Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

www.elsevier.com/locate/jvb

The evolution of the boundaryless career concept:

Examining physical and psychological mobility
Sherry E. Sullivan a,, Michael B. Arthur b,1
a

Department of Management, College of Business, Bowling Green State University,

Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
b
Sawyer School of Management, SuVolk University, 8 Ashurton Place, Boston, MA 02108, USA
Received 8 September 2005
Available online 16 November 2005

Abstract
Although there has been increased interest in the boundaryless career since the publication of
Arthur and Rousseaus book (1996), there is still some misunderstanding about what the concept
means. This article examines the boundaryless career and presents a model that attempts to visually
capture Arthur and Rousseaus suggestion that the concept involves six underlying meanings. Rather
than considering whether or not an individual has a boundaryless career, the model focuses on the
degree of mobility reXected in a career along two continua: one psychological, one physical. Based on
the model, we suggest Wve propositions and a series of directions for future research.
2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Career; Boundaryless; Protean; Women; Transitions; Mobility; Gender

1. Introduction
There have been calls for greater clarity of terms and further conceptualization of the
boundaryless career (e.g., Inkson, 2002; Pringle & Mallon, 2003; Sullivan, 1999) and its distinction from the concept of the protean career (Briscoe, Hall, & DeMuth, 2006; Hall,
1996; Hall, Briscoe, & Kram, 1997). Some authors have considered the boundaryless career

Thanks to Jon Briscoe, Madeline Crocitto, Tim Hall, Kerr Inkson, Sally Power, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +1 419 372 6057.
E-mail addresses: ssulliv@cba.bgsu.edu (S.E. Sullivan), marthur@suVolk.edu (M.B. Arthur).
1
Fax: +1 617 994 4260.

0001-8791/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2005.09.001

20

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

as involving only physical changes in work arrangements. In contrast, other authors have
considered the protean career concept as involving only psychological changes. However,
this separation between physical (or objective) career changes and psychological (or subjective) career changes neglects the interdependence between the physical and psychological career worlds. The result is a body of work that lacks applicability for the individual,
who needs to take both physical and psychological issues into account. Similarly, it lacks
applicability for the practicing manager or career counselor who seeks to support the
individual.
While recent research has begun to recognize the links between physical and psychological career changes (e.g., Marler, Barringer, & Milkovich, 2002; Peiperl, Arthur, GoVee, &
Morris, 2000; Valcour & Tolbert, 2003), there still remain rich opportunities for further
research. In this article, we seek to stimulate new research by focusing on two questions.
First, how can we further clarify and elaborate on the meaning of the boundaryless career?
Second, how can we better explore the possible interaction of mobility across (a) physical
and (b) psychological boundaries?
We begin by examining Arthur and Rousseaus (1996) deWnition of the boundaryless
career as well as its subsequent interpretation and application. Next, we present a model to
better illustrate the physical and psychological aspects of boundaryless careers. Using this
model as a basis, we explore how career competencies, gender, culture, and individual
diVerences inXuence individuals opportunities for physical and psychological mobility.
Finally, we discuss the implications of these ideas for both practice and future research.
2. Mobility across physical and psychological boundaries
Arthur and Rousseaus 1996 book, The Boundaryless Career, encouraged researchers to
rethink their ideas of what a career entails, and raised a number of new questions and lines
of inquiry. In the book they detailed six diVerent meanings of boundaryless careers, involving careers:
(1) like the stereotypical Silicon Valley career, that move across the boundaries of separate employers;
(2) like those of academics or carpenters, that draw validationand marketability
from outside the present employer;
(3) like those of real-estate agents, that are sustained by external networks or information;
(4) that break traditional organizational assumptions about hierarchy and career
advancement;
(5) that involve an individual rejecting existing career opportunities for personal or family reasons; and
(6) that are based on the interpretation of the career actor, who may perceive a boundaryless future regardless of structural constraints.
Arthur and Rousseau (1996, p. 6) also stated that a common factor in all these deWnitions was one of independence from, rather than dependence on, traditional organizational career arrangements. However, it has subsequently been noted that there can be
mobility across other kinds of boundariesfor example, occupational or cultural boundarieswhich may also contribute to what we interpret to be boundaryless careers (Gunz,
Evans, & Jalland, 2000; Inkson, this issue; Sullivan & Mainiero, 2000).

