In this paper we introduce key concepts that inform a life course perspective, including its focus on the temporal organization of career paths and life biographies. We demonstrate the value of a life course approach to theorizing about, studying, and considering work–family arrangements and their policy implications. To do so we draw primarily on findings from studies undertaken using the Ecology of Careers Study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The value of both the life course and career concepts comes in recognizing the dynamics of the work–family interface, as well as the need to address and redress the mismatch between the new workforce and outmoded labour market policies as they occur at all multi‐layered stages of workers' biographies. Drawing on this perspective, and concentrating on the USA in comparison with select European countries, we argue that ‘work–family’ policy and research agendas for the twenty‐first century need to be recast from the current ‘work’ and ‘family’ dichotomy to ...

From ‘work–family’ to ‘flexible careers’: A life course reframing

We applied a life course perspective to an examination of work-to-school transitions, and highlighted the individual and family-level factors that differentially shape the career pathways of men and women. We employed data from a sample of employed middle-class men and women in dual-earner couples (N = 1,408 couples) to examine the relationship between returning to school and prior educational attainment, individual biographic pacing (age, timing of marriage), job history, current job conditions, psychological resources, and family demands. Results support several hypothesized gender differences in the return to school pathway. Women with the heaviest combination of work and family demands were the most likely to return, an unexpected finding that we discuss with reference to both personal and structural resources.

Gendered career paths: A life course perspective on returning to school

This action research study involved an ‘expert group’ that was convened to consider issues for mature age nursing students in the Australian context and develop recommendations that could be used to strengthen mature age entry, access and success in nursing programs. Consistent with action research, the group worked through phases of planning, action, observation, evaluation and critical reflection. In developing recommendations that could be used for future planning, the group met regularly, reviewed extensive literature, and conducted two data collection activities, a questionnaire and focus group with education providers. From the action research activities, five major recommendations were generated. These focused on the value of mature age students, the need for specific information, transparent and clear processes for students entering nurse education, study support and finally, the provision of financial assistance.

Mature age students access, entry and success in nurse education: an action research study.

Educational careers are shaped by both work and family roles. This study compares middle-class dual-earner couples in which wives were currently returned to school (N = 124) with couples in which the wives had never returned to school (N = 866). These data are combined with additional in-depth interviews with 24 women who returned to school. Our life course perspective highlights why working women return to school, the resistance they experience in redefining family roles, and outcomes on family and marital satisfaction. Gendered family adaptive strategies, made earlier in the life course, are associated with the decisions to return to school and the negative impact this decision has on family life quality.

Integrating educational careers in work and family

This study investigated what it means for mature gay men to be voluntary single from the perspective of both assessment and subjective experience. A convenience sample of 94 self-identified single gay men from a large midwestern city, ages 35 and over, completed a structured questionnaire that included the 15-item Adaptation to Single Status Measure. Twenty of these men also participated in semi-structured life-history interviews. Descriptive, item, and scale analyses indicated a discrepancy between the perception of oneself as “single by choice” and acceptance of and satisfaction with single status. Qualitative data indicated that voluntary singlehood is neither a salient identity nor an expression of primary control; rather, it is an idiosyncratic “narrative strategy” and a form of secondary control that preserves ego integrity. These findings are discussed with respect to their implications for the creation and maintenance of healthy, happy, single lifestyles and communities.

Single by Choice? Assessing and Understanding Voluntary Singlehood Among Mature Gay Men

This article explores the allocation and nature of educational experiences throughoutadult life. The authors are especially concerned with the opportunities and barriersassociated with the pursuit ...

Educational Experiences Throughout Adult Life New Hopes or No Hope for Life-Course Flexibility?

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Educational Experiences Throughout Adult Life New Hopes or No Hope for Life-Course Flexibility?