Career Development & Advancement Patterns of Aboriginal Executives in the Canadian Federal Public Service

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the career development and advancement patterns of Aboriginal executives in Canada's Federal Public Service to determine whether developmental opportunities; job assignments; education levels; training; mentoring; leadership experience; and networking increase the advancement of Aboriginal People to the executive category within the Canadian Federal Public Service.

To obtain this data, multiple strategies were employed, including a mailed survey questionnaire to 55 self-identified Aboriginal executives in the Canadian Federal Public Service; in-depth interviews with randomly selected individuals from the cohort pool; a document review of Public Service internal executive recruitment notices; career development and advancement materials; and reports.

The data indicated that Aboriginal executives within Canada's Federal Public Service utilized strategies providing leadership experience, training, and education to further their development and chances of advancement to the executive category.

Future research needs to build on this study to examine career development and advancement patterns in the private sector with Aboriginal executives. The study may be replicated using different employment equity groups in order to generate comparative findings. There is also a need to examine further the influence of cultural differences on career development and advancement patterns among Aboriginal People.