ERIC Number: EJ984296
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0894-8453
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Available Date: N/A
An Overwhelming Climb: The Complexities of Combining College, Full-Time Work, and Company Tuition Assistance
Gagnon, Janelle L.; Packard, Becky Wai-Ling
Journal of Career Development, v39 n6 p479-499 Dec 2012
This paper examines the complex experiences of full-time employed adults trying to climb the career ladder in their company by making use of company tuition assistance to earn their first college degree. Guided by Savickas' (2005) career construction theory, emphasizing the personal agency and meaning-making within career development, we conducted phenomenological interviews with a purposive sample of eight men and women from six different companies using company tuition assistance while working full-time. Participants held complex feelings toward dual roles of work and school including feeling overwhelmed and delayed in their progress as well as experiencing positive synergy between school and work roles. Workplace features such as flexible scheduling and having an encouraging supervisor facilitated progress. Implications for understanding and supporting the career development of full-time employed adults are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Career Development, Tuition, Employee Assistance Programs, Interviews, Phenomenology, Education Work Relationship, Family Work Relationship, Stress Variables, Occupational Surveys, Barriers, Postmodernism, Academic Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration, Goal Orientation, Achievement Need, Employee Attitudes, Student Experience, Part Time Students, Employees, Performance Factors, Coping
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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