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, yazdaniziarat.m@semnan.ac.ir
Abstract: (20 Views)
Purpose: Career drift is a situation in which employees, instead of actively directing their professional path, gradually drift into structural pressures and lose their agency. The aim is to design a model of the formation of this phenomenon in Iranian governmental organizations.
Methodology/Approach: This qualitative research was conducted using a systematic grounded theory approach. Data were collected through 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with staff employees of the North Khorasan Province Governor's Office via purposive and theoretical sampling, and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding.
Findings: The paradigmatic model revealed that career drift is a self-reinforcing process arising from causal conditions (weak career development, ineffective reward system, managerial shocks, person-organization misfit) interacting with contextual conditions (obedience-oriented culture, structural, geographical, legal constraints, centralization) and influenced by intervening conditions. The core phenomenon is loss of agency and distancing from one's authentic self. Employees' strategies (from passivity to limited agency) lead to negative individual, organizational, institutional, and behavioral consequences. A positive feedback loop intensifies this vicious cycle.
Originality/Value: The discovery of the "job security paradox" and the "self-reinforcing vicious cycle," along with the formulation of "survival agency" strategies, demonstrates that career drift in Iranian bureaucracy is a structural and systemic phenomenon. The model provides a theoretical basis for breaking the drift cycle and restoring employees' professional agency.
Recommendations: Designing multi-level policy and managerial interventions is essential to break the vicious cycle; these include revising promotion systems toward transparency and meritocracy, reducing bureaucratic pressures, and strengthening career adaptability through mentoring programs.
Methodology/Approach: This qualitative research was conducted using a systematic grounded theory approach. Data were collected through 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with staff employees of the North Khorasan Province Governor's Office via purposive and theoretical sampling, and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding.
Findings: The paradigmatic model revealed that career drift is a self-reinforcing process arising from causal conditions (weak career development, ineffective reward system, managerial shocks, person-organization misfit) interacting with contextual conditions (obedience-oriented culture, structural, geographical, legal constraints, centralization) and influenced by intervening conditions. The core phenomenon is loss of agency and distancing from one's authentic self. Employees' strategies (from passivity to limited agency) lead to negative individual, organizational, institutional, and behavioral consequences. A positive feedback loop intensifies this vicious cycle.
Originality/Value: The discovery of the "job security paradox" and the "self-reinforcing vicious cycle," along with the formulation of "survival agency" strategies, demonstrates that career drift in Iranian bureaucracy is a structural and systemic phenomenon. The model provides a theoretical basis for breaking the drift cycle and restoring employees' professional agency.
Recommendations: Designing multi-level policy and managerial interventions is essential to break the vicious cycle; these include revising promotion systems toward transparency and meritocracy, reducing bureaucratic pressures, and strengthening career adaptability through mentoring programs.
Keywords: Career Drift, Grounded Theory, Governmental Bureaucracy, Human Resources, Paradigmatic Model
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Administrative structures
Received: Dec 24 2025 | Accepted: Jun 09 2026
Received: Dec 24 2025 | Accepted: Jun 09 2026
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