Change and Development in Careers. Final Report.

This report describes a study that examined three types of change that affect career development: (1) changes in jobs and behavior that occur as people mature and age, (2) cultural changes that alter the opportunities and attitudes of people born at different times in history, and (3) changes in the environment that affect the opportunities and behavior of people. Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 reviews the major approaches to career development in sociology and psychology while chapter 3 outlines how the two approaches can be combined. Chapter 4 describes the development and validity of the occupational status and the occupational field classifications. The fifth chapter describes the National Longitudinal Survey data used in the study. The next three chapters describe patterns of career outcomes: the employment status and kinds of work held at different ages, the occupational aspirations men have at different ages, and the extent to which earlier aspirations and jobs determine later jobs held. Chapter 10 focuses on family and personal background variables that are associated with entering different fields and levels of work, while chapter 11 focuses on the influence of educational and economic environments. The final two chapters review the theoretical and practical implications of the study. (LRA)