An Exploration of How Individuals with a Family Business and Family Office Context Make Career Decisions

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Organization Development & Change (D.O.D.C.)

Department

Organization Development

First Advisor

Michael Zickar (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Neil Baird (Other)

Third Advisor

Margaret Brooks (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Jeanelle Sears (Committee Member)

Abstract

Although family business research has examined the career intentions of adolescents from business-owning families, less is known regarding how next-generation individuals with a family business context make career decisions. Extant research suggests that these individuals experience work and career development in ways that differ from those who do not come from business-owning families, indicating that career development theories may not fully apply to them. This qualitative study addressed this gap by exploring the experiences of 16 individuals with a family business context. This research used semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis to understand how participants made career decisions and developed their vocational identity. The findings indicate that the next generation’s family business context and access to family wealth influenced their decisions to pursue careers that they can sustain throughout their lifetime. Family legacy emerged as a key career motivator, influencing participants to prioritize long-term sustainability and impact in their career choices. Family played a central role through varying levels of support, guidance, mentorship, and pressure, with participants navigating a polarity between freedom and structure in their career development. Financial security provided opportunities for exploration and pursuit of passion but also diminished motivation to pursue a career path. Vocational identity development was found to be complex and evolving, characterized by blurred boundaries between family and work role identities. This study extends scholarship on vocational identity and family business by demonstrating how family business context informs career decision-making and shapes vocational identity, and it offers practical implications for families, advisors, and practitioners who support next-generation career development.

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