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

21

Since the publication of Arthur and Rousseaus book, a number of researchers have
focused on physical mobility across boundaries invoked by meanings 1 and 4. However,
relatively few researchers have examined mobility across, or changes to, psychological
boundaries described in meanings 2, 3, 5, and 6. For example, Sullivans (1999) review of
the empirical careers literature found that sixteen studies examined the crossing of physical
boundaries (e.g., between occupations, Wrms, levels) whereas only three studies focused
relationships across those boundaries. More recently, Arthur, Khapova, and Wilderom
(2005) 11-year review of career success research reported that few of the 80 articles examined, conceptualized or operationalized success in ways that could add to our understanding of boundaryless careers. Only one-third of the articles recognized any two-way
interdependence between objective and subjective career success, while a much lower fraction acknowledged the inXuence of either inter-organizational mobility or extra-organizational support on career success. Thus, scholars have emphasized physical mobility across
boundaries at the cost of neglecting psychological mobility and its relationship to physical
mobility.
The possible reasons for this emphasis on physical mobility may be twofold. First,
although there are two types of mobilitythe physical, which is the transition across
boundaries and the psychological, which is the perception of the capacity to make transitionsresearchers appear to have viewed boundaryless careers as the Wrst type. They
have focused on physical mobility between jobs, employers or industries. Researchers
have been less interested in the second type of mobility, and in particular the perceived
capacity for change that underlies Arthur and Rousseaus (1996, p. 6) meaning 6,
the interpretation of the career actor, who may perceive a boundaryless future
regardless of structural constraints. Second, researchers may Wnd it easier to measure
physical mobility (e.g., counting the number of times someone changed jobs, employers
or occupations) than to measure perceptions about psychological mobility. It is perhaps not surprising that most studies have operationalized boundaryless careers in
terms of physical mobility.
Because of the emphasis on physical mobility, the versatility of the boundaryless career
concept is not always acknowledged. Recognizing this versatility suggests that future conceptual and empirical research needs to question the potential diVerence between boundaryless careers characterized primarily by physical mobility (that is, actual movement
between jobs, Wrms, occupations, and countries) versus boundaryless careers characterized
primarily by psychological mobility (that is, the capacity to move as seen through the mind
of the career actor). Moreover, as previously noted, it is relatively easy to measure physical
mobility, but it is more diYcult to measure psychological mobility (see Briscoe et al., 2006).
For example, how could the complexities of the psychological mobility in the following situations be measured?
John2 once saw himself as a manager seeking advancement within his present company (a traditional organizational career). Now at midlife, he has refused further promotions to spend more time with his children (Arthur and Rousseaus meaning 5),
accepting instead lateral transfers that permit reXective, on-the-job learning (Arthur
and Rousseaus meaning 4).
2

Each of the examples given is based upon an individual the authors have encountered through other research
or consulting projects. All names have been disguised.

22

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

Suzanne is a middle manager seen by others as plateaued in her present organization.

However, she anticipates a boundaryless future because she sees her skills as marketable (Arthur and Rousseaus meaning 6). She has not yet crossed physical boundaries
between organizations or occupations, but intends to do so.
In addition to measuring complex physical and psychological mobility, how can career
changes that represent varying combinations of physical and psychological mobility, and
the interdependency between them be measured? Consider the following example:
Cindy happily viewed herself as company accountant until she grew bored with
her job. She turned to her professional association for validation of her abilities
(Arthur and Rousseaus meaning 2). This led to new opportunities to provide
accounting services that she is now pursuing through a small home-based business. Freed from the constraints her employer once placed on her, she now has a
substantial support system outside that employer (Arthur and Rousseaus
meaning 3).
3. A model of boundaryless careers
The growing complexity of the contemporary career landscape, as well as the many
inter-connected factors that can inXuence career decisions, make it increasingly challenging for researchers to capture diVerent types of boundaryless career mobility. To
respond to this challenge, we suggest a deWnition of a boundaryless career as one that
involves physical and/or psychological career mobility. Such a career can be then
viewed as characterized by varying levels of physical and psychological mobility. Thus,
boundaryless careers can be represented by the model depicted in Fig. 1, with physical

High
Quadrant 3

Quadrant 4

Quadrant 1

Quadrant 2

Low

High

Psychological
Mobility

Low

Physical
Mobility
Fig. 1. Two dimensions of boundaryless careers.

