CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN: COUNTERACTING THE MID-LIFE CRISIS

Abstract

Although much attention has been devoted to the stages of child and adolescent development, only in recent years have psychiatrlits and psychologists conducted studies on the phases of adult development. David Gutmann, a University of Michigan psychologist, has suggested that there are three phases of adulthood: young adulthood, from 21 to 35; mature adulthood, from 35 to 60; and old age, from 60 until death. The transition from young adulthood to mature adulthood, the "mid-life crisis," may be as difficult a time as adolescence. Similar findings come from Kenn Rogers, who discusses the "mid-career crisis": ... at some point between the ages of thirty and thirty-nine most people undergo a crisis in the course of which profound changes occur in the individual's relations to himself or herself and to his or her external environment." In her New York Magazine article, "Catch 30," Gail Sheehy maintains that between the ages of 29 and 32 most people, men and women, feel restricted and want to make some changes in their lives. Those in domestic roles want a career; those with careers want domestic life. People who are still in school want some work experience; people who have been working want to go back to school.