Cities as ecosystems of (Un)sustainable careers: Analyzing the city-career relationship in the tourism of Porto Alegre

Abstract

There is an inherent relationship between careers and cities that is underexplored in academic research. In this regard, the present study aims to empirically analyse the influence of cities as a context in career development. The article supports the argument that the career-city relationship is systemic, as they interrelate and mutually structure each other. Twenty-five narrative interviews were analysed with tourism professionals in Porto Alegre, collected for a previous study that aimed to investigate the relationships between these professionals' careers and inherent aspects of the city. The career ecosystem theory will be used as a theoretical framework for data analysis. It is concluded that the career ecosystem is a result of the interaction of actors with the city. The sustainability of the ecosystem does not involve a rigid status quo but rather the ability to adjust and adaptations that shape and reconfigure the relationships between actors, which are dynamic and learn through interactions over time. Careers are affected by systemic structural aspects of cities that weaken or strengthen the potential for individual agency. Contextual influences act as guiding forces for movements within the ecosystem towards more or less sustainable careers.