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

23

mobility along the horizontal continuum and psychological mobility along the vertical
continuum.
According to the model, having a boundaryless career is not an either or proposition
as suggested by some studies. Rather, a boundaryless career can be viewed and operationalized by the degree of mobility exhibited by the career actor along both the physical and
psychological continua. Both physical and psychological mobilityand the interdependence between themcan thereby be recognized and subsequently measured. To facilitate
discussion of the model, we focus on four pure types of careers, with these four types
reXecting the four diVerent quadrants, as follows.
3.1. Quadrant 1
Careers in this quadrant exhibit low levels of both physical and psychological mobility.
In some circumstances this kind of career can appeal to both parties to an employment
contract. Consider Alex, a long-tenured NASA engineer. Despite having an advanced education, his highly specialized knowledge may have low transferability because NASA is the
only employer requiring this knowledge. Moreover, enjoying the job security and unique
challenges of the job, he may have little desire to change employers. Both physical and
psychological boundaries are likely to remain.
However, unlike the career of the NASA engineer, other careers in this quadrant may
not be so enduring. Consider Vicki who works in a bank and has a social life that relies
heavily on her fellow workers. Mergers and acquisitions in the industry may not only
threaten the stability of her social life, but also the opportunities for her Wnding similar
employment elsewhere. Likewise, those lacking basic skills and training, as well as the
chronically unemployed, may also have careers in this quadrant.
3.2. Quadrant 2
Careers in this quadrant have high levels of physical mobility but low levels of psychological mobility. For instance, Colin, a young person bent on seeing the world, may oVer
his skills as a waiter or bartender in a series of temporary jobs that provide the opportunity
to travel. Helen, a schoolteacher, may change jobs at short notice to follow the geographically mobile career of her partner, but may not seek any psychological beneWt from such a
job change. The common factor in such careers is that they cross physical boundaries but
psychological boundaries remain as they were.
Some careers in this quadrant may become dysfunctional as they unfold. Consider
Peter, a computer programmer seeking to maximize income by applying his existing programming skills. Those skills may remain in demand for some time, but only because programmers willing to work on older systems are in limited supply. As the number of these
systems dwindles, Peter may Wnd fewer and fewer opportunities for further employment.
3.3. Quadrant 3
Careers in this quadrant have low levels of physical mobility but high levels of
psychological mobility. Individuals with these types of careers recognize and act on the
potential for psychological career mobility. They sustain high expectations of their own
employabilityfor example, as respected academics, experienced management consultants

24

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

or skilled nurseswithout changing employers. Other kinds of psychological mobility can

occur when individuals seek personal growth outside the workplace (e.g., by taking adult
education classes or doing volunteer work), or by introducing new ideas into the workplace.
However, psychological mobility can also cause problems. Sarah, a research chemist,
felt psychologically boundaryless because of her conWdence in her own ability. Then
Sarahs employer assigned her work unrelated to her research specialization, making her
unattractive to potential employers. Sarahs extreme conWdence in her own abilities caused
her to lose touch with developments in her Weld, making it diYcult for her to Wnd a more
psychologically meaningful work situation. Similarly, Bob has advanced occupational
skills but low emotional intelligence. Although he sustains a sense of psychological mobility, he fails to act on feedback to improve his interpersonal skills, and is unable to earn promotions or gain employment with other organizations.
3.4. Quadrant 4
Careers in this quadrant exhibit both psychological and physical mobility. In these
careers, individuals may make many physical changes (e.g., changing jobs often), while also
changing their psychological career orientation on a regular basis. One example might be
Karl, a chef, who works for several diVerent restaurants. Each new job contributes to a
larger body of expertise and self-conWdence, inside and outside the kitchen, that leads to
the opening of his own restaurant. Another example might be Eileen, a self-employed management consultant, who seeks a variety of industry experiences before building the selfassurance to go into line management.
Other careers in this quadrant may make sense only to the person. That is, the persons
subjective sense of career success may diVer from the expectations of employers, family,
and friends, or society at large. Individuals may get oV the fast track to pursue less
demanding work schedules that permit self-reXection and renewal. Spouses may work
unattractive hours or accept lower paying positions if these complement their partners
hours (e.g., one works days, the other nights, so that one of them is always home with preschool children or elderly dependents). Compulsive learners may make a series of lateral
moves to experience diVerent roles through the world of work.
In sum, the model depicted in Fig. 1 illustrates a range of combinations of psychological
and physical mobility that can occur during the course of a career. Why, though, do some
careers exhibit greater levels of physical and psychological mobility than others?
4. Some research propositions
In this section, we suggest a number of research propositions based on the model previously described. These propositions cover diVerences in individuals career competencies,
gender, culture, and individual characteristics. They are oVered as illustrative of a much
larger body of research topics that might be pursued.
4.1. Boundaryless careers and career competencies
Two individuals may be in the same line of work, the same organization and the same
industry but have very diVerent levels of physical and psychological mobility because of

