| Summary: | Career paths are formed over time from interactions between individuals, organizations,
and labor markets within and across geographic locations. What are the prototypical career paths
thus formed? Who are the likely incumbents of these career paths? What are the consequences of pursuing these career paths? This study combines microlevel perspectives on personal agency
and macrolevel institutional factors to explain how careers unfold over time and space. The
juxtaposition of micro- and macrolevel factors contributes to career research and practice, which
have traditionally examined careers as movements across organizations and occupations over
time, but almost exclusively within specific geographic locations. We make a significant
contribution to theory and practice by analyzing sequences of jobs and residence locations for
2,836 individuals drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. The analyses
reveal eight prototypical career paths, some commonly found across geographic locations and
others idiosyncratic to specific geographic locations. The profiles of the career path incumbents
vary regarding gender, ethnicity, and education attainment. We find that the objective career
success associated with prototypical career paths is more a function of human capital
accumulation and career choices than geographic locations. We close by discussing our findings’
implications for career research and practice.
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