Life cycle changes and career development: an exploration of influences on career change decisions

摘要

The purpose of this research was to identify factors which influencedecisions concerning significant career moves among older workers andwomen returners.A questionnaire survey of older workers was conducted in order to elicitthe salient attitudes to, experience of, and satisfaction with work ofjob changers and non-changers aged 50 years and over, employed within anationwide retail organisation.Results were based on 228 questionnaires. Respondents ranged in agefrom 50 to 73 years, 54% were female, 46% male. Respondentsdemonstrated a significant increase in self-perception the perceivedbenefits of working far outweighed perceived difficulties. There weredifferences between men and women in the prompts to change employmentand in salient attitudes to work.A questionnaire survey of women returners was conducted to exploreitems women considered when embarking on college courses, theirexperience of these same items while at college, and the relationshipbetween the decision considerations and subjective well-being.The results of 336 questionnaires were analysed. Respondents ranged inage from 16 to 62 years. The expected benefits of attending collegewere given greater consideration than expected risks, confirming work byJanis and Mann (1977). Actual benefits and actual problems were overallthe most useful predictors of college related well-being.There were differences between young and mature students, women withand without partners, and those with and without dependents in termsof items on the motivator for college attendance, expected benefit andrisk and actual benefit and problem scales.The Warr Subjective Well Being (SWB) scale was shown to be a reliablemeasure of college related well-being. The wide age range and lifeexperience of respondents in both studies confirms the utility of lifeevent models of development and the desirability of developing aflexible person-centred counselling model for decision making.