Publicação
Career breaks: Antecedents and impacts
| Resumo: | Career breaks represent intentional interruptions in one’s professional journey. This study integrates them within the sustainable-career framework to address two central questions: what motivates Portuguese professionals to interrupt their careers and how these pauses affect their personal and professional lives. A survey of 172 employees from varied sectors collected data on break history, motivations, perceived impacts on happiness, health and productivity, and the barriers noted by non-breakers. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were employed to explore subgroup differences and compare mean impacts across demographic variables. Results reveal that 41 % of respondents had taken at least one break, most frequently for family caregiving, health recovery, further education or personal development, the motives frequently overlapping. Individuals who took breaks reported positive impacts in happiness (M = 4.26/5) and health (M = 4.25/5), but only a slight rise in productivity (M = 3.74/5). These benefits are held across age, career stage and job function. Among individuals who did not take career breaks, the main reasons were financial constraints (60%), poor career timing (37%) and fear of career stagnation (29%). The findings extend sustainable-career theory by showing that strategic pauses act as resource-building mechanisms alongside job crafting and lifelong learning. Practically, this study encourages organizations to legitimize breaks, introduce structured returnship programs and address financial or reputational obstacles. While limited by a predominantly female, service-sector sample, the study reframes career breaks as investments that can develop a happier, healthier and ultimately more resilient workforce. |
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| Autores principais: | Mendoça, Margarida do Carmo Belmar da Costa de |
| Assunto: | Career breaks Sustainable career Bem-estar -- Well-being Pausas na carreira Carreiras sustentáveis |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | ISCTE |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório ISCTE |
| Resumo: | Career breaks represent intentional interruptions in one’s professional journey. This study integrates them within the sustainable-career framework to address two central questions: what motivates Portuguese professionals to interrupt their careers and how these pauses affect their personal and professional lives. A survey of 172 employees from varied sectors collected data on break history, motivations, perceived impacts on happiness, health and productivity, and the barriers noted by non-breakers. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were employed to explore subgroup differences and compare mean impacts across demographic variables. Results reveal that 41 % of respondents had taken at least one break, most frequently for family caregiving, health recovery, further education or personal development, the motives frequently overlapping. Individuals who took breaks reported positive impacts in happiness (M = 4.26/5) and health (M = 4.25/5), but only a slight rise in productivity (M = 3.74/5). These benefits are held across age, career stage and job function. Among individuals who did not take career breaks, the main reasons were financial constraints (60%), poor career timing (37%) and fear of career stagnation (29%). The findings extend sustainable-career theory by showing that strategic pauses act as resource-building mechanisms alongside job crafting and lifelong learning. Practically, this study encourages organizations to legitimize breaks, introduce structured returnship programs and address financial or reputational obstacles. While limited by a predominantly female, service-sector sample, the study reframes career breaks as investments that can develop a happier, healthier and ultimately more resilient workforce. |
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