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An Indigenous Model of Career Satisfaction: Exploring the Role of Workplace Cultural Wellbeing

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Abstract

Despite career satisfaction models being well established, little is understood about the career satisfaction of indigenous employees. Using a sample of 172 Maori employees, the indigenous people of New Zealand, we tested a career satisfaction model with a cultural wellbeing factor over and above established factors of human capital, sociodemographic, individual differences and organizational sponsorship. This new measure workplace cultural wellbeing was found to significantly relate to career satisfaction, accounting for twenty-three percent of the variance over and above the established factors which highlights its importance for indigenous workers. Furthermore, due to collectivistic orientations amongst Maori, collectivism was tested as a potential moderator and found to significantly interact with workplace cultural wellbeing, showing that Maori respondents reported the greatest career satisfaction when workplace cultural wellbeing was high, irrespective of collectivism orientation. This paper offers an extended model for exploring career satisfaction of indigenous workers.

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this research were funded by a Marsden Grant “The Role of Maori Cultural Support for Employees and Employers” (Contract #UOW806).

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  1. Department of Strategy & Human Resource Management, University of Waikato, Private Bag, 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Jarrod M. Haar & Dave M. Brougham

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  1. Jarrod M. Haar
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  2. Dave M. Brougham
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Correspondence to Jarrod M. Haar.

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Haar, J.M., Brougham, D.M. An Indigenous Model of Career Satisfaction: Exploring the Role of Workplace Cultural Wellbeing. Soc Indic Res 110, 873–890 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9962-y

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