A COMPARISON OF CHARACTERISTICS OF CAREER CHANGERS AND NON-CAREER CHANGERS ENROLLED IN A NON-TRADITIONAL BACHELORS DEGREE PROGRAM DURING MID-LIFE.

Abstract

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180 p.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether mid-life career changers were significantly different from non-career changers on selective characteristics. The characteristics studied were attitudes toward work and career path; mid-life behavior, values, and changes; external and internal influences on career decisions; demographic factors; and self-concept.The subjects consisted of 60 students enrolled in the Board of Governors (BOG) Degree Program during the Spring/Summer and Fall Trimesters, 1979, at Governors State University in Park Forest South, Illinois. The subjects were divided into two groups of 30 each: (1) career changers--those enrolled in the BOG program primarily for the purpose of either initiating or completing a career change, and (2) non-career changers--those enrolled in the program primarily for other reasons. A questionnaire, based on the factors associated with adult development and career change, and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale were used to obtain the data.The data were analyzed by categories established by the characteristics studied and either the chi square test for independence, or the t test for significance was conducted for each item on the questionnaire and for the self-concept total positive score to determine whether there was any significant difference between the responses of the career changers and non-career changers. The null hypothesis for each category was then accepted or rejected at the .05 level of probability.The findings indicated that there were significant differences between the career changers and non-career changers on three items: (1) the career changers spent fewer years in their present jobs than the non-career changers; (2) the career changers spent more time in volunteer work than the non-career changers; and (3) the career changers had achieved their original goal/dream or an alternative, while the non-career changers either had achieved an alternative goal, or were still working toward their original goal/dream. There were no significant differences between the career changers and non-career changers on the other 149 characteristics studied.The major conclusion derived from this study was that the mid-life characteristics of career changers were not significantly different from those of non-career changers among students enrolled in the Board of Governors Degree Program at Governors State University. From this conclusion, it was suggested that the lack of significant difference between the two groups may be attributed to a basic similarity among all the subjects resulting from their common decision to complete a bachelor's degree during mid-life. It was recommended that assumptions which state that mid-life career changers are significantly different from non-career changers, and that mid-life crises and transitions have significant effects on career decisions need to be further researched.