In France, trade union officers are former shop stewards who have chosen to work full-time for the union for several years. This research investigates the career transitions of former union officers who have returned to the labour market following extended experience with high-level responsibilities in the union. Semi-directed interviews were…

We provide evidence for multidirectionality, variability, and plasticity in the nature and direction of change in physical health, cognitive functioning, and well-being during the middle years of the life course. The picture of well-being in midlife based on longitudinal data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study is a more positive…

Erikson's (1950) model of adult psychosocial development outlines the significance of successful involvement within one's relationships, work, and community for healthy aging. He theorized that the consequences of not meeting developmental challenges included stagnation and emotional despair. Drawing on this model, the present study uses…

This article focuses upon the processes whereby individuals reframe their career goals and career direction mid-way through their working lives. Three cases, drawn from Denmark, Germany and Italy, are used to exemplify these processes. The cases are part of a larger study which included the development of a model that could accommodate the…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of higher education in mid-life from the perspective of life course agency. Studies concerning the benefits of degree-oriented higher education have been mainly conducted using survey questionnaires and quantitative methods. In order to gain a more comprehensive picture, this qualitative…

This paper presents the early findings from a study that addresses the topic of mature age professionals making a career change into the secondary teaching profession by undertaking a postgraduate coursework initial teacher education program. The paper specifically addresses the factors that affect the decision for mature age professionals to make…

The aim of this study was to explore experiences of Roman Catholic clergy who relinquish the priesthood. Ten former priests participated in semi-structured interviews that were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Overall, the study found that priests experienced needs and aspirations conflicting with their social role and the…

Today's society, shaped by demographic changes and a global economy, has created different employment trends and work lives that result in adults' engaging in postretirement second careers. This phenomenon is a common occurrence in rapidly aging societies like Korea. This qualitative study examined the postretirement career transition process of…

A small-scale phenomenological study reveals interesting and suggestive insights into the pedagogical technology experiences of late-career faculty with institutional recognition as successful instructors. Referred to in much of the literature as "resistant" and assumed to lack training in pedagogical technology and/or to adhere to…

Objective: Two studies examined the validity of using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) to assess growth following the transition to grandparenthood as an aid for social workers seeking to promote strengths-based interventions for this population. Method: In Study 1 (n = 210 grandparent/offspring pairs), first-time grandparents'…

In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults' health behaviours. This paper…

Biographical learning as a conceptual tool for investigating learning in life transitions has gained some recognition over recent years. In this article, we elaborate on this concept against the background of previous research and suggest a number of different modes of biographical learning. We further exemplify and discuss our suggestions in…

This study examined the perspectives of novice and late career principals concerning instructional and organizational leadership within their performance evaluations. An online survey was sent to 251 principals with a return rate of 49%. Instructional leadership components of the evaluation that were most important to all principals were:…

This study explored the characteristics of the international educator through a qualitative analysis of initial decisions to teach abroad. Using interview data from 30 Anglophone educators based across three international schools in China and the Netherlands, the investigation looked beyond surface motives to explore the deeper values which…

Frequent career change is the predicted experience of workers in the global economy. Self initiating career changers are a substantial subset of the total population of career changers. There is currently a dearth of theory and research to help career counselors conceptualize the career change process for the application of appropriate…