AN EMERGING THEORY OF CAREER TRANSFORMATION IN TRADE UNION MEMBERS (NEW MEXICO).

Abstract

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192 p.

The purpose of this study was to discover common categorical themes in the life structure of workers who had held positions in a trade union and proceeded to experience a mid-life perspective career transformation. This grounded theory research identified five categories that described adults who had previously held positions within trade unionism and then experienced a mid-life career change. This research was concerned primarily with the question, what are the categorical factors that describe the behaviors of those adults who chose to leave employment in a trade union environment in favor of other positions thereby experiencing a mid-life vocational career transformation?The categories included a security perspective, a determination perspective, a loyalty perspective, a pride perspective, and a power perspective. These categories, with their respective properties, evolved from the repetitive observation of transcribed interviews of discussions about the informants' career change experiences. All 41 informants lived and worked in Northern New Mexico. The researcher identified patterns of categorical relationship that occur throughout the the select sample and constructed theory that identifies, defines, integrates and synthesizes properties that are involved in a career choice. The research informants grouped naturally into three clusters that included the entire sample. These clusters were: (a) those who shifted from a trades environment into some other vocation of their choosing, (b) those who shifted from a trades environment into vocational education, and (c) those who shifted from a trades environment into management roles within the same corporate structure.This grounded theory research is intended to demonstrate the usefulness of theory building in adult education. This researcher used participant observation to identify thematics that did characterize the career decision making behaviors of adults and to draw implications for further study in adult education.