Relational Processes in Career Transition (Motulsky, S. 2010)

376415
TCP
Regular Article
Relational Processes
in Career Transition:
Extending Theory,
Research, and Practice
The Counseling Psychologist

38(8) 10781114
2010 SAGE Publications
Reprints and permission: http://www.
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0011000010376415
http://tcp.sagepub.com
Sue L. Motulsky1
Abstract
A growing body of work in relational theory and career decision making
explores how relational processes, not just peoples relationships but more
broadly their connections to self, others, and society, inform career development and counseling. This article presents the results of a qualitative research
study of midlife women in career transition that contributes to building an
empirical foundation for relational perspectives in career development. Feminist
relational psychology, specifically relational cultural theory, frames the study,
focusing attention on gender and culture in the context of relational influences.
It extends the current research by focusing on career transition for midcareer,
midlife women. Findings presented here illustrate the ways participants connections across a range of relationships enhanced and supported the process
of career change and how their disconnections hindered, and sometimes halted,
their movement through the transition. Implications for research and practice
are offered.
Keywords
adults, gender, career transition, qualitative, relational theory, vocational
psychology
Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Sue L. Motulsky, Division of Counseling and Psychology, Lesley University, 29 Everett Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: smotulsk@lesley.edu
Downloaded from tcp.sagepub.com at University of East London on January 23, 2015
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Motulsky
Sometimes you just want your hand held. And youre not supposed to want that.
Cass
Relational psychology and relational cultural theory are shifting research

and practice paradigms in human development, counseling and psychotherapy,
and career development. A growing body of work in relational career decision
making explores how relational processes, not just our relationships but more
broadly our connections to self, others, and society, inform career development
and counseling. This initial work (e.g., Blustein, 2001, 2004, 2006; Bluestein
et al., 2001; Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, 2005; Blustein, Schultheiss, &
Flum, 2004; Flum, 2001a, 2001b; Juntunen, 2006; Phillips, Christopher-Sisk,
& Gravino, 2001; Schultheiss, 2003, 2006, 2007; Schultheiss, Kress, Manzi, &
Glasscock, 2001; Schultheiss, Palma, Predagovich, & Glasscock, 2002) exemplifies the use of relational perspectives in career theory and practice, drawing
attention to its importance in career decision making and its benefit as a framework for career counseling. As career researchers, educators, and practitioners,
we need to move from acknowledging the importance of individuals relationships to a more fully delineated and integrated understanding of relational
influences, connections, and disconnections in our clients lives, work, and
career decisions.
Current career development work using a relational paradigm includes
workfamily balance (Schultheiss, 2006), mothering (Schultheiss, 2009), assessment and research methods (Blustein, Kenna, Murphy, DeVoy, & DeWine,
2005; Schultheiss, 2005), clinical applications of relational career counseling
(Juntunen, 2006), workplace dynamics (Fletcher, 1999, 2004), meanings of
work in peoples lives especially for marginalized populations (Blustein, 2006;
Blustein, Kenna, Gill, & DeVoy, 2008), and the school to work transition for
urban youth (Blustein et al., 2002; Chaves et al., 2004; Kenny & Bledsoe, 2005;
Noonan, Hall, & Blustein, 2007). More research is needed that includes additional populations across the life span, attends more specifically to gender and
culture, and examines various domains within career counseling.
My qualitative investigation of midlife womens career transition process
builds from these important contributions and illustrates an extension of the
current work in theory, research, and practice. Specifically, this empirical study
(Motulsky, 2005) extends the relational career literature by (a) using feminist
relational theories more centrally, including relational cultural theory (Jordan,
Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, & Surrey, 1991; Jordan, Walker, & Hartling, 2004;
Walker & Rosen, 2004), that focus attention on gendered and cultural dimensions of career transition and decision making, thus moving from a gender
neutral to a gendered analysis of womens experiences; (b) expanding the
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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)
population from late adolescents or college students to midlife adult women;

and (c) expanding the examination of initial career decision making to midcareer change. The study also examines a range of relationships affecting the
individual, not just family or parental influences, and suggests strategies for
incorporating relational techniques into practice.
Conceptual Context
Relational paradigms complement narrative and constructivist career models
(e.g., Brott, 2005; Richardson, 1993, 2000, 2004; Savickas, 1993, 2002) and
fit especially well with the psychology of working framework (Blustein, 2006;
Blustein et al., 2008; Blustein, McWhirter, et al., 2005). The psychology of
working emphasizes the role and meaning of work in peoples lives, especially
for those who are marginalized or have little career volition. It explicitly includes
a relational perspective in its emphasis on the importance of social connections
related to work and in its attention to nonpaid caregiving work, primarily done
by women (Richardson, 1993; Schultheiss, 2006, 2009). In the past decade,
research applying relational theories to career decision making has included
a call to career practitioners to integrate relational career counseling with more
traditional practices (Blustein, 2001, 2004; Schultheiss, 2003). These authors
rightly point to the paucity of research and practice applications of relational
approaches to career development. The main contributors to this literature
(Blustein, 2001, 2004, 2006; Blustein et al., 2004; Blustein et al., 2008; Flum,
2001a; Juntunen, 2006; Phillips et al., 2001; Schultheiss, 2003, 2006, 2007,
2009; Schultheiss et al., 2001; Schultheiss et al., 2002) advance the centrality
of relational influences within career development and argue that individuals
do not make career decisions in a relational vacuum (Blustein, 2004, p. 605).
They also assert that relational dynamics in career development are frequently
devalued and disregarded in favor of more autonomous approaches (Schultheiss et al., 2001, p. 216). In line with the need for further empirical research,
Schultheiss and colleagues (2001) suggest, What has been lacking is an
explicit explanation of how relationships are influential in the career development process (p. 219).
This pioneering body of work has focused primarily on adolescents or young
adults and the school to work transition. The authors explore family of origin
influences, particularly the parentchild relationship, as the crucible for career
decision making and rely heavily on attachment theory (Blustein, 2004; Blustein,
Prezioso, & Schultheiss, 1995; Schultheiss & Blustein, 1994). The social support
literature, particularly Cutronas (1996, 2004) work on categories of social support, is also used within this context to demonstrate types of emotional, esteem,
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Motulsky
informational, and instrumental support. For example, Phillips and colleagues

