A Career Ecosystem Perspective on Societal and Organizational Characteristics and Careers to the Top in Higher Education

The context in which careers develop is attracting increasing scholarly attention. Building on career ecosystem theory, we examine how societal and organizational actors within career ecosystems influence the development of careers. In our study of university leaders in 60 countries, we find that career trajectories are more similar within than across countries and that the overall organizational context relates to the similarity of career trajectories within the career ecosystem. We identify six distinct career patterns to the top of organizations within the ecosystem of higher education (e.g., ‘university president’ or ‘rector’). Furthermore, we identify several societal and organizational characteristics that are related to the prevalence of specific career patterns. Key findings include that academic leaders' careers tend to follow career patterns within the same organization in countries with low power distance, low labour market flexibility and low meritocracy, as well as in universities with less research focus. Our findings add to the literature on career ecosystems and advance the understanding of career paths to the top of organizations, using the case of academic careers.