Learning and Growth Across Different Workplaces

Workplace Conditions for Growing Expertise

Cultivating expertise involves shaping the direction of one’s work and career while acquiring the knowledge and skills needed for the job. In the workplace, solving problems, seeking help from colleagues, and taking on new roles become opportunities for learning. Understanding how expertise develops requires examining the working conditions and relationships within which individuals pursue learning, alongside their own efforts.

Self-directed Growth and Learning Networks of Highly Skilled Software Developers

A qualitative case study of highly skilled developers traced their growth from entry into the profession through the development of competence and the mentoring of junior colleagues. Published in The Journal of Vocational Education Research, the study involved 3 developers who had worked for more than 15 years in leading software companies. Their careers spanned 15, 17, and 20 years, respectively. Data were collected over approximately 9 months from May 2012 to January 2013, with each participant taking part in three semi-structured interviews lasting 2-3 hours. Additional data included newspaper articles and books. Interview transcripts were shared with participants, and 10 peer researchers reviewed the interpretation of the results. The participants had majored in linguistics, Chinese language and literature, and mathematics. Experiences such as part-time jobs during college and employment immediately after graduation at companies offering exemptions from military service provided opportunities to enter software development through ‘planned happenstance’.

The main approaches to learning were independent study using books and websites, participation in an informal network of fellow developers, and adaptation of raw data created by other developers for practical use. Participants enjoyed applying existing data to their own problems and developing it in their own ways. Even as they advanced to more senior positions, they sought to maintain their identity as a ‘developer’. They aimed to mentor junior colleagues and contribute to the domestic software industry, drawing on intuition and insight grounded in an understanding of the entire work process.

Conditions Differentiating Informal Learning Outcomes of Accounting Firm Professionals

A study of learning among accounting firm professionals categorized informal learning outcomes as acquiring work knowledge, adapting to the organization and understanding its context, building relationships, and improving the capacity for self-development. Published in the Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, the study applied a stepwise multiple regression model to data from 261 professionals working at the top 4 accounting firms in Korea. The explanatory factors were individual learning motivation, job characteristics, and environments that support learning.

Peer support had the largest positive effect on acquiring work-related knowledge and building relationships. Task autonomy had the largest effect on adapting to the organization and understanding its context. Learning goal orientation was the most important factor in improving the capacity for self-development.

Learning Support and Knowledge Sharing Backing Police Officers’ Task Performance

A study of police officers’ task performance examined how to support improvement in job competence amid changing crime patterns and social demands emphasizing human rights. Published in Korean Police Studies Review, the study used structural equation modeling to examine relationships among supervisors’ learning support, knowledge sharing, work engagement, and task performance in a sample of 330 active police officers. Supervisors’ learning support refers to the extent to which supervisors encourage and support subordinates’ formal and informal learning. Task performance refers to fulfilling the responsibilities and roles formally required by the job. In the National Police Agency’s 2017 crime statistics cited as background to the study, 55% of intellectual crimes involved more than 3 months between occurrence and arrest, and 29% involved more than 1 year.

The analysis showed that greater learning support from supervisors led to greater knowledge sharing and work engagement. More active knowledge sharing led to higher work engagement and task performance. Knowledge sharing encompasses explicit and tacit knowledge and emphasizes interaction and supportive relationships among members. Work engagement is defined in terms of vitality, dedication, and absorption in the work itself, distinct from a sense of belonging to the organization.

Forming a Field of Expertise Through Repeated Voluntary Turnover

A study of knowledge workers’ career development explored repeated voluntary job changes as a process of individual growth. Published in The Journal of Vocational Education Research, the study used narrative inquiry with 5 knowledge workers who had experienced 3 to 5 voluntary workplace transitions. Drawing on the narrative inquiry elements of temporality, sociality, and place, the analysis examined the sequence of these transitions alongside individual desires and the sociocultural conditions of the workplace. Habitus, the central analytical concept, is a system of dispositions toward work and career formed in the workplace.

Participants sought to identify and develop their own fields of expertise. They understood careers as a process of developing distinctive abilities and ‘positioning’ themselves in the workplace. Repeated voluntary turnover was interpreted as a career development activity through which individuals built expertise by seeking desired tasks and learning opportunities. Participants prepared for transitions while still employed, taking a long-term view of their careers. They exercised substantial subjectivity and agency in choosing workplaces and tasks.

