A MODEL OF RADICAL CAREER CHANGE IN THE CONTEXT OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the process of radical career change as experienced in the context of an individual's life history and personal development. Lifespan interviews were condu cted with five men and five women who had undergone a significant chan ge of career. The constant comparative method of data analysis was emp loyed to generate an emerging theory grounded in the data. A prelimina ry model of psychosocial development emerged, integrating the career c hange phenomenon with broader patterns of growth and development acros s the lifespan. Most of the participants utilized career change as an opportunity to integrate emerging and previously excluded aspects of t heir personalities into their lives. The study, among other things, ex amines internal and external factors resisting change and adaptive mec hanisms empowering it.