated it the same in their everyday lives.
Although past research sheds light on Gen Z’s career aspirations, they were not adequate
to understand how Gen Z will behave in the workplace. All empirical research in this review
was done using students as the participants (see Table 1). Some students from the
participant pool indicated they have work experience as interns and thus have exposure to
the workplace and its practices. As observed by Cseh-Papp et al. (2017) and Šafr
ankov
a and
Šiký
r (2017); Gen Z has little to no-exposure to the current labor market and thus as an
EJTD
active member of the workplace, their perceptions may change. This indicates a gap in the
literature as Gen Z’s workplace behaviors are unexamined.
Implications for theory development
McDonald and Hite (2008) claim that newer generations present a challenge to organizations
as they move towards protean and boundaryless careers. In this review, seminal career
development theories are utilized to study Gen Z and their career orientations: boundless
careers (Arar and Önerenb, 2018), career anchors (Bohdziewicz, 2016), social capital theory
(Grow and Yang, 2018), theory of planned behavior (Goh and Lee, 2017) career anchors
(Maloni et al.,2019) and personal branding (Vițelar, 2019). Each research found Gen Z
deviating from their older generations, and each of these researches called for theory
development specific toGen Z. Through this literature review, we would emphasize the need
for specific theories to incorporate Gen Z’s characteristics unique to their generation.
Many comparative studies between Gen Z and other generations have taken place in the
past. It is crucial to focus more on testing existing career-related models and theories and
check their validity against Gen z’s career aspirations. This will provide HRD scholars with
theories that better explain Gen Z’s approach to meaning of work and career paths. This will
also provide HRD practitioners and organizational leaders with tools to guide/support Gen
Z’s with their career development, whether being successful employees and/or future
leaders. For example, scholars and practitioner would benefit from using digitization as a
strategy to clarify/redefine organizational purpose and value and as a practical anchor to
successfully attract, manage and develop talent from Gen Z their career development.
Existing seminal career theories such as social cognitive career theory (Lent et al., 1994)
and work experience theory (Tesluk and Jacobs, 1998) focus on explaining the individual’s
career decisions. However, even these seminal do not explore how the individual’s
preferences change based on the overall change in natureof careers. Future studies will need
to focus on making the connections between Gen Z’s vocational decision making and career
behaviors to explain the relationship between the intrinsic and extrinsic factors motivating
their career aspirations. Through this literature review, we would emphasize the need for
specific theories to incorporate Gen Z’s characteristics unique to their generation. Many
comparative studies between Gen Z and other generations have taken place in the past. It is
crucial to focus more on testing the existing career-related theories, especially using
technology as an anchor to assess how Gen Z utilizes technology for career development.
Implications for future research
This study provided a bedrock for what we know about Gen Z and the workplace.
It also showed a gap in the literature, whether in scarcity of empirical research or in
terms of methodology implemented. Empirical research is needed to help organizations
explore how to motivate, engage and develop Gen Z as employees. In addition, there is
ample opportunity for scholars to explore how the new cultural norms with digitization,
diversity and awareness that are integral components of Gen Z might affect leadership and
organizational practices. Also, scholars are invited to study norms and behaviors of Gen Z
individuals and understand if they retain their current characteristics as their careers
transition from anticipation stage to encounter stage.
Research using qualitative methodology
Current reviewed literature highlights various factors affecting Gen Z careers, including
their personal and work-related characteristics. However, almost all studies are quantitative
in nature. All past studies predicted students’behavior in the workplace, and thus, more
Career
aspirations of
generation Z
qualitative research is needed to identify concepts using Gen Z employees as their
participants.
For future studies, we suggest that researchers’study not only university students but
also Gen Z in the workplace where they can have in-depth observations in order to
understand Gen Z’s work experiences. This study provides a set of characteristics that
researchers can use as a starting point to explore new behaviors and characteristics not
predicted in this research. Quantitative studies can develop instruments to measure and
validate concepts and frameworks emerging from qualitative studies.