(2001) suggest 18 categories regarding relational career decision making, divided
into three themes: actions of others, recruitment of others, and excluding others.
These relational career authors tend to categorize types of social support and
relational influences that young people report experiencing with others, primarily
family members, around career decisions. Except for a research study on siblings
(Schultheiss et al., 2001), relationships beyond parents are rarely studied.
Occasionally, these researchers call for exploration of relational ties beyond
family or parental influences (Phillips et al., 2001; Schultheiss et al., 2001;
Schultheiss et al., 2002). However, these relationships are not examined, partly
because of the focus on attachment theory in the context of parent and child
and also the emphasis on career entry in the school to work population, where
the nuclear family is still the most prominent influence. In fact, both Phillips
et al. (2001) and Schultheiss et al. (2001) note the complexity of relational
influence, yet more in-depth examination of that complexity and how relational
influences function beyond social support or parental influence is still lacking.
Despite the documented strength and variety of family of origin influences
(Schultheiss, 2008; Whiston & Keller, 2004), more research on relational influences across the life span and beyond the family of origin would extend our
understanding of how relational connections function in various developmental
contexts.
As a whole, this literature has not taken a feminist stance toward relational
approaches (for an exception, see Flum, 2001b) and generally does not address
gender differences despite the strongly patriarchal domain of work and career
development. There is typically little analysis of culture, power, or gender dynamics, although recent work is increasingly attentive to social class (e.g., Blustein,
2006; Liu & Ali, 2005; Liu et al., 2004). Using feminist relational theories
provides one avenue that prompts attention to the gendered and cultural nature
of career decision making and facilitates a deeper examination of how these
aspects affect women and perhaps others marginalized from mainstream career
development expectations. I argue that the more explicit use of feminist relational
psychology (Gilligan, 1982; Josselson, 1992; Spencer, 2000) and relational
cultural theory (Jordan, 1997; Jordan et al., 1991; Jordan et al., 2004; Miller &
Stiver, 1997; Walker & Rosen, 2004) highlights gender roles, marginalization
and oppression of women, and provides a critical analysis of relational influences
in ways that attachment and social support do not. The contribution made by the
relational theorists is not simply to point out that people develop in a web of
relationships (Josselson, 1992), with an innate desire for connection, but to
recognize this as a central developmental process rather than a peripheral one.
My investigation (Motulsky, 2005) uses womens identity development
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(Josselson, 1996; Lieblich & Josselson, 1994) and a feminist relational paradigm
to examine career transition as a gendered, developmental, and cultural as well
as a relational phenomenon.
Feminist Relational Psychology

and Relational Cultural Theory
Relational psychology emerged from a feminist psychological perspective
focused on women that explicitly acknowledges the role of gender, culture, and
power dynamics (Gilligan, 1982; Miller, 1976). Relational theory in psychology includes feminist relational development, which grew from the pioneering
work by Carol Gilligan and colleagues at the Harvard Project on Girls Development and Womens Psychology, and the closely related relational cultural
theory, which comes from the clinically focused work on empathy, mutuality,
and growth by Jean Baker Miller, Judith Jordan, and the Stone Center researchers at Wellesley College (Spencer, 2000). Recent work in relational cultural
theory has more explicitly drawn parallels between women and racial and
ethnic individuals in a culture of disconnection (Walker, 2004; Walker & Miller,
2004; also see Goldberger, Tarule, Clinchy, & Belenky, 1996; Jordan, 1997;
Taylor, Gilligan, & Sullivan, 1995). Because career change is situated within
a social context incorporating cultural and gendered ideas about work and
career, success and achievement, and security and change, women and other
marginalized groups may experience cultural disconnection from societal
expectations of career decision making. Applying relational cultural theory
more specifically to the current focus on the relational paradigm in career
counseling (Schultheiss, 2007) increases the understanding of relationality in
peoples lives.
The primary assumption underlying relational theory is that as humans we
have an innate capacity for and desire to engage in relationships with others
and that the increasing capacity and development of mutual connection with
others is the marker of psychological development (Spencer, 2000). A relational definition of a psychologically healthy self, used as a framework for
my study, is the ability to stay in relationship with oneself, with others, and
with the world (Gilligan, 1991, p. 23). Psychological health is explored in
the context of culture and connection, grounded specifically in an analysis
of gender and power within Western society. It strongly emphasizes the embeddedness of relationships within culture and lends itself to including more
centrally, not just gender, but also race and ethnicity, disability status, sexual
orientation, and social class to the study of working and career
development.
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Motulsky
The yearning for connection is a human quality experienced by both men

and women, and the research has moved increasingly toward examination of
relational development and psychology in boys and men (Bergman, 1991; Chu,
2005; Chu & Way, 2004; Way, 2001). Feminist relational theories, along with
the growth of cultural psychology (Greenfield, 1994; Markus & Kitayama,
1991, 1994; Rogoff, 1990, 2003; Shweder et al., 1998; Stigler, Shweder, &
Herdt, 1990), challenged the conventional model of psychological selfhood,
which emphasized a separate, bounded, individual self (Mahler, Pine, & Bergman, 1975; Kohlberg, 1981; Levinson, 1978), to examine the self in the context
of connection and mutuality. This shift has also been occurring in vocational
psychology. Career decision making has traditionally been viewed as primarily an individual, objective, and rational process. Although most researchers
acknowledge some impact from significant others, the attention and emphasis
have too often remained on the independent self, moving through change.
Multicultural career counseling, feminist, and relational approaches all have
challenged the assumptions of individuality and independent decision making
inherent in career theory and have provided valuable counterbalances to conventional career theory (Byars-Winston & Fouad, 2006; Carter & Cook, 1992;
Chronister, McWhirter, & Forrest, 2006; Cook, Heppner, & OBrien, 2002a,
2002b; Fitzgerald & Betz, 1994; Fitzgerald & Weitzman, 1992; Flores & Heppner, 2002; Fouad & Bingham, 1995; Schultheiss, 2003, 2007; Swanson &
Fouad, 2010).
This shift is particularly salient for women in Western culture and offers
new insights into how these concepts might play out for women experiencing
the Westernized, individual, self-focused career planning process. Relational
psychologys examination of connections and disconnections helps explain
some womens, and perhaps other marginalized populations, struggles in career
decision making as a way of being out of connection, with themselves, with
others, and perhaps with societys expectations around working, transition,
and career planning. Relational processes within career transition examine the
risk of womens psychological vulnerability during the transition process,
expressed as confusion, self-doubt, loss of voice, and stucknessthe inability
to move toward career goals. It also examines the potential for psychological
growth within the transition, often expressed as increased self-knowledge,
authentic connection to self and others, enhanced confidence, and increased
motivation for progress. This theoretical approach assists in locating the individual firmly in a relational and cultural surround rather than succumbing to
societal perceptions of an individual decision maker who happens to have
relationships.
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In feminist relational terms, healthy relationships allow a full range of expression within a resonant environment, or the ability to voice authentic aspects of
the self and be truly heard (Gilligan, 1982, 1996; Gilligan, Brown, & Rogers,
1990; Gilligan, Rogers, & Tolman, 1991). Connected relationships embody
empathy and mutuality; these growth-producing relationships contribute to
psychological health (Jordan et al., 1991; Jordan & Hartling, 2002; Miller &
Stiver, 1997; Walker & Rosen, 2004). In contrast, the source of psychological
distress is disconnection, breaks in connection that range from frequent and
relatively minor disconnections, such as feeling out of touch with another, to
major violations, including trauma and intense isolation (Miller, 1988; Miller
& Stiver, 1997). Women are particularly at risk for what Miller and Stiver (1997)
term the central relational paradox, where one keeps parts of the self out of
a relationship to preserve the relationship. Repeated and chronic patterns of
disconnection, especially without repair or reconnection, may lead to psychological distress and limited knowledge of the self. Disconnections, defined as
times when relationships with others are not mutually empowering or empathic
(Miller & Stiver, 1997, p. 26), have not been sufficiently explored within career
development and are examined closely in my study.
Thus, this investigation uses a feminist, relational lens to examine the career
transition of midlife, midcareer women and how relational connections and
disconnection with themselves, with others in their relational world, and with
the cultural context of career change affected their sense of being stuck,
progress, and psychological growth. The results reported here, from the broader
study, focus on the womens connections and disconnections with others and
how these supported or hindered movement in their transition process.
Method
This dissertation research presents a qualitative, interview-based study of midlife
women and career change, examining the process of transition for the participants and focusing on how relational connections and disconnections across
a range of relationships influenced stagnation, movement, and progress in their
career transition (Motulsky, 2005). The framework for this study is feminist,
relational, and phenomenological in that it was intended to capture the lived
experience of participants psychological experiences and meaning making of
career transition and to privilege womens voices on their own experience.
Qualitative methods are ideal for understanding the meaning of experiences in
participants own words (Havercamp, Morrow, & Ponterotto, 2005; Hoshmand,
1989, 2005; Marshall & Rossman, 1999; Polkinghorne, 2005).
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Motulsky
Participants
The study participants were 13 midcareer women in the northeastern United
States, ages 42 to 57, who, by their own definition, had completed a career
transition and who had all previously taken a multiweek career exploration
workshop aimed at career changers. One woman was African American; the
other 12 were White, with a variety of ethnic backgrounds. In terms of socioeconomic status, 5 women (38%) identified as having working-class or poor
backgrounds, whereas 8 (62%) had middle-class to upper-middle-class backgrounds. Of the women, 3 were lesbian (23%), all partnered, whereas 10 were
heterosexual (77%). Of the heterosexual women, 3 were single (23%), and the
remaining 7 were married or partnered (1 was in the process of divorce). Of
the women, 5 (38%) were mothers (2 lesbians and 3 straight women), with
children ranging from infants to young adults. All had a bachelors degree and
10 (77%) had masters degrees.
The participants were recruited from among those who had completed a
10-week career exploration and transition workshop, ensuring that they had
the skills and information needed for such a process because much of the career
literature indicates that skills and knowledge are requisite ingredients for a
successful career change. In addition, the participants had the advantage of
being generally well educated, relatively privileged, and experienced in the
work world. I wanted to examine why, despite these advantages, career transition seems to be such a struggle for so many individuals, particularly women.
Thus, the study entails a critical case sampling (Patton, 1990) approach, exploring why career transition seems to be psychologically difficult for many women,
even within an educated, informed, and motivated population.
Recruitment and Data Collection

