| Abstract: | The purpose of this dissertation study is to explore the career aspirations of Generation Z (individuals born between the years 1995 and 2012) within India's information technology (IT) industry's context. Career aspirations are an individual's career-related goals and expectations. As of today, researchers have widely studied generation Z in the western context and posited that this newest generation in the workforce aspire to be highly achievement-oriented, want meaningful and interesting work, have a highly evolved self-concept, and expect to use technology on an everyday basis. However, there are no current career development theories that explain generation Z's career aspirations fully. A constructivist grounded theory research is flexible and when conducted rigorously, allows for transferability of findings aiding researcher's attempts to understand a phenomenon in one context and applying it in other. Data were collected from 16 participants through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and analytical memos. Data were analyzed using three analytical procedures: (a) initial coding, (b) focused coding, and (c) advanced coding or theoretical coding. The findings from this study indicate that participants had low self-awareness and self-efficacy beliefs when they first form their career aspirations. External factors such as the culture, society, and individual economic background influenced participants to pursue engineering education and begin a career in the IT industry. During their time in the IT industry, participant's work experiences led them adjust their career aspirations and engage in improving their self-awareness and self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were thus able to re-form their career aspirations for the future. The findings from this study led to developing a substantive theory explaining that Gen Z in the Indian IT industry develop career aspirations by: (a) forming career aspirations, (b) developing self-awareness, (c) adjusting career aspirations, (d) developing self-efficacy, (e) re-forming career aspirations. The implications to theory, research, and practice are presented. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/198048 |
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