The role of work in one's life, especially as it is represented by experienced workers, has been the focus of many studies; the role of education in relation to the traditional college age student's life has also been studied extensively. However, there is limited research concerning the role of education in relation to the career development of the more mature graduate student who is a member of both the educational and the work community.
The primary purpose of this study was to determine if graduate students were mature in their career development and whether there was a difference in the career maturity stages of students who attended graduate school with the intention of changing their occupations as compared with those who intended to enhance them. A secondary purpose was to determine whether age, gender, major field of study, or years worked in current occupation had a relationship to the career maturity of these graduate students.
A descriptive design was used in the study. Instruments used to collect data were demographic data sheets and the Adult Career Concerns Inventory of Super, Thompson, and Lindeman (1988). The subjects were 200 randomly selected graduate students from one private and one public university in the Washington metropolitan area. Data were collected by survey and analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, t tests, and regression.
The results showed a statistically significant difference between Career Enhancers and Career Changers in the Exploration Stage of the ACCI. Age in relation to career maturity was found to be statistically significant. No statistically significant relationships were found between gender, major field of study, or years worked in current occupation and the career maturity of graduate students.
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