1ST AND 2ND CAREER CLERGY - INFLUENCES OF AGE AND GENDER ON THE CAREER-STAGE PARADIGM

The traditional age-graded, career-stage paradigm used to predict, exp lain, and evaluate clergy career behavior, has been challenged by the recent substantial influx of ordained second-career men and women. Thi s analysis tests the validity of the paradigm for career trajectories other than those of first-career men. The results, quantitatively eval uating the career trajectories of 1,373 Episcopal and 196 Unitarian Un iversalist men and women clergy ordained between 1920 and 1990, sugges t that the two most relevant age-related demarcations for men are ordi nation by the mid-thirties for senior-level attainment, and ordination by age 50 for mid-level attainment. Career trajectories of women cler gy show fewer age effects, likely due to the suppressing influence of gender on opportunities for mobility and attainment. Consequently, age -graded occupational paradigms are ineffective in explaining or predic ting career dynamics for women clergy. Comparison of these two religio us organizations suggests that denominational size and occupational st ructure may influence the effect of age on clergy careers.