Conceptualising the family-friendly career: the contribution of career theories and a systems approach

Mainstream theories of career have been charged with a lack of 'critical, multidisciplinary, gendered, and contextualised work'. This suggests that they would not readily be able to encompass the notion of the family-friendly career. This paper contextualises their shortcomings, notes some responses to them over time, and identifies some recent theorising that seems more likely to be able to contribute to 'joined-up thinking' on career and family-friendly issues. It then proposes the value of a systems approach and soft systems thinking to conceptualising a (family-friendly) career, and introduces the concept of a 'family career'.