Australian Women and Careers Psychological and Contextual Influences Over the Life Course

This unique book draws on an Australia-wide, longitudinal study, which traces the careers of 3,500 individuals over two decades. The authors use this rich data to explore important aspects of women's careers. Women have been at the vanguard of social and occupational change during this period, and the authors examine the impact on women's lives of the concurrent changes in Australia's educational, occupational, social, and political profile. They look at areas such as attainment, orientations, success criteria, conflict, and stress. The book provides a useful critique and summary of existing career and occupational theories, pointing to crucial gender differences in the development of careers. The authors propose a new model of career development which embraces the experiences of both women and men, and make policy recommendations relevant to employers, career analysts and advisers, and governments.