A qualitative study of non-salient factors in re-entry women's self-exploration of early life career development

Avery, Betty (1996) A qualitative study of non-salient factors in re-entry women's self-exploration of early life career development. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify non-salient factors in re-entry women's self-exploration of early life career development of a select group of Newfoundland re-entry women. The study included ten women with ages ranging from twenty to fifty registered at Human Resource Development Canada. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews. -- A naturalistic method of data analysis was used following the general outline of Marshall and Rossman, cited in Dyke, 1992. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed for data analysis. The audiotapes were listened to several times before being transcribed. The data were read and reread to identify emerging themes against the original tapes according to the factors in the literature. The narrative excerpts of the individual women's transcripts were related to the factors salient in the career development of women according to the theoretical constructs. During the entire process it was necessary to read the transcripts many times to capture the actual responses of the women without error in interpretation. -- The career development theories proposed by Super (1953, cited in Herr & Cramer, 1992), Farmer (1985), Astin (1984), Gottfredson (1981) and Hackett and Betz (1981), formed the basis for the conceptual development framework. -- It was evident from the findings that the career development of the women were influenced by a number of different factors. Career development was described to be a process that continues over the life span. -- Recommendations for practice focused in the area of more and improved career awareness programs for women and their families in rural areas. Recommendations for research included studies on re-entry men compared to re-entry women, self-concept, discrepancy in the perceptions of women's abilities and actual support for re-entry women on the career development of women.

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