Recruitment letters and questionnaires, asking for demographic data and career
transition information, were sent to 236 female participants who had completed
a local career exploration workshop from 2 to 6 years previous to the study.
This time frame allowed distance from the workshop and time for participants
to have transitioned to another career, but the variation in time may also have
affected participants recall of their transition experience. Of the 66 completed
questionnaires received, 14 women fit the criteria of appropriate age (3560),
self-defined career transition (as opposed to merely a job or role change), and
willingness to be interviewed. Other than requiring that the women themselves
considered that they had made a career transition, participants were not selected
for successful or less successful transitions; outcomes were examined only
1086
in the data analysis. All 14 women agreed to participate in the study and signed
informed consent forms; however, for logistical reasons, 1 was later dropped,
leaving 13 participants.
Data collection included the questionnaires, two in-depth interviews, and
relational maps conducted with the participants. I also maintained interview
logs, which contained descriptions of the interview, relational dynamics and
impressions, and also researcher analytic memos to record and track my emerging analysis and perspectives. Two semistructured interviews were conducted
with each participant, lasting 90 to 120 minutes each, at the location of her
choosing. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The first interview explored participants sense of identity, family and career background,
and career transition decisions. In the second interview, participants were asked
about their experiences of being stuck, moving forward, and growth in the
transition process and also about the various ways people in their lives helped
or hindered them in their career transition. Also, each participant was asked
to draw a relational map, based on Josselsons (1992) relational space map,
to illustrate her connections and disconnections with as many relationships
as possible, specifically around the career process. Interviewees were given
an adult transition book in appreciation of their participation.
Data Analysis
Data analysis methods included both categorizing and contextualizing strategies
(Maxwell, 1996; Maxwell & Miller, 1996) to retain the richness and multiplicity
of meanings in the original data. These complementary methods allowed detection of themes and patterns across the sample while exploring more deeply
selected stories about career transition and self that individuals toldand how
they told these stories within the research relationship.
Categorizing methods. The categorizing method is grounded in the data and
used open coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to code the interview transcripts
with emergent categories. Open coding was employed across all participants
transcripts to determine both within-case and cross-case patterns. Content-coded
thematic matrices were developed for each woman across both interviews (Miles
& Huberman, 1994). For example, participant responses regarding relational
influences from each relationship category were displayed in a table to aid in
analysis of patterns and discrepancies across cases and categories.
Contextualizing methods. Contextualizing methods use narrative, relational,
feminist, and cultural approaches and case studies to examine patterns, stories,
and relationships within context rather than excerpting only codes or taking
apart the participants story (Maxwell, 1996). For this study, contextualizing
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Motulsky
methods included successive narrative readings, adapted from the feminist,

relational, voice-centered method (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, Spencer,
Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2003). Participants words were used extensively in the
analysis to retain thick description (Geertz, 1973) and to honor the participants
stories in the feminist and narrative research traditions. Crafted profiles (a narrative response to a research question using only the participants actual words)
and narrative summaries (combined crafted profiles with researcher connections, light interpretations, and narration of the participants story) were created
for each individual (Seidman, 1991). The narrative summaries, or case studies,
were useful in understanding the individuals story of her career transition and
in facilitating cross-case comparison (Mishler, 1999; Yin, 1994).
Data were contextually analyzed with the voice-centered method, which uses
successive readings of transcripts, listening for multiple voices within a text
through differing interpretive frameworks (Rogers, 1993, p. 276). Also called
the Listening Guide, it draws on voice, resonance, and relationship as ports of
entry into the human psyche (Gilligan et al., 2003, p. 157) and focuses on listening closely to the voices and stories of participants and on the listeners social
location and responses to those voices. I read the transcripts for two contrapuntal
voices, a voice of stagnation and a voice of transformation, which highlighted
alternating or conflicting voices within individual stories of movement. The
voice of stagnation represented moments in the text when a woman speaks of
her stuckness in career transition, times of difficulty, and vulnerability when
she felt unable to move forward. A voice of transformation represented moments
of personal growth and agency, or movement toward career goals.
Researcher and Validity

