Mid-life women and the search for self in work.

Abstract

In this qualitative study, five stories of work meaning are explored. Grounded in phenomenology and guided by a constructivist, feminist perspective, its purpose was to describe how mid-life women subjectively understood, interpreted and defined work meaning, after a voluntary transition to work---in either paid or non-paid arenas---which held more personal significance. Following Seidman's (1998) tenets for in-depth phenomenological interviewing, the sessions enabled the women to expand upon the conversational narrative (Kvale, 1984, 1996; Ochs, 1997). The existential dimensions of lived time, lived space, lived body and lived relation provided a systematic structure for developing a thematic textual understanding. Descriptions and interpretations of the women's mosaic and metaphoric accounts were woven together with the researcher's own experience in a narrative structure, revealing everyday, ordinary aspects of work meaning. The analysis uncovered several themes concerning metamorphosis, re-discovery and reclaimed purpose. The results indicated perspectives which coincide with some aspects of both traditional theories of adult development and relational theories of female development. Where they denote a difference is in the centrality of work as a construct that has greater continuing meaning for women's individual psychological development and identity than traditional concepts of mid-life maintenance and decline have allowed. The women in the study did not separate work and enjoyment, and pursued personal meaning and emotional, artistic and intellectual self-fulfillment through work as a way of integrating categories of identity. They were living consciously, activated by an appropriate use of self. By giving voice to this under-represented group, the study makes the work meanings of mid-life women intelligible to educators, career development practitioners and policy makers.