Cram School Instructors’ Educator Identity and Teaching for Survival

A study of academic cram school instructors’ working lives examined professional growth and the meaning of work among those teaching students in private education settings. Published in the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, the study interviewed 5 instructors teaching elementary, middle, and high school students at cram schools in the Seoul area. It used narrative inquiry to explore their life stories through telling and retelling. In the 2023 Korean Educational Statistics Service data, academic cram schools accounted for 80,447 of 88,738 private academies, with 306,455 instructors in this category. These statistics include academic cram schools in areas such as internationalization, arts, and information, as well as entrance exam preparation and supplementary learning.

Participants entered cram school work by chance or for various reasons, then grew into ‘teachers outside of school’ through their aptitude for and attachment to the work. They experienced tensions in teaching students who were also customers, encountered external perceptions of private education workers, and felt alienated by a ‘life without evenings’. Market competition and unstable working conditions made staying at the forefront of teaching a matter of survival. The meaning, value, and sense of duty they found in teaching students drove their growth as educators.

Tie Strength Supporting the Career Development of Independent Corporate Trainers

A study of corporate trainers working as independent contractors examined the networks of relationships through which educators without an organizational affiliation learn and develop their careers. Published in the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, the study used multiple regression analysis with data from 103 independent corporate trainers. It drew on research and surveys conducted with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea. The theoretical framework, the developmental network, refers to relationships with multiple people who provide career-related resources and support. The analysis examined how network characteristics, including strength and diversity, relate to developmental support functions.

Independent corporate trainers’ networks were characterized by close relationships among members, who also tended to have similar social statuses. The study reported that these networks were more closed and exclusive than those of wage earners. Educational background was an important variable for career development functions.

Formation of the Master Craftsman Identity as a Skilled Technology Manager

A study of Master Craftsmen’s occupational identity examined how individuals with technical skills expand their expertise while running companies and fulfilling social roles. Published in The Journal of Vocational Education and Training, the study drew on in-depth interviews with 8 Master Craftsmen selected since 2018. It used Illeris’s holistic model of workplace learning to examine interactions between individual learning and the social environment. The Master Craftsman system is operated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. Eligibility requires applicants to be skilled technicians with more than 10 years of industrial experience and managers of small or medium-sized enterprises.

‘Differentiated competency development’ and ‘solid yet flexible mental energy’ were identified as individual factors in identity formation. ‘Uncertain market situations and rapid technological change’ and ‘demands for a sustainable society’ were identified as social factors. These factors interacted through work practices to form, strengthen, and expand identity. Repeated experiences of innovating through the broader perspectives afforded by technical expertise and management fostered a belief in the ‘originality of technology’.

The Meaning of Work Assigned by Flight Attendants and the Direction of Careers

A study of flight attendants’ career development examined how career direction and preparatory behaviors vary with the meaning assigned to work. Published in The Journal of Vocational Education Research, the study analyzed data from 326 flight attendants at domestic airline K using stepwise multiple regression analysis. The meaning of work was categorized into economic means, supporting family, interpersonal relationships, recognition, growth opportunities, pursuit of fun, vitality of life, and social contribution. Career orientation was divided into manager, expert, and lifestyle orientations. Preparatory behavior for career development was examined in terms of career planning and career exploration behavior.

The analysis showed that stronger perceptions of work as a means of gaining social recognition correlated with stronger manager and expert orientations. Stronger perceptions of work as a social contribution correlated with a stronger lifestyle orientation. Greater emphasis on work as an opportunity for personal growth was associated with higher levels of career planning and career exploration behavior. Because the data come from flight attendants at a single airline, applying the findings to other workplaces requires consideration of the career opportunities and working conditions within each organization.

Reading notes

Among independent corporate trainers’ network characteristics, only tie strength had a significant effect on all developmental support functions. Network diversity had no significant effect on career development functions. These results suggest that discussions of career support for corporate trainers can consider the practical help provided through close relationships alongside the number and scope of those relationships. In medical education, these findings raise a further question about which work experiences and forms of peer support facilitate learning as clinicians take on roles as educators or administrators, and how those experiences change occupational identity.

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