I have just arrived home from the United States, where I attended the 86th Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. It was my first time presenting at AOM, and after several days of travel, a little New York sightseeing on the way, and a great deal of conversation, I wanted to set down what the week gave me while it is still fresh.

Presenting in the Careers Division

I presented in the Careers Division symposium "Careers Across the Lifespan: Meaningful Starts, Mid-Career Transitions, and Later-Life Renewal", sharing the emerging findings of my PhD research, in which I am exploring early-career decision-making for career sustainability.

The symposium followed a discussion-based format, which meant the audience had read the paper in advance. This changes the nature of the session. Rather than establishing the background, the conversation moves quickly to the contribution and its implications, which I found both demanding and rewarding. Our symposium was recognised as a runner up for the Careers Division Best Symposium award, a generous acknowledgement of the work that the organisers and presenters put in.

*Symposium organisers, discussants, and presenters!*

The feedback from our discussants, Professor Beatrice van der Heijden and Professor Mel Fugate, was thoughtful and encouraging. Both prompted me to be clearer and bolder about what my work brings to career research, and I came away with a sharpened sense of where the analysis goes next.

Session Highlights

Two sessions in particular shaped my thinking across the week.

The first was the Hughes Award plenary, at which Professor Beatrice van der Heijden was recognised for her lifetime contribution to careers scholarship. Her keynote explored how people can remain happy, healthy and productive across the life course, and her insistence that a sustainable career is idiosyncratic stayed with me. No one can determine for another person what a good working life should look like, and how these experiences are balanced depends on the person, the context and the point they have reached. She also made a compelling case for looking beyond calendar age towards factors such as tenure, life stage and future time perspective.

The second examined how expertise is renewed over time, introducing the concept of flexpertise, which reframes expertise as an adaptive process rather than a fixed accumulation of knowledge. I found the idea that experts must stay aware of what they do not yet know, since this is what keeps learning alive, particularly relevant to my thinking about how early-career professionals adapt to changing demands.

The Conversations Between Sessions

It was a pleasure to connect with fellow PhD students working in careers. I spoke with others at the same stage about how career stage shapes self-management, and about the distinctive experiences that early-career professionals, and women in particular, navigate as they progress. In one conversation I found an unexpected meeting of minds around career imprinting, and the beginnings of a discussion about how our work might connect. There is something reassuring about finding your people early in the journey.

I was equally grateful for the time given by established researchers. I discussed recruitment methods for studies of career decision-making, a practical challenge I have thought about a great deal, and explored the idea of turning some of the flexpertise concepts into an accessible online tool. Others offered a valuable practitioner perspective and a shared commitment to bridging the gap between research and practice, or pointed me towards the wider careers community and the conferences worth attending as I continue.

New York, I Love You

Before the conference began, I spent a few days in New York, and the city more than lived up to its reputation. I walked for hours in Central Park, which offers a welcome sense of space and calm in the middle of everything, and I saw The Book of Mormon live on Broadway, which was every bit as sharp and joyful as I had hoped. It was the perfect way to begin the trip, and a reminder that time away has its own value alongside the work.

A Week Amongst Careers Scholars: AOM 2026

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