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

25

their diVerent career competencies. Career competencies have been described to reXect
three diVerent ways of knowing that can be applied and adapted to shifting career
opportunities (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1996). The three ways of knowing involve an individuals motivation and identity (knowing-why), skills and expertise (knowing-how) and
relationships and reputation (knowing-whom). Knowing-why competencies underlie the
overall energy and identiWcation a person may bring to the tasks, projects, and
employment cultures that he/she faces. Knowing-how competencies relate to the skills
and knowledge, including tacit knowledge, needed for task or job performance. Knowing-whom competencies refer to relationships with colleagues, professional associations,
and friends that provide needed visibility, access to new opportunity, and sources of
information.
The three ways of knowing are also interdependent. For example, when knowing-why
motivation to gain fresh experience stimulates a search for new knowing-how job challenges that in turn bring about new knowing-whom connections. In this way, the accumulation of new career competencies in any of the three ways of knowing can trigger the
pursuit of further competencies in the other two.
The eVect of the accumulation of career competencies upon the boundaryless career has
recently been examined by Eby, Butts, and Lockwood (2003). They found that those with
greater levels of knowing-why competencies (proactive personality, openness to experience, and career insight), knowing-how competencies (career/job-related skills, career identity), and knowing-whom competencies (mentor, internal networks, and external
networks) reported greater levels of perceived career success and internal and external
marketability. Career theory and evidence therefore suggests:
Proposition 1. Those with greater career competencies are more likely to have experienced
more, and have more opportunities for, psychological and physical mobility than those
with lower career competencies.
Previous research (e.g., Schein, 1978; Sullivan, Martin, Carden, & Mainiero, 2004) suggests that as individuals gain experience and maturity, unless they are faced with a crisis,
they make incremental career changes. In the circumstances of a job loss, a person may be
obliged to take on both physical and psychological mobility at the same time. However, in
other circumstances, the unfolding of physical and psychological mobility may be sequential rather than simultaneous. Someone in Quadrant 1 would be more likely to switch to
psychological mobility (Quadrant 3) if Wrst persuaded, perhaps through career coaching
sessions, that his/her skills were transferable. Once established in Quadrant 3, the person
may subsequently seek and Wnd a new employer that takes better advantage of those skills.
Proposition 2. Individuals, through enhancing career competencies, are more likely to
increase their opportunities for either psychological or physical mobility than to increase
both simultaneously.
4.2. Gender
Research indicates that men and women are likely to enact their careers diVerently
because of social and psychological gender diVerences (Mainiero, 1994a, 1994b; Mainiero &
Sullivan, 2006; Powell & Mainiero, 1992). Societal norms and expectations have often
restricted womens educational, occupational, and job choices (Powell, 1993, 1999). Research

26

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

has found gender diVerences in relation to work/nonwork balance, mentoring, work outcomes (such as promotions, stress, and career satisfaction), work policies, and sexual harassment and discrimination (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005; Konrad,
Ritchie, Lieb, & Corrigall, 2000; Nelson, 2000; Parasuraman & Greenhaus, 1997).
Women, in general, may have less freedom than men to engage in physical mobility. For
instance, a woman may reject an opportunity than requires relocation or increased travel
because her husband may be unable or unwilling to move, she is caring for an ill dependant, or there is a lack of quality childcare in the new locale. Similarly, men in general may
have less freedom than women to engage in psychological mobility because social expectations may oblige them to conform to traditional work roles or to provide for their families
(Mainiero & Sullivan, 2005).
Proposition 3. Men are more likely to have greater opportunities for physical mobility
whereas women are more likely to have greater opportunities for psychological mobility.
4.3. Cultural diVerences
Cultural diVerences may also inXuence psychological and physical mobility. Hofstede
(1980, 1984) has suggested that individualism-collectivism is a bipolar variable that diVerentiates cultures. Individualist cultures emphasize personal goals and equity-based
rewards, social networking, and promotions. Collectivist cultures emphasize group goals
and rewards as well as job security. In collectivist cultures the individual is more likely to
look to the existing group or organization for evidence of career success.
Proposition 4. People in individualistic cultures are more likely to change work groups or
organizations, and to exhibit physical mobility; in contrast, people in collectivist cultures
are more likely to stay in their work groups or organizations, and to exhibit psychological
mobility.
4.4. Individual diVerences
Ramamoorthy and Carroll (1998) have argued that the individualism-collectivism construct may also distinguish individual orientations. Thus, individuals with an individualistic orientation will prefer individually based human resource management systems (e.g.,
individual incentive schemes, merit-based hiring, and promotion) whereas individuals with
collectivist orientations will prefer group-based human resource management systems (e.g.,
jobs designed around group functions, group incentives).
Proposition 5. People with individual orientations are more likely to recognize opportunities for and exhibit physical mobility; in contrast, people with collectivist orientations are
more likely to recognize opportunities for and exhibit psychological mobility
5. A future research agenda
The Wve propositions we have presented illustrate some possible avenues for future
research and may be extended to include other variables. In this section, we suggest that the
boundaryless career concept can encourage an even larger research program, and detail
three aspects of this agenda.