As the researcher and a midlife White, middle-class woman, I had much in
common with the participants social location. My background as a career
counselor in academic, community, and private practice settings and my
expertise in developmental psychology, specifically adult and identity development and relational psychology, provided a context for the research design
and analysis. My familiarity and expertise with this population brought with
it distinct advantages as well as potential validity threats. Subjectivity is
inevitable (Peshkin, 1988), so it was acknowledged and addressed throughout
the study. As a feminist researcher, I analyzed reflexivity and relational dynamics throughout the study with an emphasis on awareness and reflection of
power differentials. Validity checks and feminist qualitative research
approaches (Behar, 1993; Krieger, 1991; Lather, 1991; Olesen, 2000; Rogers,
1993) were helpful in consciously attending to potential bias. Validity
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High (radical change of field)
High (radical change of field

with education)
High (radical change of field)
High (radical change of role

and field)
High (changed field with

education and level to
professional within same
employer)
Low (changed field with
education but still employed
in previous job because of
medical crisis)
Lisa
Hilary
Eleanor
Monica
Margaret
Diane
High (successful change of

field and self-employment)
Degree and Success

of Career Change
Serena
Case
High (felt had truly

found my vocation)
High (very pleased

with my change)
High (love it, has
been calling to me
forever; life-changing
times for me)
High
High (enjoy people

and horses)
High (found my
calling)
High
Satisfaction
With New Career
High
(changed
career
identity)
High
High
High
High
High
High
Level
of Growth
Legal assistant, law

firm
Financial
administrator, staff
role, university
Operations manager,
community health
agency
Software QA
manager, high-tech
company
Previously in
marketing and
finance; homemaker
Chief social worker,
hospital
Homemaker;
previous: airline
sales and training
Previous Occupation
(continued)
Writer, pt in previous job
Career planning
manager, human
resources, university
Self-employed fiscal
therapist to small
businesses
Plant nursery and
propagation assistant,
horticulture org.
Massage therapist
and equine massage
therapist
Project manager, health
education research
Life coach and speaker
Current Occupation
Table 1. Cases Ranked From High to Low by Levels of Career Change, Satisfaction, and Growth, With Occupational Change
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Satisfaction
With New Career
Low (did not resolve career

dilemma but changed roles
to mother)
High (loves being
mother; still has
open questions
about work)
Moderate (likes many

things but also many
dislikes)
High (radical change of career Low (may have made
with education)
wrong decision)
Moderate (change of field but Lowmoderate
not quite found right niche)
(somewhat satisfied,
ready to think of
new change)
Moderate (change to
Low (progress but
related career within
not doing what
same company; change to
really wants to)
professional level)
Low (same basic position;
Low (satisfied with
changed responsibilities and
how changed role
title)
but still not doing
dream)
Moderate (change to a
related field)
Degree and Success

of Career Change
Moderate
to high
(changed
career
identity)
Low, hard
to sense
Low
Moderate
to low
Moderate
to low
Moderate
to low
Level
of Growth
Note: QA = Quality Assurane; pt = part time; ESL = English as a second language.
Joan
Edna
Linda
Cass
Jacqueline
Sylvia
Case
Table 1. (continued)
Leave manager,
municipal org.; identity
as artist
Producer, interactive
marketing, financial co.
Program director,
nonprofit org. for
immigrants
Acupuncture and
alternative medicine
Executive assistant to
president, university
Current Occupation
Project associate,
Full-time mother and
environment studies, homemaker
university
Leave coordinator,
municipal org.
Senior executive
secretary, financial
co.
Medical research,
hospital
High-end retail sales
ESL teacher
Previous Occupation
1090
strategies included selective member checks (Janesick, 2000), triangulation

of interview, questionnaire, and relational map data (Denzin & Lincoln,
2000; Morrow, 2005; Patton, 1990), data analytic strategies where the layers
of analysis inherently act as a validity check given that each layer reveals a
different perspective, an audit trail of evidence, and the sharing of results
and methods with a community of researchers (Morrow, 2005; Taylor et al.,
1995).
Results
This research study with women at midlife explored a wide range of relational
influences in detailed ways and examined both the positive and negative aspects
of those connections in terms of successful career transition into a new field,
satisfaction with the new career, and personal growth within the process. These
three factors were assessed to determine the participants outcomes and psychological process through the career transition. Table 1 shows the participants
grouped according to these factors. Following the womens voices in the study,
what Gilligan (1996) calls a barometer of relationship, led to an examination
of the impact of relational influences on their sense of identity and conceptions
of stagnation, progress, and growth within transition. Findings presented here
illustrate the ways participants connections enhanced and supported the process
of career change and how their disconnections hindered, and sometimes halted,
their movement through the process.
A range of relationships was examined for each participant, including yet
moving beyond parents or spouses. Using the questionnaires, relational maps,
and interviews, participants revealed connections and disconnections around
the career transition with their parents, siblings, extended family, spouses or
partners, children, friends, colleagues and supervisors, community contacts,
and professional relationships such as therapists, career counselors, and alternative or spiritual healers. Deceased connections were also explored. The
primary relational influences from this study are explored here, focusing on
common themes in the data on how connections and disconnections in each
relationship category affected the womens career transition.
Parents
Of the 13 women, 9 noted the importance of parents in their career transition; the
remaining 4 participants had severely dysfunctional or absent relationships with
parents. Because of participants ages, most of their parents were elderly or
deceased, and very few had an active role in their career transition. However, even
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Motulsky
at midlife, the importance of parents and family of origin remained through internalized family values and beliefs about work, related to ethnicity, social class,
gender, and religion. Values and worldviews from family of origin were operating
in participants beliefs about themselves and about what was possible, good, or
desired in career and life choices (Jacobsen, 1999). For example, Margarets
working-class Irish Catholic family taught her that wanting something better was
a sin. These past influences also affected her beliefs about support, asking for
help, and disclosure (Sorsoli, 2003). This is most notable in Casss family message, which made it hard for her to network or ask for help because you dont ask
other people for favors, you always have the credit, but you never owe.
Connection with parents. Some participants felt close to their parents or to a
particular parent generally, but none of the participants had a wholly positive
connection with their parents around the career change. Some of the most positive connections to parents came for those whose parent was deceased. For
some participants, deceased parents were very disconnected their career transition process and remained in the negative position that they held in life. Other
participants viewed deceased parents as positive companions in the process,
regardless of their actual stance on career issues. For example, Jacqueline
prayed to her father to watch over her, and Lisa found signs from her father
that supported her choice, bringing him to her side in a positive way. Hilary
felt her fathers presence: Even though [my Dad] wasnt here to go through
this with me, he was a companion throughout this process.
Disconnection with parents. Feelings of disconnection with parents around
the career transition included current disconnection and lack of support, disapproval of the desired career field, and resentment or bitterness about family
messages and values about work from the participants childhood or past. Sylvia,
for example, is quite close to her parents generally, but she felt that they never
understood or supported her around career choices, and so she rarely talks with
them about this topic. The following excerpt illustrates her view:
Theyre always no, so why talk to them about it? So its not . . . its not
really a freeing conversation or a supportive type of conversation. . . .
I start to close up and feel like I cant really pursue or explore different
avenues. . . . I always dreamed that . . . that my parents would have been
more supportive or more, kind of guiding me. And I dont know if thats
too much to ask, but its just that they didnt know how to do that.
Whatever my ideas were, I wished they were more supportive.
A common theme was disapproval or concern about the target career choice,
especially if it was less remunerative or unconventional. For example, Hilarys
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mother had issues with her transitioning to being a massage therapist because
of the old massage parlor cover for prostitution. Lisas mother disapproved
of her daughters switch from computer software to horticulture, expressing
class-based values about clean, respectable jobs where one used ones brain
as opposed to working with plants with ones hands, which is literally dirty.
Lisa wryly admitted that her mother not approving was sort of an obstacle.
Several parents actively resisted their daughters interest in the arts, exemplified by Jacquelines mother, who discouraged her from a creative career because
art is just a fun thing.
Another common theme, especially among participants with dysfunctional
families and those raised with economic disadvantage, was an internalized
limited view of opportunities or possibility. For example, Lindas immigrant
parents actively resisted her desire for higher education, believing that work
for girls was not important and that they didnt want them [their children]
to get above where they had gotten. She stated, Being poor means that youre
not going to be educated or that people will somehow, you know, not accept
you in some way . . . so you have to overcome other peoples perceptions and,
um, overcome your own. Monica described her familys belief about success
as safety, where the world was not a safe place, so what you had to do was
do something that was safe. . . . [The model was] essentially being miserable
for your whole life. She reveals the impact of this worldview on her own
career decision making when she bitterly states, Well, was I absent that day?
When did somebody ever tell you that you could actually tap into what you
love?
Spouses and Partners

