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The notion of what constitutes a career is interdisciplinary by nature, congregating views from an individual, organizations and society. Nevertheless, despite progress in discussions on the subject, recent studies have pointed towards the limitations of currently used theories, calling for greater interdisciplinarity (Arthur, 2008; Chudzikowski & Mayrhofer, 2011; Khapova & Arthur, 2011; Lawrence, 2011), since little evolution has occurred in this sense. In order to respond to the need for multidisciplinary research in career studies, this paper aims to present and illustrate the potential use of life histories by analyzing the influences and limits on seven Brazilian executives' career paths through this method. Results are presented in two broad categories of analysis: (a) contextual influences on careers involving changes in the Brazilian economic and organizational setting, increased competition and need to increase knowledge in face of globalization, mobility demand and gender discrimination; (b) life stages and career choices, including individual aspects of their trajectories, such as family values, choice of undergraduate courses, entering the labor market and parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relationship between perceived stress at work, the coping strategy adopted, and the quality of life of active managers in Brazilian organizations. Three instruments were applied together: Karasek's Job Stress Scale, Latack's Coping with Job Stress and WHO'S WHOQOL-Bref to a sample of 1290 managers throughout Brazil. An analysis of the correlation between the variables stress, quality of life and coping strategy was applied. To further evaluate the relationship between the three dimensions of interest, linear and logistic regression models were developed. The findings show that most managers find themselves under a high stress level, but share good social support and have good perceptions about their quality of life. Most use control strategies to cope with stress. Control strategies and symptom management significantly influence the perception of quality of life, whereas avoidance strategies imply a decrease in this perception. Managers with jobs classified as high strain (Karasek & Theorell, 1990) tend to have a poorer quality of life, even when moderated by social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of social predictors on the attitudes towards retirement in 517 Brazilian and New Zealand top executives. The social predictors were represented by four measures: the job perception scale (JPS), the diversity of time allocation of activities and relationships index (SOD), the influence of family and friends on retirement decision (FFIRD); and the perception of quality of life in the country (PCQL). The influence of these predictors were analysed by multiple regression on other two scales: the executive's perception of gains in retirement (EPGR) and the executive's perception of losses in retirement (EPLR). The results point out that the importance of gains is increased by the influence of family and friends on retirement decision, for both nationalities. This is also increased by the diversity of time allocation for activities and relationships, but only for Brazilians. Brazilian executives who perceive their jobs positively have more positive attitudes towards relationships, leisure, hobbies and cultural activities in retirement. The perception of the quality of life in the country does not influence retirement attitudes, but represents the main significant difference between Brazilians and New Zealanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]