This study aims to provide a substance theory of experience that middle-aged women have in career-construction by investigating the experience in depth. The main points of this study are how middle-aged women construct their career and what is the mea...
This study aims to provide a substance theory of experience that middle-aged women have in career-construction by investigating the experience in depth. The main points of this study are how middle-aged women construct their career and what is the meaning of that. For this, the data were collected by in-depth interviewing 10 middle-aged women who were in career-construction and were analyzed by qualitative analysis applied the grounded approach method of Strauss and Corbin(2008), and it resulted in 159 concepts, 51 sub-categories and 15 categories. The results of the analysis are summarized as follows :
The causal conditions of the experience were ‘pressure of getting jobs from anxiety about living’ and ‘formation of desire to shift their lives’. The main phenomenon appeared as ‘craving for self-realization’ and ‘despair of cognizing limits of realities’. The contextual conditions were ‘anxiety about midlife crisis’ and ‘regrets for their past lives’. The mediatory conditions were ‘learning experience as driving force’ and ‘support of social networks’.
The action and interaction strategies were ‘adjusting career expectation and compromising with realities’, ‘exerting themselves for objectives’ and ‘enduring through having meaning’. The results of the experience appeared as ‘identifying their the values of existence with being credited for their abilities’, ‘seeking meaningful lives through improving relationships’, ‘shifting their lives into ones with goals’ and ‘accepting their realities with gratitude’. The core category which explains synthetically the experience is ‘discovering the meaning of their lives through adjusting their wants and limits’.
In this study, the process of career-construction of middle-aged women resulted in 4 phases, ‘recognizing desire’, ‘cognizing limits’, ‘mediating’ and ‘seeking meaning of lives’, by time. In recognizing desire phase, a motivation of career-construction, middle-aged women faced with their desire for self-realization surfacing. Next, In cognizing limits phase, they found difficulties of their realities which they faced during the process. In mediating phase, they adjusted their desire and limits. Also, they clarified their objectives and exerted themselves for it. Finally, In seeking meaning of lives phase, they realized important the values in their lives through career-construction and found meaning of their lives in working.
The types of the construction were categorized as 3 types, achieving type, harmonic type and adaptational type, according to the results of the process mediating their desire and limits. The achieving type found the values of existence by being recognized from others and having meanings in achieving their dreams which had been sunk. And the harmonic type found the meanings in harmonizing with housekeeping and working. And the adaptational type followed the chances they were given and thanked for their works gained by the chance.
And this study is meaningful for as follows. First, as middle-aged women, who felt the midlife crisis, had found their jobs, they made their own meaning of their lives not just because of self-realization or living expenses. Second, the meanings and the values which they thought important were revealed as motivation that led not only their career selecting but also the whole career-constructing process. Third, their learning experience and support of social network were driving force to overcome troubles they faced in the process. Therefore, this study suggests that various lifelong learning facilities, career counseling and jog supporting system should be built for manpower of middle-aged women. Fourth, they showed growing morality which had expanding perspective from themselves to their families and others in the process, because the meaning of their lives were recognizing their existence, widening and recovering their relationships and pursuing altruism. Finally, this study supports understanding and helping middle-aged women in christian counseling by giving practical solutions that help them to find out and follow their own calling.
Key Words : Middle-aged women, Career-construction