VARIATIONS IN CAREERDEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS

VARIATIONS IN CAREER

DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS

For many people, career development may not be orderly and predictable. For example, when women entered the workforce in the 1940s to replace the men who had been called to military service, many had never worked outside the home. However, women

were—and still are—expected to care for their families in addition to working. The demands of working in both arenas have created somewhat different career paths for women and for men. 

The conflict between the roles of wife, mother, and worker often has an effect on women’s career progression. For example, single working women are more likely to be promoted than women who are married and have children. 

For men, having children does not seem to have as much effect on career development. Increasingly, both women and men are beginning to take more time away from their careers to spend time with their families; therefore, the tradition of participating in full-time paid labor for the majority of one’s adulthood is changing. Workers are also beginning to decentralize the role of employment in their lives to pursue other interests. 

In response to this shift in priorities, employers have begun to adapt to parents’ desire for more family time and flexibility by developing new work situations such as job sharing, working from home, or working part-time. Maternity and paternity leaves offer parents the opportunity to leave the workforce temporarily to raise children. As a result of these changes, career development may not be a linear process for parents who take time away from the workforce to raise families.

Another group that has experienced variations in career development is immigrants. During the 20th century, the rapid increase in technology and globalization of corporations made the world smaller. One result was the migration of workers. For immigrants in a new country, especially professionals, entering a career is more challenging than it is for citizens of that country. 

For example, people who are trained as doctors or lawyers in other countries may find they are unable to work in the United States because their training is not transferable. Therefore, they must retrain in the same career or move into another profession. Other challenges to career development for immigrants may include language barriers, access to well-paying jobs, difficulty obtaining a work visa, or discrimination.