Responses to midcareer issues must develop from the recognition that some values of the emerging work force differ from those of staff in their 50s. An organization's best interest lies in listening to the needs of staff, finding new ways to enrich their lives and accommodate its policies to their legitimate drive for self-direction. (JOW)

Increased turbulence in the workplace is affecting the careers of an aging workforce: changed skill needs, relations with employers and coworkers, and attitudes toward retirement and aging. Study of careers beyond midlife should bear in mind that retirement is an individual decision and the aging process is unique to the individual. (SK)

This issue on counseling in the third quarter of life includes 17 articles on planning for and adjusting to retirement, traveling, aging, programs for women, employment, transitions, looking for a job, mentoring, playing, and connecting with nature. Articles focus on the third quarter as a time to respond to old calls and answer new ones. (JOW)

Although it may be so subtle that it is not noticed or sudden and life altering, adult development occurs in a cycle of four inherent processes: transaction, transition, transformation, and transcendence. These processes exist in a cycle characterized by growth and development. The processes can be defined as follows: (1) transaction--personal,…

Presents concepts of life course, life cycle, life structure, and the adult development of the life structure in early and middle adulthood. Discusses six major issues that must be dealt with by every structural approach to adult development. (PS)

Deals with women who have physical disabilities at midlife transition, identifies issues unique to them, and suggests strategies to help them cope with their concerns. (Author/BL)

The academic environment, trends in higher education, and issues in adult development create an ideal environment for alcohol misuse. A typology for the professors at risk, the impact of alcohol misuse upon their performance, and means of dealing with the problem are proposed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses career development programs designed and offered for adult students and alumni of the University of Baltimore. Reviews the theory of adult development, adaptation to transition, and career development interventions that were helpful in designing the programs. (Availability: 1190 South Bascom Avenue, Suite 211, San Jose, CA 95128) (JOW)

Reviews the findings of Alsanian and Brickell's study of adults' returning to formal education and the causes of adult learning. Shows that career events, followed by changes in leisure-time activity, outnumber all other reasons for returning to school. Discusses the implications of increasing life transitions for community colleges, especially…

The process of career change is examined: assessing what one has; deciding what to do; seeing how one can use skills in new work situations; or, if necessary, developing new skills. (CT)

Uses the story of "Snow White" to examine issues regarding self and midlife development, especially for women. Considers issues of beauty, image, power, generativity, intimacy, identity, and integration. Suggests that this story illustrates a major midlife task, that of coming to terms with earlier images of oneself in order to develop a…

Presents a personal narrative of a midlife decision point and the choice that one librarian made regarding a career change. Topics include initial career choice; lateral and interim career choices; differences in midlife career choices; and continuing along a similar career path versus starting over in something very different. (LRW)

Asserts that many people who change their jobs in middle age move to less skilled and lower paying work. Discusses two methods of preventing this phenomenon: retraining by methods designed to take account of learning difficulties in those past normal apprenticeship age and applying principles of ergonomics, fitting the job to the worker.…

Looks at problems of career development and midlife transition in a horizontally structured workplace with few management positions. Describes Amoco's benchmark career development plan that is adapted by many other companies. (JOW)

Postponed childbearing increases the likelihood that the responsibility for caring for frail elderly parents will coincide with the period of active mothering. A woman who is 40 at the time she first becomes a mother may easily have parents or other family members over the age of 65, or even over 85 years of age. Noting that 44 percent of women…