Spouses or partners were understandably central to progress and participants
often revealed both connections and disconnections within this relationship.
Of the 13 participants, 10 were partnered, and all of them listed their partner
as a significant factor in their transition, except the 1 participant divorcing her
husband. Of the 10 partnered participants, 6 had highly involved partners, 1
was moderately involved, and 3 had low and negative involvement. In each of
the latter cases, the partners reaction to career transition was so negative that
he had to be disconnected from the womens exploration, and all of these women
experienced a resulting rift in their relationships. Those participants whose
partners had high involvement and strongly positive support were among those
with the best outcomes. Those who experienced low involvement and strongly
negative responses from partners did most poorly of the partnered participants
with the exception of Hilary, who was divorcing her negative husband.
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Connection and mixed influence with partners or spouses. Most of the women
claimed their partner was supportive, although the level of support varied considerably. Interestingly, all three of the lesbian partners and Dianes husband,
whom she termed a feminist man, offered nearly unconditional support. Serena
felt that her partner was just so there for me during the whole process . . . every
tiny step I took, even though I hardly noticed it sometimes, she noticed it. Diane
provided an example of her husbands support in this excerpt:
Hes incredibly there, he loves talking about this, hes very creative, hes
very supportive. . . . Hes always encouraged me to do what I want to do,
not to worry so much about the practical stuff; hes just really, hes wanted
me to be happy [in work].
Four women reported mixed or ambivalent support from their spouse. Although
they all stated their spouses provided support and listed them in the inner circle
of their relational map as connected, the interviews revealed a more complex
pattern. Sylvia felt that her husband echoed her family in not validating her
career desires; he was the practical, realistic voice but stated that it
doesnt feel good. . . . I start to feel unsure about myself, and then um,
almost thinking like Im a bad . . . not a bad person, but like a kid almost,
like looking at candy. . . . I feel like my ideas were squashed, like my
balloon was popped. And that doesnt feel good.
Even when one participants husband continually encouraged her to pursue
her dreams, she remained jealous of his love of his work and frustrated by her
inability to know her desires.
Youre free, you can do what you want. No, but I dont know what
I want to do. Its easier if somebody tells you what you have to do. Then
you can be angry and you can direct it and its not . . . this is very scary
and why are you doing this? This is really not fair. . . . Permission to be
free to be whatever is . . . puts the responsibility squarely where it rests,
on my shoulders. And yet, I felt that I was not capable of making that
decision. (Monica)
Disconnection with spouses or partners. The remaining three participants
partners all demonstrated not only a lack of support but also what Miller
(1988) would call a violation: Career transition threatened the relationship.
Hilarys husband was completely unsupportive of her decision to pursue
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massage therapy and tried to influence [her] not to continue. Hilary used
her career transition as a way to move out of a troubled marriage and got a
divorce. Both Margarets and Ednas experiences with their spouses illustrate
the relational paradox, described by Miller (1988), Miller and Stiver (1997),
and Gilligan and colleagues (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 1982), where
a woman has to keep part of herself out of a relationship to preserve the
relationship. Margarets husband felt threatened when she earned a college
degree in midlife, and he could not understand her career ambitions. She felt
his approach was why cant you just be content, why do you have to do
that, why cant you just. . . . They separated and nearly divorced. Similarly,
Edna found that her husband could not recognize or accept her career aspirations in the arts or in interior design. Edna described her husband as focusing
on perceived racial discrimination and practicality like her mother, saying,
You cant do it, they wont hire a Black person to . . . no White people are
going to hire a Black person to come into their home. Edna finally stopped
talking to him about career issues, which helped in that I wasnt getting any
negative feedback [but] it made me feel worse that I was in a relationship
with somebody who wasnt supporting me. Edna felt that she would have
to choose between being an artist and designer and staying married; she was
asking herself, Do I give up my marriage for this? Edna had to disconnect
from her husband to stop his criticism, yet then she felt shut out of connection (Miller, 1988) with her intimate partner.
Friends
Out of the 13 participants, 11 declared their friends to be critically important
influences on their career transition experience. As with partners, both the
amount of involvement of friends in the process and the level of connection or
disconnection around career issues were examined. The participants were
nearly evenly divided in the level of low, moderate, and high involvement of
their friends. The level of connection also varied, with most participants detailing both positive connections with friends and disconnections around the career
process. Four women reported numerous friends with high involvement and
placed strong importance on friendships and their role in the process. Those
who had many friends and whose friends had high positive involvement tended
to experience overall positive outcomes.
Connection with friends. Connected relationships with friends around career
transition provided support most commonly in ways that echo the social support
literature, namely, emotional, esteem, social integration, information, and instrumental support (Cutrona, 1996; Schultheiss et al., 2001). This support included
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being available and listening, being a sounding board, brainstorming, providing

different perspectives, providing emotional encouragement, and providing
practical assistance, contacts, or advice. Friends not only provide companionship and emotional support but also act as a mirror for the self and often assist
women in trying on new career identities (Josselson, 1996). For example,
Cass discussed her friends ability to see her in different ways than she could:
Your really good friends, [they] listen to you when youre down and really try
and help you with it, they can see different things than you. Serena delineated
the importance of closeness in the support of her friends:
I felt like my world was really there for me during this process. I . . .
I cant think of . . . I mean I can think of individuals I talked to and didnt
talk to or I felt might understand or not understand. But they werent
my close . . . sort of the people out here as opposed to the people in here.
And the people in here were all very, very supportive.
The most common positive connection with friends seemed to be shared
processmany people mentioned that those who had been through career
change or were in the process with them were the most supportive and understanding. For example, Edna felt that two of her friends really understood the
whole career exploration because they were people who had explored their
own careers and had taken risks in changing and doing radically different
things.
Disconnection with friends. The most common negatives or disconnections
with friends were those who could not understand why the person wanted to
change or wanted a particular career field or had negative or closed attitudes
toward the field. Some of this took on a be grateful for what you have or stay
safe and how could you leave the benefits attitude. Participants sometimes
just felt not heard by their friends, which was a disappointment, as they did
not expect to feel this way. For example, Monica had a friend assume that her
new life coaching role meant she was becoming a personal trainer, and Hilary
was hurt when her friends were interested in her new massage career only as
a potential practice body or were appalled by her choice. Cass reflected on
her distrust of some of her friends:
I learned that people who werent my friends, even though they pretended
to be, were the people that wouldnt help you. They wouldnt necessarily
sabotage you, but they wouldnt do anything to help you. They wouldnt
talk about it . . . they didnt want that conversation because they couldnt
face their demons and so they didnt want to help you face yours.
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Although most friends were generally supportive, some were unable to

