Interviews with 9 women and 12 men over 40 enrolled in university revealed that job layoff was a primary motive for seeking additional qualifications or studying for a new career. Fourteen considered their layoff experience as an opportunity to redirect their lives, but it did not necessarily result in career advancement. Different external and…

The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize the literature on adult development and to suggest how this information can be applied to the practice of adult education. The first section discusses the nature of adult development, its definition, and key concepts. Sequential patterns of change in adulthood are examined in section 2,…

A study examined the life transitions of adult educators and their perceptions toward a summer university program. The Summer Chautauqua Program was conducted to model program evaluation techniques for students of adult and continuing education, to provide data for program planners relative to the maintenance and revision of the summer program,…

Examined psychological differences between 25 pre- and 25 post-empty nest women on gender identity and ego mastery style. Indicated that post-empty nest women engaged in a more active ego mastery style than pre-empty nest women and also claimed more masculine traits. (Author/ABB)

Examined influence of adolescent development, parent-adolescent relationship, and psychological characteristics of midlife adults on marital satisfaction during transitional period of the family life cycle between childhood and adolescence. Marital satisfaction during the family's adolescent years was negatively influenced by distance in the…

Interviews with 33 midlife college professors identified as seriously disillusioned revealed that the turning points behind their career derailments fit a pattern of events, usually in early career. Successful renewal programs for such faculty members involve them as mentors for new faculty or partners in contracts for change with departmental…

The King Pre-Retirement Checklist (KPRC) was used to assess and compare pre-retirement planning of White to Native American respondents in 10 areas: financial, social, family cohesion, mobility/health, safety/security, productivity, time management, recreation/entertainment, ego integrity, and cognitive processing. Utilizing stratified random…

This project examined the careers of a one percent sample of federal civil servants for the years 1963 through 1977. The areas of employment investigated included economic returns to schooling and experience, factors affecting promotion and turnover, and occupational career ladders. A series of hypotheses and objectives specified at the outset…

There is increasing popular interest in the phenomenon of the successful professional or businessman who switches careers in middle age. There is little hard data available about the phenomenon although there is a great amount of psychological conjecture. This paper briefly reviews the various theories that attempt to explain midlife career…

This research deals with the phenomenon of the successful middle-aged careerist who drops out of his occupation into an alternate life style. These people are considered a subset of the growing numbers who change occupations in midlife, despite continuing success in their chosen career. There is some exploration of the philosophical and practical…

Ascertains what 59 male and 40 female Alberta teachers (average age 50) think about career changes, early and partial retirement. Indicates reasons for career change (personal challenge, additional salary, frustration) and lack of interest in partial retirement. Concludes options for career change should be investigated with younger age group.…

The theory of perspective transformation was used as a framework for a study of volunteerism among older adults, examining whether volunteering in community organizations in late adulthood brings about transformation in meaning structures in later life development, and if and how it affects aging at both the individual and societal levels. Two…

Examines the midlife career/crisis transition period of academic staff surveyed in four Australian Universities. Supports a generalized career stage model and a specific career stage model of academic staff, who are shown to be particularly susceptible to the midlife crisis/transition phenomenon. (Author/JAC)

This paper adopts a narrative perspective on the study of mid-life experiences in sport. Different types of stories about sporting mid-life are identified and discussed. Drawing upon the concept of narrative mapping, the potential of these stories to serve as narrative maps for those approaching mid-life is considered. Data from an interview study…

Retirement has been the subject of increasing interest in the popular as well as professional literature, but the psychosocial consequences of the transition have received little systematic attention. To study variatons in adaptation to retirement, 80 female educators and educational specialists were interviewed. The majority were rated as…