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Bath Earth System Governance Seminar Series

The social movements literature has provided us with considerable insights into how employees who would like to see their employers change in line with societal concerns exercise voice in various capacities – from lobbying to issue-selling to grassroots mobilizing within and across organizations. However, we know much less about when, why, and how employees may choose to exercise exit when they are concerned with the societal impact of their employers’ actions. Based on a qualitative study of climate-conscious individuals choosing to stay or leave the fossil fuel industry, we uncover a multi-staged process of career exit and career repurposing based on employees’ feelings of discomfort with their employers’ actions. Specifically, our process model uncovers (1) antecedents that lead to the desire to leave, which include paying attention to stigmatizing accounts and recognizing values conflict, (2) attempts to cope with this discomfort through rationalizing staying and pursuing change from within, and (3) a phase of experiencing unbearable concerns which results in (4) career exit and career repurposing, which in our case involves pursuing novel, values-aligned careers and supporting others to do the same. Importantly, we also compare the considerations of climate-conscious employees who choose to stay in the industry with those who choose to leave based on similar concerns.

Grace Augustine is an Associate Professor in Business and Society at the University of Bath School of Management. She studies how employees attempt to address injustices at work, and in particular the role of social movements and collective action around occupational establishment and challenges. She is also interested in the role of collective imagination and alternative futures that attempt to address perceived injustices and societal problems. Grace has published in leading management journals, including The Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and the Journal of Management Studies, and she is a Senior Editor at Organization Science.

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