Entering and exiting the corporation: A developmental study of women executives at midlife.
Item
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Title
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Entering and exiting the corporation: A developmental study of women executives at midlife.
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Identifier
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AAI9946145
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identifier
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9946145
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Creator
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Brewster, Mary Kim.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Laurence Gould
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Date
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1999
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Women's Studies | Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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Although there has been attention paid in the popular press and management journals to women executives at midlife leaving their jobs in American corporations, few researchers have studied this phenomenon. This study examines the leave-taking of women executives from the perspective of adult-developmental theory. It focuses on two aspects of midlife career change for women executives: (1) its implications in regard to the research literature on adult development; (2) the developmental processes, tasks, and experiences of women corporate executives at midlife.;Twelve subjects, six women who left their jobs in senior management, and six women who remained in their jobs, were interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interviews designed to elicit the experiences of working in the corporation and explore the process of career change at midlife. The subjects were between 44 to 53 years of age.;The findings of this study strongly supported Daniel Levinson's (1978, 1996) theory of the human life cycle as an overlapping sequence of eras, with six developmental periods, and an alternation between stable and transitional periods. The close adherence of this sample of women to Levinson's sequences diverged from previous findings in studies of women's development.;There were several observations regarding the developmental processes and experiences of women executives at midlife: (1) making the decision to either stay in the corporation or leave was an important developmental task of middle adulthood; (2) making the decision preoccupied women during the Midlife Transition (ages 40--45); (3) the process of re-examining the work role was associated with moderate to severe crisis for many women.;Several developmental tasks for executive women at midlife were identified: (1) accepting the consequences of life choices; (2) mourning the loss of youthful fertility; (3) continuing work on separation-individuation; (4) reclaiming relationships; (5) defining success on one's own terms; (6) assuming positions of mature leadership; (7) expanding the life-structure to allow for Generativity, creativity, and caring.;Executive women who occupied work roles that could accommodate midlife developmental tasks were more likely to stay in their jobs. Conversely, women who could not realize aspects of the midlife self in their work were more likely to leave their positions in the corporation at this time.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
