Continuing the Development of Career: A Symposium

Following a brief introduction by the editor, four symposium papers are presented on continuing the development of career: "Career Development in Adults. Why do People 35 and Over Change Jobs?" Nancy K. Schlossberg; "Applying Vocational Theory to Adult Problems," John L. Holland; "Career Development of Adults: Why, When, Where, How," Elinor Waters; and "A Philogynous Proposal: Up With Women," Mary Lou Randour. Dr. Schlossberg discusses the causes of mid-life career changes emphasizing that they do not necessarily relate to job loss or the downgrading of opportunity. A framework is presented for understanding adult career development and planning career development programs. John L. Holland's paper summarizes his developmental and structural theories on vocations. Several suggestions are presented for the practice of vocational guidance in mid-life career development. Professor Waters describes a six session career development program for adults. The clientele, format, and course content are described. The final paper by Dr. Randour discusses sex discrimination problems and the needs of women in the world of work. A solution suggested in Dr. Randour's paper is the creation of a child service educational reward system based on the concept of the Veterans Administration educational benefits. (Author/BP)