Getting ahead: organizational practices that set boundaries around mobility patterns

An organizational level empirical analysis of career advancement in organizations was conducted on a diverse sample of 318 mid to large size worksites in Georgia, USA. Two variables were used to indicate career advancement: (1) emphasis on upward mobility of non-management employees to other non-management positions; and (2) the movement of non-management employees into management. Two sets of organizational variables are differentially related to the two different indicators of career advancement. Organizational structural variables are more likely to be related to upward mobility within the non-management ranks, and demographic variables are more likely to be related to across-category movement from non-management to management. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.