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Author: Mason, Nancy A.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Mason, Nancy A.
Objective Indices vs. Subjective Perceptions of Career Progress
Presented: San Francisco CA, Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Decision Sciences, November 1982
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Decision Sciences Institute
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Work History

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The relationship among three objective indices of career progress and a subjective evaluation of career progress in the mid/late career stage is empirically investigated. While there is a statistically significant direct relationship, the practical significance (i. e. , strength of the relationship) is questioned. The results seem to indicate that any investigation of career progress should include both externally defined and self-defined criteria of career progress. This is in agreement with a recurring theme in the literature on careers.
Bibliography Citation
Mason, Nancy A. "Objective Indices vs. Subjective Perceptions of Career Progress." Presented: San Francisco CA, Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Decision Sciences, November 1982.
2. Mason, Nancy A.
Subjective Perceptions of Career Movement in the Mid/Late Career Stage: Objective Correlates, Antecedents, and Consequences of Various Patterns
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1983
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Retirement/Retirement Planning

The NLS of Older Men was used to explore the relationships between an individual's subjective perception of his career progress and a number of antecedent, consequent, and concurrent variables. Individuals reporting three different career patterns (progress, maintenance, and decline) in the mid/late career stage were identified. Literature on careers has tended to depict the mid/late career stage as being one of decline. Results indicated that many more men reported continued progress or maintenance over the decade than would be expected from the literature. Objective measures of career progress (such as change in income) had a weak, although statistically significant, influence on perceived progress. This result would indicate that subjectively defined career progress may need to be included along with objective measures of progress in career research. The relationships between career progress and attitudes toward various aspects of the nonwork domain tended to support the "spillover" hypothesis (i.e., a positive attitude in one domain is associated with a positive attitude in the other). The strongest positive relationship was between attitudes toward aspects of the nonwork domain that appeared to be more proximate to the work domain. Demographic variables found to be associated with reported career progress were educational level and occupation of the respondent. Respondents of higher educational levels and those employed within professional, technical, and managerial occupations were more likely to report career progress. The impact of perceived career progress on subsequent attitudes toward retirement was also studied. Results indicated that for respondents in managerial, professional, and technical as well as those in skilled trades, those respondents who reported continued progress had the most positive attitude toward retirement. Inwhite collar and blue collar occupations the most positive attitude toward retirement was reported by those who had stayed about the same in their career over the decade even when controlling for financial condition. This may indicate that a different standard for career progress was being used in the different occupational groupings.
Bibliography Citation
Mason, Nancy A. Subjective Perceptions of Career Movement in the Mid/Late Career Stage: Objective Correlates, Antecedents, and Consequences of Various Patterns. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1983.