Research on gen Z’s career persistence
Based on the studies reviewed in this literature review, it would suggest that members of
Gen Z plan for careers in the software industry. However, the software industry has
identified a “job-hopping”phenomenon (Naresh and Rathnam, 2015). Individuals change
their jobs frequently to advance their careers and explore other career opportunities. The
new career opportunity may be in a completely different area than the individual’s past
career experience. It would be interesting to note if Gen Z follow the existing “job-hopping”
phenomenon persistent in the software culture or will they stand true to their characteristic
nature found in this literature review. In addition, through qualitative studies, researchers
can establish other Gen Z specific phenomenon for organizations to base their practices and
policies. Organizations must cater to all employees’needs irrespective of their race, ethnicity
and gender; understanding generational characteristics is an added complexity level.
Knowing that Gen Z individuals seek self-efficacy in their careers can help predict their
career adaptability (Bocciardi et al., 2017). Organizations can thus prepare to attract Gen Z
and retain, engage and contribute to their career development.
Implications for practice
Organizations are still unclear on how to meet Gen Z’s career aspirations based on the
characteristics known about them (Fratricova and Kirchmayer, 2018). Gen Z already
accounts for 20% of the global workforce (ManpowerGroup, 2019), making it essential for
HRD scholars to learn about them to make practical recommendations to organizations in
the future. While most organizations have accessibility to technology, Gen Z may have other
unmet career expectations because organizations are not necessarily prepared to host this
new generation. HRD practitioners as well as organizational leaders need to strategically
impress Gen Z. the need to consistently demonstrate how they can attract and retain their
new workforce. Based on the findings of this article, practitioners can do so by defining
what their organization stands for, by being “smart”communicators, being transparent and
being flexible. organizational leaders need to take into account Gen z’s expectations around
meaningful work and flexible working and adapt to the new realities of work.
Gen Z in the workplace expect to have close relationships with their leaders and co-
workers. They expect to work in productive teams.At the same time, they expecta work-life
balance to focus on their personal lives outside work and raise their own family much sooner
than other generational cohorts. This implies, direct supervisors and managers are
perceived to have a significant influence on Gen Z careers and lives because Gen Z expects
to merge their work and life. Direct supervisors and managers may need to equip
themselves to mentor Gen Z employees and adjust their attitude towards interpersonal
relationships at work
Learning plays a vital role in Gen Z’s career aspirations, and they expect to grow their
knowledge, which will help them develop laterally through the organization as opposed to
vertically. Thus, leaders and HRD directors need to provide formal and informal learning
EJTD
opportunities, as well as mentoring and coaching programs that fit the ambitions of the new
generation. This would increase Gen Z’s loyalty to their organizations. Findings in this
study also supported thenotion that Gen Z wouldmove to other organizations not for a hike
in salary but because of more learning opportunities. Therefore, pairing Gen Z employees
with older generations in the workplace promotes learning and mentoring opportunities
(Wong and Rasdi, 2018) and creates learning opportunities that can become a purposeful
retention strategy for Gen Z.
Conclusion
Identification of a collective impact of environment, family and work exposure on Gen Z’s
career aspirations was a meaningful effort made by this article. We also conclude that Gen
Z’s career aspirations must be studied deeply by using Gen Z employees as participants. A
variation in contexts and methods is also required to advance career development theories,
practice and research specific to Gen Z. Our findings focus on students whose career
aspirations may change as they grow older and gain more experience in their careers. Future
studies can further elaborate on Gen Z characteristics and their career aspirations by
studying Gen Z employees in the workplace.
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Further reading
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surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html
About the author
Bhagyashree Barhate is PhD Student at the Department of Educational Administration and Human
Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Bhagyashree Barhate is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: bhagyashreebarhate@tamu.edu
Dr Khalil M. Dirani is Program Chair and Associate Professor at the Department of Educational
Administration and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
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Career
aspirations of
generation Z
