How prevalent is the cross-disciplinary career transition? Evidence from a multi-dimensional comparative analysis

Tongyang Zhang, Chao Yu, Dong Zhang and Jian Xu ()
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Tongyang Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Chao Yu: Sun Yat-sen University
Dong Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Jian Xu: Sun Yat-sen University

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract In today’s pluralistic society, cross-disciplinary career transitions are critical for adapting to ever-changing job demands. Important influencing factors have been identified to explain these transition actions. However, studies on the prevalence of career transitions in different disciplinary areas are rare, especially those investigating the patterns of disciplinary changes accompanied by career transitions. This study applies text mining techniques, presenting data to demonstrate and compare how career transition exists widely across various disciplines. Taking library science, linguistics, electronic engineering, and radiology as representative areas and extracting resume data from Indeed, the empirical study yields noteworthy findings: Overall, the prevalence of career transition exists, with patterns varying across disciplines, illuminating the necessity for developing more inclusive curriculums or career planning frameworks to accommodate diverse needs of the job market. From the dimension of major discipline, the permeation pattern of disciplines varies. Humanities and natural sciences typically extend to other target domains, social sciences exhibit significant permeability, while engineering sciences generally revert to the initial domain. From the sub-discipline dimension, disciplines closer to the initial discipline do not necessarily have a higher employment rate. Rankings of disciplinary interaction strength and employment probabilities have a notable rank-turbulence divergence spanning from 0.4 to 0.7; from the occupation dimension, occupations spanning across different disciplines are abundant in the job market; from the skill dimension, the representativeness of occupational skills varies both within and outside the initial disciplines. Discipline-specific skills in electronic engineering and linguistics exhibit high representativeness both within and outside the initial discipline, while soft skills rank high outside the initial discipline in library science and radiology. These findings indicate how individuals develop professionally throughout transitions between various disciplines, providing strategic guidance for policymakers to synchronize career transition policies with specific patterns of discipline change, thereby promoting interdisciplinary talent cultivation objectives.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05273-1

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