Influences on the career commitment of health-care managers

The health-care field is undergoing rapid and significant transformation. This transformation has led to the breakdown of traditional career paths for managers in the patient care segment of the industry. To our knowledge, there has not been a systematic examination of how these changes have impacted on the career commitment of managers in this segment of the industry. Building on previous research, we examine the effects of employment-related conditions and career experiences on the career commitment of these managers while controlling for the influence of individual characteristics. Specifically we assess the relationship between employment-related conditions, such as job security, position tenure, industry segment, management level and the extent to which their current position meets their career expectations, and their career experiences, including moving from a non-health-care management position, moving from a different health-care sector, their career stage, career patterns and their satisfaction with their career progression. We found that measures associated with the different employment-related experiences had a more significant influence on career commitment than those measures associated with different career experiences.