wholly support aspects of the participants new occupational identity. For these
participants, this rendered parts of themselves invisible or required them to
silence parts of themselves to remain in the relationship, exemplifying the
relational paradox (Miller & Stiver, 1997). For example, Ednas generally
close and supportive friends did not really recognize or validate her identity
as an artist; she states that they were not listening and didnt hear her.
Jacqueline also exemplifies the central relational paradox when she felt she
could not discuss her career transition into acupuncture with her closest friend,
a physician. She believed that discussing her interests in alternative medicine
would change her [friends] feelings toward her and that she would be seen
as wacky. Cass expresses her distress that she felt she had to protect her
friends from her deep pain:
And then when you get to that part thats uncomfortable, people dont
want to stay there long. And so theres the issue of how long does someone
really want to talk about that, and my experience is usually not long.
[laughs] And how long are you willing to be exposed . . . I mean . . . its
painful. . . . They wont stay if you stay in the morass or in all of the bad,
in the wallow. Youve got to go and leave that and move on to something
else because theyll lose interest. Because thats what everyone did.
Gender, race, and class disconnections could occur among friends as well.
One participant, Margaret, articulated a common perception from working-class
participants of feeling disloyal to friends and family by wanting more from
education or a career. She was frustrated when her sister and her friends would
not come along with her, yet one of her fears was that she would outgrow
myself and outgrow my world as I knew it. Edna mentioned a racial disconnection when she was disappointed in her Black female friends lack of support;
she felt that they were supposed to have the same radar screen as she had and
yet could not understand her passion or her career dreams. Five women commented on gendered differences in their friends responses, stating that their
male friends were more negative, more trivializing of their career decisions,
and less supportive than female friends. Although agreeing with this perspective, one woman felt that her female friends were often better at listening
regarding relationship issues rather than career issues.
The other unusual disconnection was physical distance or death. For example, Eleanors best friend retired and moved away during the transition period,
so she was not present to support Eleanors process. More dramatically, Lisas
cousin and Ednas friend died during the process; they had been advocates and
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supportive prior to their deaths. Although these disconnections entailed a loss

of support, both these women tended to keep their deceased connections close
in memory.
Schultheiss (2003) emphasizes accessing and benefiting from supportive relationships and using relational resources, but she also suggests that relational career
counseling could assist clients in becoming less reliant on unproductive, unrewarding, and ineffective interactions (p. 306). This point is echoed in Monicas
and Hilarys assistance from counselors and coaches in reducing contact with
high-maintenance friends and minimizing negative responses to their career
choices. Friends witness and reflect each others growth, which is why it was so
hard for Margaret when her friends and her sister did not come along with her.
In general, women in this study who had or used few friends in their career transition process experienced more difficulties and emotional stuckness, although
an unconditionally supportive partner could provide some mediation.
Work Colleagues or Supervisors

For some of the participants, support, mentoring, and active encouragement
from colleagues or supervisors was critical to their movement, especially when
other supports were minimal or primarily negative. For others, these relationships were not as central as partners, family, or friends.
Connection. Common connections included mentoring, seeing potential or
skills, challenging or encouraging movement, listening, getting advice or practical help, being role models, supporting the goal field, and just being there and
getting it. Two participants had positive connections with supervisors that
were instrumental in moving them toward their new goals. For instance, Lisa
received encouragement from her computer software manager to make a career
change to horticulture and commented that he was incredibly supportive . . .
more than I ever would have asked for or imagined when I went into this because
he [boss] loves gardening. . . . I think he got it. And he was really helpful. When
Margaret, who was moving from administrative support to a professional position, finally was offered a job she desperately wanted, she became so terrified
that she went to her old boss to ask him to take her back. He refused, saying that
it wouldnt be a good thing for her and that this is what you need to do.
Margaret said, I think it felt good because it was, for the first time in my life,
probably, I had somebody who recognized my potential and wouldnt let me
quit. And I think that was a gift.
Disconnection. Common disconnections included disapproval of desired field,
off-target advice, competitive feelings, feeling that one is leaving others behind,
feeling less than or inferior, having to be extremely cautious about revealing
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feelings or desires, and needing to move away from former colleagues to feel
able to move forward. For example, Eleanor felt disconnected from former
work colleagues because she was trying to move away from them and sort of
deal with, you know, loss and you know, ending relationships. Cass did not
want her former colleagues to see the struggle...only the success at the end.
One pattern evidenced by seven participants was that of colleagues or supervisors expressing disapproval or lack of understanding about why they would
want to pursue a career in their target fieldthis often created difficulties,
especially when it reinforced negative opinions by others. Several participants
spoke of censoring or silencing themselves regarding career goals at their
workplaces for this reason. For example, Jacqueline had difficulties with some
colleagues in medical research because of her switch to alternative medicine.
Additional Relationships
Other relationships shown to have influence were those with extended family,
siblings, and children, community connections, and professional or expert
assistance. Expert help included therapists, career counselors, career workshops,
group therapy, and alternative or spiritual assistance. Participants responses
about their therapists and career counselors were quite mixed, with many
positives but also negatives and disconnections. For example, Ednas therapists
lack of helpfulness around career issues intensified her feelings of isolation
and lack of validation, and Sylvias negative experience with a career counselor
served, in her mind, to contribute to the squashing of her ideas that she was
already experiencing from her husband and family. Sylvia expressed her relational desire for connection by saying what she did not get from this career
counselor: I think I was looking for validation and support to say, okay, your
ideas are great, go with it. I think thats what Im always looking for. It seems
that those who used expert help and found it helpful around their career change
were among those with the best results; four out of six women who did not
use expert help, or did not find it valuable, were among the most stuck. Interestingly, five participants listed their pets as major supports, often putting them
in the inner circle of their relational map, reminding practitioners not to discount
the value of the unconditional love given by pets during times of stress.
Cross-Case Connections and

Disconnections Across All Relationships
When all the pertinent relationships of participants were examined, results
demonstrated a complex interaction of level of involvement and level
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Motulsky
of connection in participants movement through the transition. Negative or

