Antecedents to graduates' intent to leave

This thesis investigates the principal reasons why graduates working in large private-sector organisations may harbour intentions to leave their jobs in the early stages of their career. In the first study, semi-structured interviews were carried out on 12 graduates working in a variety of professions and organisations. These were analysed using Miles and Huberman's (1994) approach to descriptive thematic analysis, which identified six distinct types of antecedents relating to graduates’ intent to leave; these were: Organisational Receptiveness, Remuneration, Job Characteristics and Work Environment, Professional Development, Work Relationships and Social Support, and Professional Belonging. In the second study, items that were based on these antecedents were distributed as a questionnaire to 225 graduates working in a range of occupations and organisations. A series of data-reduction techniques carried out on this data led to a three-component structure being retained, and comprised of: professional development, work relationships and social support, and professional belonging. This structure replicated three of the six qualitatively-derived antecedents and has produced a useful measure of these antecedents, which has demonstrated strong levels of internal reliability and construct validity.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

mphil

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Nottingham Trent University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Cockshott, CJ

Language dc:language

en