Bringing “New Science” into Careers Research

Abstract

This paper reflects on the first author’s attempts to adapt traditional social science methods to her own purpose. The research involved developing a methodology to explore the subjective career, concerned with people’s internal, self-referential views of their unfolding career experiences. The paper describes a series of problems encountered along the way, stemming directly or indirectly from the rigidity of traditional science assumptions. In contrast, the authors find encouragement in contemporary ideas about “new science,” and its imagery of a self-organizing, non-linear and interdependent world. The journey leads to philosopher Paul Cilliers’ principles of complex social systems, which provide an alternative, and more affirming, platform for the kind of research undertaken.