disconnected relationships had less impact either if they occurred in people not
highly involved in the transition or if they were offset by many other positive
connections in the persons life. The persons significance to the career changer,
the amount of involvement, and the level of connection played a role in how
they affected the process, but more important the number of positive or negative connections, regardless of these characteristics, often tipped the balance
one way or another. For example, Serena, who found the career transition relatively smooth, had mostly moderate to high involvement of people with positive, connected influence on her transition. Her few disconnected relationships
had low involvement in her process and thus less impact. By contrast, Linda,
with a less positive outcome, had generally little involvement from others,
with primarily negative, disconnected relationships across relational categories. Edna, another striking example, was passionate about the arts and design
and had clear goals for her desired career path. However, she experienced
overwhelming disconnection regarding her career aspirations with her elderly
parents, husband, therapist, and most of her friends. The number of disconnections was simply too much to overcome, and she was not able to enter her
desired field despite her sense of an internal shift in her career identity.
Discussion
This study suggests that to fully understand and support women undergoing a
career transition, more attention must be paid to the positive and negative influences of the individuals in their lives, across a wide range of relationships. For
these women, connected relationships served many functions within their transition process and confirmed the potential for growth through mutual exchanges
within these relationships. Major implications from these results are discussed
below, including the role of connections and disconnections in successful career
transition, the importance of examining a range of relationships, including
deceased connections, the analysis of gender, and impacts from the type and
number of connections.
Growth-Producing Connections
Many of the relational stories conveyed by study participants exemplified the
characteristics of healthy, growth-producing connections, such as mutuality,
being active in the relationship, empowerment to act beyond the relationship
(e.g., in movement through the career transition), more knowledge and clarity
about self and the other, and increased zest or energy (Miller, 1988; Miller
1100
& Stiver, 1997). These examples also support Gilligan and colleagues concept
of authentic relationships, which allow for bringing all of the self into relationship, including the full range of expression and feelings. These authentic
relationships provide a context for voice and resonance and foster healthy
psychological development (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 1982; Gilligan
et al., 1990). The results demonstrate how these positive relational connections empowered women within the transition process and encouraged their
progress and growth.
Disconnections
The power of disconnections, especially in close or highly involved relationships, cannot be neglected. It was difficult for participants to reduce influence
from significant others without experiencing a loss either of self or of the
relationship, and negative responses from intimates were difficult to overcome.
This was exacerbated if these disconnections echoed negative family messages or if they were heard in multiple relationships. Most of the participants
relationships, especially with partners and friends, included both connections
and disconnections within the same person. As Spencer (2000) notes,
Any one relationship, which by nature is comprised of many ongoing
interactions, will not be entirely growth-promoting or entirely disruptive.
Rather, a relationship may in some ways foster the authentic expression
of parts of the self and in other ways impede this process. (p. 14)
Both the centrality of the disconnection and the number of disconnections tipped
the scales toward being stuck and psychological distress. Although some disconnections were mediated by a strong, positive, and highly involved relationship,
especially with a partner or spouse, too many disconnections were like a row of
falling dominos that could not be stopped. Several of the participants demonstrated
the problems encountered when they were not able to bring aspects of themselves
around career or identity into their relationships, thus having to keep those aspects
hidden or repressed, which constrained their sense of self regarding career within
that relationship. As both Miller and Stiver (1997) and Gilligan (1991, 1996) have
noted, this central relational paradox has negative implications for psychological
health and, in this study, often contributed to womens low self-worth and limited
sense of possibility. Several women felt that they had to choose between staying
in their relationships and expressing who they were in careers of their choosing.
The importance of spousal influence confirms other research on the primacy of
spousal or partner support (Cutrona, 1996) and womens tendency to be strongly
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Motulsky
influenced by partner responses and to seek their advice on career transitions

(Mattes, 2003). Women may be especially vulnerable to disconnections in intimate
relationships in ways that affect not only their relational dynamics but also their
career decisions and actions.
Disconnections occurred when the participant disengaged from the relationship to protect either herself or the other from feeling hurt or burdened or when
the other disengaged from the participants experiences of career transition
or from the relationship. Sometimes participants feelings of vulnerability or
exposure overrode the experience of disclosure itself (Sorsoli, 2003, p. 98).
Although the relational literature (and the social support literature) often focuses
on the positive aspects of relationships, continuing to look more closely at
disconnections, especially with significant others, is critical to understanding
relational processes and womens movement in career transition.
A Range of Relationships
The literature tends to focus on family relationships or current partners or
spouses rather than peers and colleagues. This study shows that friends or the
lack of friends, rarely addressed in the literature, seem to be important variables
in how supported and thus how successful a woman is in moving through a
process of career transition. In addition, work colleagues and supervisors were
often significant influences as well, which is understandable given the percentage of time spent at work. Sources of expert help were often influential in
positive ways but, more surprisingly, could hinder movement as well. The
participants negative experience was exacerbated when her therapist or career
counselor was not a supportive figure in the process.
Because women may feel isolated in career transition, they then feel out of
relationship with the idea of career change as well as out of relationship with
others in their lives. Participation in more active, growth-fostering relationships,
whether with empathetic career counselors or significant others or in company
with others experiencing the same process, is an important way to assist women
and others in career decision making. Women participants in this study, for
example, felt that their voices had strengthened or expanded or that they were
able to connect more with others through their growth during the transition.
However, a few participants voices remained muffled, repressed, and without
resonance in their world, significantly impeding their career progress. For many
women (and presumably men) in career transition, simply being in resonant or
healthy personal relationships may not be sufficient to support the process of
career change. Rather, healthy relationships centered around the experience of
career change itself may be necessary.
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Deceased Connections
One area rarely asked about in career counseling, but which emerged here, is the
impact on individuals disconnected through distance or death. According to
participants narratives, these absences have an effect, whether it was Eleanors
best friend, who was not physically present during her transition, or Lisas cousin
and Ednas friend, who died during their transitions. These breaks in relationship
may be felt as disconnections, but they also may be kept close in memory and
provide a supportive, connected presence. This also occurred in the ways several
participants experienced connection with a deceased parent. One researcher
includes what she terms ongoing memory relationships with deceased others
as important components of womens career transitions and meaning making of
the process (Carter, 2000). This intriguing area deserves further study and suggests a different type of relational resource that may be available to
individuals.
Gender
The study findings suggest that attending to gender issues within career transition is critical, something that the relational career literature rarely does. Many
of the obstacles for women revolve around the lack of relational support or the
lack of confidence and self-esteem that affects so many otherwise competent
women. Because girls are socialized to attend more to relational connections
than to career mastery (Cook, 1993; Cook et al., 2002a, 2002b; Swanson &
Fouad, 2010) and tend to have lower career-related self-efficacy (Farmer &
Associates, 1997; Hackett & Betz, 1981), they are more at risk for these hindrances in career transition. Because supportive interactions are thought to
lead to the development of self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs (Schultheiss
et al., 2001, p. 218), participants who described these obstacles also indicated
how connected relationships and support could mediate these barriers. Participants also emphasized the significance of emotions and self-perceptions in the
process but demonstrated that although these might have their origin in prior
psychological functioning or family of origin influences, their feelings and
beliefs were subject to mediation or exacerbation by others. Thus, relational
influences either could assist a participant in overcoming negative or dysfunctional self-perceptions and emotions or could reinforce negative beliefs, making
it even more difficult for the individual to progress or grow within the
process.
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Motulsky
Numbers Matter
The relationships among level of involvement, significance to the changer, and
level of connection in influencing movement or stagnation indicate not only
that the complexities of connections for participants are important but also that
the sheer number of either connections or disconnections around the transition
experience is key. The intersection of impact and quantity influences whether
people believe that they can overcome obstacles or are overwhelmed by them.
In some cases, despite strong positive connections with an important other, the
sheer number of disconnections in their relational worlds influenced participants
stagnation. Therefore, examining the interactions of connections, disconnections, and influences across the individuals relational world, including deceased
others, is key to understanding and supporting movement in career transition.
Findings in this study repeatedly indicate the centrality of relational support
and connectedness in moving forward through change and in experiencing
developmental growth in the process. This affirms the relational and cultural
approaches that are gradually changing the traditional emphasis on career transition as a linear, rational, and individual process. The participants in this study
described an emotional, up and down, psychologically distressing and/or transformational, and risky process that was, rather than objective, both intensely
personal and intensely relational. Relational connections and disconnections
significantly influenced participants construction of meaning of themselves
in career transition and also in their stuckness, in the ways they got unstuck or
overcame obstacles, and in the factors that led to psychological growth. They
affected in pivotal ways the amount of external success experienced, their
satisfaction with their new careers, and their perceptions of growth in the
process. A relational analysis clarifies the differing responses of women in
transition, from those who benefit and grow from the change process to those
who remain paralyzed and vulnerable to psychological distress. This research
suggests that one reason why some people experience psychological growth
in turning points and others do not is the quality and nature of their relational
connections (or disconnections) in supporting such change.
Implications and Directions for Future Research

