Description
TitleUnderstanding motivations of sector switchers
Date Created2011
Other Date2011-05 (degree)
Extentviii, 206 p. : ill.
DescriptionWhile public service motivation theory (PSM) has addressed numerous topics in the 30-plus years it has been a significant part of the public administration literature, several gaps in the literature are apparent. First, PSM has only recently begun to address the relationship between government partiality, which is at the center of PSM, with other prosocial modes of partiality, such as an interest in nonprofit work. Second, the issue of “sector switchers”—individuals who move from one employment sector to another over the course of their careers—has been significantly under-researched both as a general matter and with specific reference to motivation. Third, PSM research has been largely quantitative in character and may benefit from a rebalancing with qualitative methods. This dissertation, an exploratory study, is a qualitative study of sector
switchers. It uses phenomenologically oriented interviews with 50 such individuals, selected in a purposeful sample, to add depth to an understanding of
motivation to work in government as well as other prosocial realms. In so doing, the dissertation addresses a gap identified by one leading PSM researcher searching for more holistic approaches to public service motivation. Themes emerged from the analysis and coding of interview data. Various
motivations were identified for sectoral switches, including those based in compensation, a need for variety, a desire to serve, the enhancement of one’s
professional skills, and the desire to advance one’s career. Further, while the study was exploratory and the sample was purposeful and not random, various
trends seemed apparent, including the fact that sector switchers tend to undergo numerous switches and employment changes over the course of their careers
and that, while they often move to the nonprofit sector later in their careers, they tend not to move to, or return to, government work. Tentative conclusions include the identification of tensions between the abstract idea of service, often enunciated in a positive way by respondents, and neutral or negative views about government service, self-sacrifice, and working in
a helping profession. A tension was also discerned between government work, which participants viewed more negatively, and nonprofit work, which participants
tended to view more positively.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
NoteIncludes vita
Noteby Jeffrey C. Apfel
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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