Brown S.D., Lent R. (Editors). Career development and counseling: putting theory and research to work

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to take retirement. Supervisors may want the employee to stay but may not be

aware of interaction difficulties. On the other hand, older employees who feel the

need to work longer than they really wanted to because of financial reasons may

be a challenge for coworkers and supervisors.

Perceived organizational culture is another dimension that provides important

messages to current employees. Choices made by current organization leadership

and how these are transmitted to current employees provide important general

information. Middle-age and older employees are usually very aware of changing

climate and how long-term employees are being treated.

Another dimension is possible new opportunities—looking for new employ-

ment opportunities within or outside the individual’s organization. This can be

planful in terms of second- or third-career education and training or may be related

to chance encounters or in response to a corporate recruiter. In those cases where

the individual is self-managing and no longer desires to continue in his or her em-

ployment, the decision to retire may be the decision of choice. Often, middle-age

and older employees may not be in a position to choose when to retire.

Figure 21.3 focuses on marriage and other significant relationships as major in-

fluences in decisions about work and retirement. One of the benefits of formal re-

tirement education is that husbands and wives or significant others can engage in

planning exercises that often are awareness-creating. Caregiving responsibilities

for parents may be a major concern for many people. Corporate elder-care services

have been available for more than two decades to assist employees who have care

responsibilities. In many cases, an employee may choose or feel forced to retire to

provide care to loved ones. Many people did not expect their retirement to be-

come a major caregiving experience to parents or spouse. Family relationships

may become more important and become a major influence in self-management

of retirement, and these relationship changes may precipitate distress or conflict

that may lead the individuals or families to counseling.

Figure 21.2 Work Influences.

Appraisal of

current situation

Continuous learning

and professional

competence

Possible

new opportunities

Work/

employment

Perceived

organization

culture

Work/family

demand

Employment-

based appraisal

Work opportunities

full/part time

Retirement

Relationship

to coworkers

Self-

evaluation

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Counseling for Retirement 517

Choosing to be near children, grandchildren, or other important family mem-

bers may be a reason to retire from a current job, move, and reestablish a house-

hold in a new location. New part-time or full-time employment may be a choice

after such a move. Migration research tells us that approximately 80% of older

adults choose to stay in their home communities to be near family and friends.

This does not preclude new and exciting choices as part of a new life period.

Probably the most complex ties are the intergenerational ones (Sterns & Huyck,

2001). Some 90% of adults ages 35 to 64 are parents. According to a review of some

of the research, “no single trajectory is characteristic of all or even most families

during the middle years of parenthood” (Seltzer & Ryff, 1994). It is, thus, impossi-

ble

to generalize neatly about the “midlife family” given the changes in timing of

births, marriage, divorce and remarriage, and blended families. Instead, parent-

ing experiences vary by social class, gender, life events and transitions, and psy-

chological functioning in both parent and child generations. Generally, Whites,

married couples, and unmarried fathers have more material resources than do

minority group parents, unmarried parents, and single mothers. Divorced parents

report more strain in and less support from parenting and are generally less sat-

isfied with parenting during these years. The majority of parents need to attend

both to work and parenting: 81% of the fathers and 64% of mothers ages 35 to 44

have children at home and are employed (Seltzer & Ryff, 1994).

Grandparenting is a relationship with many meanings and varied enactments

(Robertson, 1977). In contrast to the stereotyped images of sedentary, cookie-

making or fishing grandparents, many grandparents now are very involved in

vigorous, complex lives of their own. With the rise in unwed maternity, divorce,

and substance abuse, more grandparents—especially grandmothers—have found

themselves playing an active parental role with grandchildren, and many grand-

parents have fought for legal recognition of grandparent’s rights. While some

grandparents have little contact with their grandchildren, others are thrust into re-

sponsibilities they thought they had left behind (Hayslip & Goldberg-Glen, 2000).

Figure 21.3 Marriage and Other Significant Relationships.

Children

Grandchildren

Nieces and

nephews

Spouse or

significant other

Parents

Cousins

Relationship

to family

Relationship

to friends

Siblings

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Many middle-age children have living parents, and the wish and/or the need to

be involved in their lives can pose another balancing challenge. For comparison, in

1800, a 60-year-old woman had only a 3% chance of having a living parent; by 1980,

that had risen to 60% (Watkins, Menekn, & Bongaarts, 1987). The increased longev-

ity of elders means that four- and five-generation families are increasingly com-

mon. As mentioned, many of the elders are still involved in nurturing younger

generations. However, the increased longevity, the relatively low fertility of women

who are now elderly, and changes in the health care system mean that families are

providing more care and more difficult care over longer periods of time than ever

before in history (Brody, 1990; Sterns et al., 1984).

