Editorial: Celebrating 30 years of Career Development International

Welcome to a very special Editorial celebrating the 30th anniversary of Career Development International.In 1996, Executive Development merged with the International Journal of Career Management to form Career Development International. To honor this occasion, we are delighted to share reflections from the seven previous Editors, the current Co-Editor and our incoming Co-Editor.We also have a specially commissioned manuscript as the opening full article in this first issue of 2026, providing a topic modeling of the journal's 30-year history (Healy et al., 2026).Without further ado, we invite you to join us as we reflect on 30 years of Career Development International (CDI).I was the Editor of CDI in 1996, but prior to that, I was the Editor of Executive Development, which merged with the International Journal of Career Management to form CDI. As Editor at Executive Development, I sought to find papers to stimulate readers into thinking differently, find new ideas and possibly take action. Rather than focusing on academic papers, I tried to create a balance of papers from trainers, consultants, practicing leaders and managers, as well as academics who could write for a wider audience. I sought to continue this process in CDI but found increasing pressure to move towards academic papers. I still tried to find something different to publish but realised that it was time to hand over to a new Editor interested in making the move from a practitioner to an academic outlet.Becoming Editor of CDI was an important part of my career, as international career management was the central theme of my PhD. Career management should be treated as a strategic practice, yet it is too often reduced to operational concerns and overlooked as a vital part of human capital management. Many organisations continue to neglect its importance, despite growing concerns about the lack of skilled, committed staff, especially among younger employees and new hires. This neglect reflects broader issues in leadership and culture, where ineffective practices persist and undercut organisational effectiveness. My recent book, Enhancing Organisational Leadership Practice: Western and Eastern Interventions (Fish and Ma, 2023), explores these themes in depth, urging leaders to re-examine their human capital strategies, with a particular emphasis on career development. In this sense, CDI remains well-positioned, focused and managed to provide important guidance.I was interested in the field of career development as a “chaotic” subject, a place of meeting for communities of belief representing professional, humanist and business mindsets and embraced the opportunity to enable all these further from the perspective of being Editor of CDI. It was a time when these communities had shared questions about how to integrate career development with strategic thinking and policy making while at the same time effecting a culture change which gave the workforce greater responsibility to identify and pursue their own careers more autonomously. The journal has flourished to this day as it engages with and serves these communities and addresses these questions anew with fresh evidence-based knowledge. And this is needed now more than ever, as the peculiar chaos of our times presents opportunities and threats for new generations quite unlike those we have been familiar with in the last 30 years.Towards 2004, CDI was struggling to find its place in the field of career studies. It was not yet a preferred target journal for career scholars and needed a shake-up. Together with a team of dedicated and committed Associate Editors and a strong Editorial Review Board, we embarked on the challenge. We managed to leverage our global network, especially the community of the Careers Division of the Academy of Management, to attract high-quality submissions and become a developmental journal. CDI started gaining attention and appreciation, answering the need of career scholars to have a worthy journal to present their work. This formed the basis for the improved reputation and recognition by several stakeholders, most critically the Impact Factor and the ABS list positioning that came later, following this initial success. It was a gratifying experience.It was an honor to contribute to the journal during a time when the field of career research was becoming increasingly vital and dynamic. In those years, we navigated a rapidly changing environment and embraced important new topics-such as burnout, work engagement and diverse career outcomes-that continue to shape our understanding today. Career research gained both visibility and significance, serving as a guiding light for scholars seeking to unravel the complexities of careers. Our collective efforts not only advanced academic knowledge but also equipped organisations with practical insights to build more inclusive and supportive workplaces. As we move forward together, I hope we remain committed to fostering career research that empowers individuals, strengthens communities and drives meaningful progress. By working collaboratively, we can transform today's challenges into tomorrow's opportunities!To establish CDI as a reputed academic journal, I worked with the publisher to obtain ABS listing and, subsequently, the first Impact Factor for