انتقال شغلی در زمان تغییرات اجتماعی است.

Drawing on data collected from two longitudinal Cohort Studies following the lives of over 20,000 individuals born in the United Kingdom 12 years apart in 1958 and 1970, respectively, this paper examines antecedents and outcomes of educational and occupational aspirations of young men and women, covering the transition from dependent childhood into independent adulthood. Two analytical models, a Social Reproduction Model and a Developmental-Contextual Model are tested to assess the processes by which family background and the wider socio-historical context influence work and family related careers. The findings demonstrate the persistent role of gender, social origin and individual agency processes as well as the influence of a changing socio-historical context on career development. Results are interpreted with regard to biographical agency processes linking individual lives with social contexts across the life course.

Relatively little is known about the processes by which families and the larger societal context influence individual commitment to and pursuit of a career. Moreover, most of the literature on career development tends to reflect the experiences of men, and there has been a noted lack of research on women’s issues in the workforce (Levinson, 1996, Osipow and Fitzgerald, 1996 and Philips and Imhoff, 1997). Although women make up almost half of the labour force, proportionately fewer women than men rise to the top of their professions (Farmer, 1997). Women’s career development remains more complex than men’s because of their multiple family and work related roles (Vondracek, Lerner, & Schulenberg, 1986). Adopting a longitudinal perspective this study will broaden existing theories by investigating antecedents of career development for both men and women. We shall place particular emphasis on links between timing of family formation and adult occupational attainment.

gives the sample characteristics for men and women in both cohorts. It appears that a similar proportion of men and women in both cohorts stems from semi-or unskilled family background. Men and women born in 1970 experienced less material hardship at age 16 than cohort members born in 1958. Parental expectations for further education are generally raised for the later born cohort, yet in both cohorts they are higher for daughters than for sons. Girls also score slightly higher on school motivation than boys in both cohorts. Aspirations for professional jobs are generally raised among the later born cohort, and in both cohorts 16-year-old girls are more ambitious than their male peers. Exam performance also appears to have increased, especially among women in the later born cohort. Women generally appear to have their children earlier than men, although men and women born in 1958 are more likely to have made the step into parenthood than cohort members born 12 years later. Regarding occupational status it appears that cohort members born in 1970 are less likely to work in semi- or unskilled jobs than those born in 1958. Especially the women in the later born cohort appear to have improved their occupational standing.