Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Young Adults are Constructing Work Careers in the Contemporary Context

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

In industrial America, work careers were structured, organized, and defined by traditional employment relationships and the normal age-based transitions into and out of work. Because work in the post-industrial era involves more flexibility in both employment relationships and life course patterns, it is possible for new career patterns to emerge. This project examines how recent college graduates choose among diverse possibilities for organizing and giving meaning to their work lives. To do so, it first uses existing longitudinal cohort data on career plans and aspirations for a sample of recent college graduates. It supplements these data with in-depth, semi-structured life history interviews that help categorize diverse career strategies and experiences, and help reveal the forces behind the diverse strategies and experiences. The results contribute to the development of a theory of how highly educated adults construct their work careers in a contemporary context.