Elaine Brody (1990) described the situation of “women in the middle,” with the

recognition that “women” included others who provide care. A 1992 Harris sur-

vey of adults over 55 found that 29% of men and 29% of women are caregivers for

spouses, parents, other relatives, friends, and neighbors (The Commonwealth

Fund, 1993). The heroic balancing efforts of family caregivers have been well

doc

umented. Many caregivers feel pulled among spouse, children, parents, and

employment. Work may be, in such cases, a relief from otherwise relentless pres-

sures. Some women, however, find they must reduce work to part time or with

draw

altogether.

Finally, Figure 21.4 relates to what keeps people in their home communities or

what aspects of community may be important in providing a meaningful context

and sense of belonging. Much of the classical retirement literature has focused on

these dimensions of community. What is important here is how these dimensions

relate to our self-concept and how this influences our decisions to continue to work

or to retire. Some individuals feel alienated by their community relationships and

wish to reestablish themselves in a new community context. Others may have more

than one residence and move back and forth between the new and the old, empow-

ered by both locations. Yet others totally enjoy being a part of roles and involve-

ments that are longstanding (Schlossberg, 2004). What is critical is our ability to

bridge from the individual level to the broader work and societal context.

SUMMARY

The Sterns and Kaplan (2003) model provides the practitioner with an initial ap-

proach to organizing what may otherwise be an overwhelming array of issues. It

Figure 21.4 Community Influences.

Religious

involvements

Volunteer

roles

Noninvolvement

Community

organizations

Community

Clubs

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Counseling for Retirement 519

also echoes themes noted by R. D. Hill, Thorn, and Packard (2000) in their chapter

on counseling older adults. Hill et al.’s emphasis on continuity and change in

later life development and the importance of meaning-making seems consistent

with Sterns and Kaplan and much of the other literature overviewed in this chap-

ter. Individuals’ decisions about when and how to retire likely are mediated by

personal history and longstanding coping mechanisms. The ability to be reflec-

tive about this life transition and to consider concomitantly the many facets of

their life is critical if people are to make meaning out of their personal history;

many people need assistance with these tasks.

Practitioners, then, would do well to heed the call of R. D. Hill et al. (2000) to

provide educative, preventative, and remedial counseling services to older adults,

and especially those grappling with retirement-related issues. Indeed, from a

life-span approach, prevention may be the most critical mode of intervention;

raising awareness about the multifaceted nature of retirement issues at the begin-

ning of adulthood could avert some subsequent problems. Young adults would be

well served by life planning services that might be offered through community

outreach or educational programs or perhaps their employer. Currently, retire-

ment planning programs often are offered too late to be effective.

Thus, there is much for us to do to assist persons to manage effectively their

careers and retirement. The issues raised in this chapter identify themes and rec-

ommendations of earlier literature and may serve to guide future research and

practice. Considering the dramatic increase in the number of middle-age and

older people, counseling practitioners need to be prepared to provide services to

their clients of all ages and backgrounds. Knowledge about life-span development

and the many aspects of aging in our society is critical if the practitioner is to as-

sess and intervene thoughtfully and appropriately (R. D. Hill et al., 2000).

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SECTION FIVE

SPECIAL NEEDS AND

APPLICATIONS

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CHAPTER 22

Promoting the Career Development

and Academic Achievement of At-Risk

Youth: College Access Programs

Consuelo Arbona

N THE

NITED

TATES

,opportunities for career development and choice are

closely related to level of academic attainment. As several authors have noted,

the concept of career choice has the most meaning for individuals with levels

of academic attainment that lead to occupations that allow for progressive op-

portunities over time (Fitzgerald & Betz, 1994; Richardson, 1993). In the current

labor market, where most of the fastest growing occupations require high levels

of tec

hnical skills, jobs that provide opportunities for advancement, professional

autonomy, and personal fulfillment require at least a college degree (U.S. Depart-

ment of Labor, 2002).

Educational attainment is also closely related to the opportunities and rewards

people experience in the labor market. For example, in the year 2000, among peo-

ple 25 years and older, 1.7% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher were un-

employed while the same was true for 3.5% of high school graduates and 6.4% of

high school dropouts. Similarly, those with higher levels of education garner bet-

ter incomes. In 1999, the median annual income (in 2001 dollars) for year-round

full-time male workers was about $25,000 for high school dropouts, $33,000 for

high school graduates, and $53,000 for college graduates (the median incomes for

women were, $17,000, $23,000, and $38,000, respectively). Overall, a college grad-

uate is estimated to earn $1 million more in income and benefits over a lifetime

than a high school graduate (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2001).

In his theory of career development, Super conceptualized occupational aspira-

tions and choice primarily as a stage-wise process in which individuals seek ca-

reers that are congruent with their self-concepts (Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996).

Traditional developmental theories have been criticized for neglecting to take into

account the environments in which children, adolescents, and young adults make

the myriad choices that result in specific career trajectories in adult

hood (Arbona,

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