The role of human capital, motivation and supervisor sponsorship in predicting career success

Based on Turner's (1960) contest- and sponsored-mobility systems, a compreh ensive model of the determinants of career success was examined. Human capi tal and motivational variables represented the contest-mobility system wher eas leader-member exchange and supervisor career mentoring represented the sponsored-mobility system. Results based on data from 245 supervisor -subor dinate dyads indicated limited support for the contest-mobility system and strong support for the sponsored-mobility system. Interestingly, the two fo rms of sponsorship were differentially related to career outcomes. Specific ally, leader-member exchange was positively related to salary progression, promotability, and career satisfaction. Career mentoring, however, was only related to promotability. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.