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Career Continuity and Retirement Plans of Men and Women Physicians

The Meaning of Disorderly Careers

Department of Sociology, University of Kansas

Three related assumptions concerning the relationship of u omen to work and retirement shown to be prevalent in the literature were examined among a sample of practicing phy sicians between the ages of 55 and 70. None of them were shown to be valid assumptions for this particular sample. It was demonstrated that older male and female physicians were equally likely to have had irregular work histories. For men these were due to historical circumstances, such as war, whereas the career interruptions of women were related to their basic social identity as wives and mothers. It was also shown that both male andfemale physicians derive their ideas about the meaning of work from the medical culture which defines intrinsic rewards as most satisfying. This, in turn, affects the ability to make realistic plans for retirement, since being active and being dedicated are both values that conflict with assumptions ph ysicians make about retirement. Becker's definition of the concept of commitment was reexamined, and an attempt was made to clarify the relationship between career continuity and commitment.

Work and Occupations, Vol. 5, No. 1, 55-74 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/003803857800500104


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