Career Experiences of Science and Technology Professionals: The Role of Boundaryless Career Attitude

ABSTRACT Drawing on an integrated framework that combines the social cognitive career theory model of career self‐management with self‐determination theory, we investigated the career experiences of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals, examining how psychological capital and psychological safety relate to innovation behavior, knowledge sharing, career satisfaction, and turnover intention through boundaryless career attitude. Structural equation modeling using survey data from 2000 science and technology professionals in South Korea revealed that psychological capital was positively related to innovation behavior, knowledge sharing, and career satisfaction, and unexpectedly positively related to turnover intention; psychological safety was positively related to knowledge sharing and career satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intention but was not related to innovation behavior. Boundaryless career attitude mediated the relationships between psychological capital and all four outcomes; however, the indirect effects on career satisfaction and turnover intention were inconsistent with the corresponding direct effects. The indirect relationships of psychological safety through boundaryless career attitude were not significant. Our findings highlight the role of boundaryless career attitude as a mediator with mixed effects on career outcomes in contemporary STEM careers and offer implications for career counseling with STEM professionals navigating culturally complex career environments.