The paper aims to provide a career perspective on self-employment (SE) by focusing on how engaging in SE shapes the career experiences of MBA graduates in a distinct cultural and institutional context.
We thematically analyse interviews with 29 Indian MBA graduates (including 10 women) who have engaged in both SE and salaried employment, using the conservation of resources (COR) theory as the theoretical framework.
Participants took up SE in a challenging institutional and cultural environment. Resources such as financial stability, social networks and family support enabled participants to pursue SE. Participants noted that the SE experience boosted their psychological resources, providing them with greater confidence, perseverance and self-awareness. Participants observed that SE had a negative impact on subjective career success (SCS) dimensions of financial success and positive work relationships but positively impacted other SCS dimensions such as entrepreneurship, learning and development, positive (social) impact and work–life balance (particularly for women).
Participants were highly educated with strong social networks from past work experience in a developing economy, so the transferability of the findings to other contexts may be limited.
Individuals could benefit from considering a broader career canvas that includes SE as a career option. Policymakers should work towards removing institutional barriers and changing cultural perceptions towards SE.
Our study is distinct in that it comprises participants who had engaged in both SE and salaried employment during their careers. Few studies have looked at the impact of one employment episode on another. We show that SE episodes can contribute to career sustainability by developing psychological resources.
