Academic careers: The limits of the ‘boundaryless approach’ and the power of promotion scripts

Despite serious criticism, the boundaryless view of careers still heavily influences research. This article aims to do more than just challenge the claim that careers are becoming more boundaryless: our goal is to make clear that careers need to be thought of in alternative terms. To this end, we build on an analysis of academic careers to explain why regarding careers as either bounded or boundaryless is too simple and why more attention should be paid to the scripts that influence career choices. We draw from an empirical study carried out in two French universities that shows that promotion scripts operate under three conditions — credibility, legibility, and legitimacy of promotion models. We conclude that scripts are potentially very useful in understanding a wide range of careers.