Because of the economic and cultural changes that are currently taking place in society and the workplace, many adults who had their career and personal lives planned to retirement are finding those plans no longer viable and are recognizing the need to readjust their career expectations. Many adults who had always viewed life as a linear,…

Changes in the composition of the work force and changing work values require new life span and career development models that account for individual, gender, and cultural differences in experience. Age/stage models form one school of thought in developmental theory. A major criticism of prevailing theories is that they are based on male…

Adults experience cyclical periods of stability and transition throughout life. The conflict between role cycles may spur career change. Personality differences between voluntary changers and nonchangers have been identified in research. Career changes may be triggered by factors ranging from the anticipated (marriage, empty nest) to the…

Various researchers, including Carl Jung, Charlotte Buhler, Erik Erikson, and Robert Havighurst, have formulated sequential models of adult development. More recent investigators, such as Daniel Levinson, Roger Gould, and Gail Sheehy have formulated age-related sequential models of adult development that view the various stages of adulthood in…