ERIC Number: EJ1442870
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Oct
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-1560
EISSN: EISSN-1573-174X
Ageism and Age Anxiety Experienced by Chinese Doctoral Students in Enacting a "Successful" Career Script in Academia
Hugo Horta; Huan Li
Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, v88 n4 p1429-1444 2024
This paper employs the notion of a "career script" as a conceptual basis to examine how age-based academic career norms are internalized, strategized, and reproduced among PhD students aspiring to become academics. It draws on interviews with 70 PhD students at leading universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau that were organized and explored using narrative inquiry. The findings suggest that the tournament-like, age-based career scripts are primarily shaped by institutional policies on recruitment and funding applications and reinforced through social interactions. Doctoral students internalize the established criteria for success defined by the career scripts and stigmatize those who lag behind in the attainment of institutionally predetermined milestones, thus discouraging any attempt to rescript career norms. While enacting successful career scripts, students experience age and temporal anxiety at a fairly young age, exacerbating ageism in the academic labor market.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Doctoral Students, Occupational Aspiration, Student Attitudes, Higher Education, Career Development, Anxiety, Aging (Individuals), Age Discrimination, Success, Expectation
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2123/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China; Hong Kong; Macau
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A