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

27

5.1. Building upon the Wve propositions

Propositions 15 may be extended to include propositions involving other independent
variables, or other combinations of variables, that space preclude us from discussing here.
For example, beyond the extent of a persons overall career competencies (Propositions 1
and 2) lay a number of questions about particular combinations of those competencies. A
person with a high (knowing-why) need for security and a weak (knowing-whom) occupational network may be expected to be low on psychological mobility even if that person
has strong and highly transferable (knowing-how) occupational skills. Further demographic variables, such as race, age, and socio-economic status may be anticipated to interact with gender (Proposition 3). Hypotheses about diVerences between national cultures
(Proposition 4) may be reWned to also cover the organizational and/or occupational cultures in which a career is situated. Further demographic factors, such as race, age, and
diVerences between generations (Proposition 3), and personality variables, such as the big
Wve personality dimensions (Proposition 5), could also be examined.
5.2. Going beyond organizational career samples
Much previous research, especially concerning managerial careers, has been limited to a
single organizational setting, thereby preventing the examination of boundaryless career
phenomena (Arthur, Khapova, & Wilderom, 2005; Sullivan, 1999). An instructive example
based on an alternative sampling strategy is that of Eby and associates (2003). They studied 458 university alumni representing a range of diVerent organizations, occupations,
industries, and employment situations. Similar to Eby and associates, Mainiero and Sullivan (2005) captured a variety of diVerent employment experiences, industries, and occupations. They used a multi-source approach, including the collection of data via: (a) an email
survey of over 100 high achieving women belonging to a national association of female
professionals; (b) an on-line survey of over 1000 men and women; and (c) a series of indepth online conversations with 27 men and women about their careers. By using both
quantitative and qualitative methods, Mainiero and Sullivans study illustrates a strategy
for obtaining richer information about individuals physical and psychological mobility.
5.3. Using action research
The boundaryless career model suggested by this article could be used as the foundation
for action research. Initial diagnostic work could determine which area of the model best
reXects a persons career situation. Next, a series of interventions could be designed to
assist each persons transition between adjacent quadrants. Such passages could help individuals experiment with greater degrees of physical and psychological mobilitythereby
potentially increasing the number of options in each individuals future career. A series of
research measures could be applied during the process to test the utility of the interventions used. This kind of action research design may help both individuals and their present
employers to adapt existing employment arrangements to the uncertainties of the contemporary knowledge-driven economy. Similarly, such action research models may help scholars develop much needed measures of psychological mobility.
The use of action research could be combined with eVorts to increase managerial eVectiveness. For instance, in the contemporary career world it is considered important for

28

S.E. Sullivan, M.B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 1929

managers to hold eVective career discussions with their employees (Kidd, Hirsh, & Jackson, 2004). These discussions are considered to help individuals to develop more accurate
and more nuanced pictures of their career situations, including the situation inside the current organization. In less routine situations, such as downsizing or moving jobs oVshore,
there is a greater sense of urgency in such exchanges. Although all employees will be
aVected by such changes, individual reactions to the prospect of either physical and/or psychological mobility will vary. By using the model detailed in this article to anticipate and
respond to these diVerent reactions, managers may be better able to assist their employees.
Likewise, researchers observing these career discussions as they happen may gain a greater
understanding of how careers unfold.
In conclusion, the concept of the boundaryless career can be clariWed by viewing mobility as measured along two continua, one physical, one psychological. This portrayal of the
boundaryless career invites scholars to bring greater precision to research endeavors concerned with such variables as career competencies, gender, culture, and individual diVerences. It also invites scholars to use a variety of data collection and research designs,
including scholars partnering with managers to use action research to assist employees in
their quest for more satisfactory careers. Attention to this future career research agenda
should bring greater insights into todays complex careers.
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