Multiple career anchors of Quebec engineers: Impacts on career path and success

In the new information-centered economies, professions related to engineering, information technologies, management of information systems and R&D are becoming increasingly important. It is therefore not surprising that organizations consider these professionals a strategic resource that enhances their competitiveness. This phenomenon has engendered employers' preoccupation with topics such as motivation or career management of engineers (Igbaria, Kassicieh and Silver, 1999). The fact that Schein's career anchor model (1978) allows a better understanding of this new management challenge explains researchers' growing interest in the concept of career anchors. Schein's career anchor model (1978) is considered a major contribution to the understanding of individual career paths. A total of eight anchors have been defined: (1) functional/technical competence, (2) managerial competence, (3) autonomy/independence, (4) security/stability, (5) entrepreneurial creativity, (6) sense of service, (7) pure challenge and (8) lifestyle. This theory rests on the implicit postulate that an individual has only one dominant anchor. This phenomenon of dominance is known as "differentiation". Moreover, numerous researchers extrapolate from Schein that only the career anchor with the highest score should be retained to operationalize the concept of dominance or differentiation. However, some