The results presented here suggest that further examination of career change
and career decisions across the life span, including midlife and retirement decisions, would enhance understanding of relational influences in differing developmental periods and tasks. Despite the recognition that gender plays a salient
role in career issues, many studies do not apply a gendered analysis or
1104
interpretation. In addition to a feminist theoretical lens for examining gender,

research studies could focus more on the particular relational needs and meanings of women and men in career decision making. The questions raised in
this study could also be examined in larger populations of women, including
women who do not have the advantages of the sample participants. Also, a
comparative study of men and women in career transition would illuminate
differences or similarities in their processes because both use relational connections but in differing ways and with possibly different interpretations. More
focused research on partner support by gender and also by sexual orientation
status could illuminate partners roles in a transition.
Although more recent work has highlighted social class in work and career
counseling (e.g., Blustein, 2006), similar research neglect occurs in relational
career development with various racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender populations. Because race,
class, sexual orientation, and religion were salient in these womens career
transition narratives, further research exploring the specific impacts of these
factors, especially with an integration of gender, would contribute to understanding more deeply how cultural factors influence career change.
More research is needed to explore the influence of disconnections as well
as positive relational connections, especially with little studied relationships
such as friends and work colleagues. Examining the combined influences of
family, partners, and friends, as well as colleagues and sources of expert help,
is necessary to understand the entire relational picture of an individual.
Practice Implications
As Schultheiss (2003) indicates, a relational approach does not replace traditional
career counseling but augments it in ways not usually systematically incorporated into general practice. Although most career practitioners acknowledge
the importance of others in career decisions, they may not explore clients
relational worlds in detail or explicitly assist them in recognizing the impact
of connections and disconnections in their career experiences. Emphasizing
these relational influences in clients lives can enhance practice by going beyond
individual traits, skills, values, and interests to incorporate relational contexts
as well as sociocultural, economic, and gender dimensions.
Being more cognizant of relational influences can assist counselors in asking relational questions and exploring these influences with the client. Identifying significant relationships in the individuals life, particularly around the
career decision or transition, assists the client by exploring the positive and
negative aspects of these relationships. Simply asking the client what others
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in his or her life think about his or her decisions or career options and then
asking what the client thinks about what others think can provide an opportunity
to explore these influences. Using a relational map to delineate the clients
connections and disconnections around the career decision or transition
(Josselson, 1992; Motulsky, 2005) or facilitating a relational interview
(Schultheiss, 2003) assists a client to examine his or her relational world and
identify relational resources. These relational resources can be more consciously
employed by the client to obtain instrumental and emotional support and more
importantly provide a resonant space where the clients voice can be heard.
Just as important is the counselors role in assisting the client to deal with
disconnections, especially in significant others. Helping career changers assess
all aspects of their relational worlds, and thus be most productive in utilizing
the positive resources and minimizing negative influences, would better equip
them to move successfully through a transition.
Training, counseling, and self-help career books often excel in presenting
and teaching the skills and steps in the career change or planning process. The
participant responses here demonstrate that learning the skills is not a guarantee
that they can be applied in the process, even within an educated and relatively
privileged group of women. Women who do not have the benefit of such education, professional experience, or economic sufficiency would likely face even
more obstacles in career transition and thus would require more assistance with
both the practical and informational aspects and also the psychological and
relational elements of the process. Increased knowledge about the most effective ways to assist women to overcome these obstacles and receive the support
they need can only benefit career practitioners.
Limitations and Conclusions

This study examines why career transition remained challenging and often
difficult for a group of relatively privileged, educated women who knew the
steps, had the skills and resources, and were given the tools for a successful
change. This study confirmed my sense that these factors are necessary but not
in any way sufficient for a successful career change process (separate from the
outcome of an external job change), at least for these midlife women, and that
relational processes are pivotal. Although the study results support current
relational career decision-making research, its small sample size and particular
composition prevent it from being generalizable or speaking to the experiences
of the majority of women in career transition. This is especially true with regard
to race, educational or economic disadvantage, and disability as well as geographical location. The fact that these women had participated in a career
1106
transition workshop also limits the transferability of these results. However,

generalizable results are not a goal of qualitative research as are exploring the
lived experience, meaning making, and voices of the participants. Although
numerous validity strategies attempted to counter bias, it is possible that
assumptions from my experience as a career practitioner influenced the interpretation of data. In addition, only the career changer herself was used as a
data source, as opposed to data collected from relational others.
As more scholars in career development are acknowledging, relational
approaches to career counseling provide an inclusive paradigm for understanding career development and decision making of individuals in a gendered,
cultural, social, and relational context (Blustein, 2006; Blustein et al., 2008;
Schultheiss, 2007). They establish relational influences, connections, and disconnections as meaningful concepts in our discourse, research, and practice of
career development. Alongside narrative and constructivist approaches to work
and career, they encourage scholars, practitioners, and clients to understand
the social and personal constructionsthe meaning making of workin the
context of self and relationship.
There is a necessity in career developmentto move from giving the nod
to relational impacts on careers to developing an in-depth knowledge of how
relational processes affect both identity and career decisions or transitions.
The current body of relational work has made an important contribution to the
empirical, theoretical, and clinical literature in career counseling and vocational
psychology. The study reported here affirms and extends this work. However,
there is much more research needed to expand our understanding of the complexity of relational influences on career development and decision making
across the life span.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship
and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this
article.
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Bio
Sue L. Motulsky is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Counseling and Psychology
at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She maintains a career counseling practice
working with adults in career exploration and transition. Her combined experience in
career development and developmental psychology informs her interests in relational
psychology, adult development and transition, and cultural, gendered and relational
identity development.

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The Counseling Psychologist

Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA

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Relational psychology and relational cultural theory are shifting research

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

population from late adolescents or college students to midlife adult women;

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informational, and instrumental support. For example, Phillips and colleagues

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

Feminist Relational Psychology

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The yearning for connection is a human quality experienced by both men

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

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Recruitment and Data Collection

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

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methods included successive narrative readings, adapted from the feminist,

Researcher and Validity

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High (radical change of field)

High (radical change of field

High (radical change of field)

High (radical change of role

High (changed field with

High (successful change of

Degree and Success

High (felt had truly

High (very pleased

High (enjoy people

Legal assistant, law

Writer, pt in previous job

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Low (did not resolve career

Moderate (likes many

Degree and Success

Note: QA = Quality Assurane; pt = part time; ESL = English as a second language.

The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

strategies included selective member checks (Janesick, 2000), triangulation

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

Spouses and Partners

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The Counseling Psychologist 38(8)

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being available and listening, being a sounding board, brainstorming, providing

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Although most friends were generally supportive, some were unable to

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supportive prior to their deaths. Although these disconnections entailed a loss

Work Colleagues or Supervisors

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Cross-Case Connections and