the journal. Working collaboratively with dedicated Associate Editors and Editorial Review Board members, we were able to increase the Impact factor from 1.0 to 3.72 during my nearly 15-year tenure as Editor of the journal. Theory and research on careers are evolving to reflect the complex and dynamic changes in the contemporary business landscape. I am pleased that CDI's prestige and reputation continue to rise. I particularly like the addition of the Practitioner Insights section to the journal, as practitioners are interested in advancing their careers just as much as academicians. This is precisely why I wrote a book, Thrive! The Psychology Behind Achieving Professional Success (Jawahar, 2023). Reflecting on my association with CDI, I feel privileged for the opportunity to serve as Editor. I am thankful to my team of Associate Editors and countless reviewers who gave their time and talent to guide prospective authors to make important contributions to careers theory and research. I believe the best days of CDI are ahead!What particularly stands out to me over the past three years is a remarkable transformation driven by AI, remote work and the explosion of sophisticated data. We are learning that such developments have not only reshaped career trajectories but have also redefined how we think about and conduct research, pushing us toward more digital and interdisciplinary approaches. Amid this transformation, William E. Donald and I planted seeds for a Practitioner Insights section, an initiative launched to drive direct application, ensuring our work reaches a wider audience (Harrison and Donald, 2024). As we celebrate this milestone, I am confident that these efforts will grow into a vital part of CDI's inclusive legacy, helping to shape the future of careers research and practice.Two of the first three manuscripts from my PhD were published in CDI, so the journal has always held a special place in my heart. Nearly 20 years after my PhD supervisor, Yehuda Baruch, became Editor, I was humbled to follow in his footsteps. Jennifer A. Harrison has been a generous mentor and, like all previous Editors, has helped shape the journal into a leading outlet for the career development community. The move to a Co-Editor model reflects the journal's growth and provides continuity through overlapping terms of Editors. I look forward to welcoming Laxmikant Manroop as the new Co-Editor for 2026 and continuing to serve the community alongside a dedicated team of scholars at CDI.I am honored to step into the role of Co-Editor in Chief of CDI, a journal I have admired since first serving as a reviewer in 2009. After joining the editorial team as a Senior Editor in 2023, I have had the privilege of witnessing CDI's continued growth as a vibrant and inclusive scholarly community. As I begin this new chapter, my vision for the journal centers on advancing impactful, interdisciplinary research that bridges theory, practice and policy. I am particularly committed to strengthening CDI's global reach, increasing its visibility on international ranking lists, and amplifying diverse voices, ensuring the journal remains a leading outlet for careers scholarship in an era of profound change. I also look forward to continuing CDI's tradition of intellectual rigor, constructive engagement and the occasional lively debate over what makes a manuscript truly “career defining.” As someone who believes that scholarship should be both serious and seriously engaging, I am excited to collaborate with colleagues across disciplines, regions and career stages to shape the journal's next chapter with good humor, open dialogue and a shared commitment to excellence.In closing, we would like to express our gratitude to the team at Emerald Publishing and to everyone involved with the journal over the last 30 years. CDI remains devoted to supporting cutting-edge careers research while hosting meaningful dialogue between academia and practice to foster an inclusive and sustainable career ecosystem.Additionally, we continue expanding the Editorial Advisory Board to include established and early-career scholars from around the world. This expansion reflects CDI's commitment to fostering fresh perspectives while maintaining a robust foundation of seasoned expertise. We welcome the insights and contributions of these new board members, who represent various interests and specialisations within career development.We are also pleased to share that the upper word count limit for submissions to the journal is now 8,000 words. This reflects our commitment to encourage conceptual, theoretical, qualitative, mixed methods and literature reviews, which historically have faced challenges adhering to a 7,000-word limit. Naturally, we also maintain an ongoing interest in receiving quantitative submissions, although please note that the journal will no longer be considering quantitative studies based on cross-sectional data for submissions received from the 1st January 2026. All submissions received before this date, including revised submissions received after this date, will still be eligible for consideration.Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to Career Development International. We look forward to a productive and inspiring year ahead and are honored to have each of you as part of our Career Development International community.