Women who, as adolescents, feared success in male-dominated fields, may demonstrate non-traditional career preferences later in life and return to school to pursue their new career aspirations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 women over age 30 who were enrolled in graduate or professional schools. Data showed that mature women students…

It is difficult to define mid-life career change because it varies from person to person. A wide variety of sociological, economic, technological, and psychological factors impinging on the conscious and unconscious being of individuals affects how they deal with this particular stage of life. These factors include individual needs, family and…

A special program was initiated in 1985 at George Washington University to encourage persons from other careers to pursue a second career in teaching in the Washington D.C. area. This report describes the variables that had to be and are continuing to be considered in the design of this training effort for mid-career professionals. Factors…

Student affairs professionals have come to realize that the student body on college campuses is changing. Adult students are filling the spaces left vacant by a diminishing traditional-aged student population. Interventions in student affairs, however, are often targeted for the specific developmental tasks of the traditional student. Student…

The teaching corps is undergoing a transformation as the teaching population ages. In the past, "burned-out" teachers could be transferred or could change professions. The economics of the 1980's leaves dissatisfied teachers with no alternative but to remain in teaching. This paper examines ways to help administrators and teachers cope with this…

A study of middle-aged women in five Israeli sub-cultures--immigrant Jews from central Europe, Turkey, Persia, and North Africa and Israeli-born Muslim Arabs--reflects the expectation that culture may shape the response to biological change. The study was carried out in four phases. First, psychiatric interviews were conducted with 55 women. In…

Through their own inventiveness and persistence, adults are circumventing institutional indifference and creating alternative educational networks to teach themselves art. Problems that must be overcome are as follows: inadequate instructor preparation, a generally narrow array of programs in most community centers with the preponderance of…

Love and romance continue to be important issues within every age group, not merely among the usually studied college students. Two issues, the nature or intensity of the love experienced and the motives or purposes of love were examined for different age groups. The ways in which the pursuit of heterosexual love may change throughout adult life…

This paper describes a pilot program developed to discover the concerns of the middle-aged and to begin education, training, and group sharing about this phase of the family life cycle. A brief literature review examining particular concerns of middle-aged adults is presented, and the question of whether middle age is a time of crisis or…

An interesting area of adult development is "gender shift": the transition from the traditional life patterns or ways of making meaning that are associated with stereotypically male or female roles. One may experience the wish to fulfill those parts of one's personality often associated with feminine or masculine constructs not yet explored.…

A study was made to determine what developmental tasks typify life stages and how schools have used these tasks and their "teachable moments" to increase employee receptivity to staff development. Data came from a review of adult development and staff development literature, observations of innovative staff development procedures used by school…

Studies have indicated that mature women maintain a permanent role identity along two dimensions, i.e., traditional women or nontraditional women. However, the lifeset of many mature adult women may be on the continuum between these two positions, i.e., in the position of "deferred achiever." The personality variables and sex-role orientations of…

A life-phase approach to adult career counseling is described in light of the current uncertain economic environment in which assistance in dealing with career-related issues is often sought through counseling intervention. The purpose of this paper is to state support for recent shifts in the goals and techniques of career counseling with adults…

Midlife transition is a potentially problematic time for all women, but especially for those who are unmarried, relatively less well-educated, and who do not reside in urban areas. Some studies suggest that unmarried women have more difficulty in identity formation and acceptance of their role by society. Married women whose children are nearly…

A study investigated the experience of midcareer adults in self-directed graduate programs. It explored two questions in the researcher's personal experience: as a learner, what caused the researcher's change in learning-orientation from goal- to learning-oriented and, as a teacher, could the researcher justify using both self- and…