CAREER PATTERNS OF UNITED-STATES MALE ACADEMIC SOCIAL-SCIENTISTS

Seventy-four U.S. male academic social scientists provided career stage data. All were born between 1893 and 1903. The subjects were divided into four groups on the basis of their scholarly article productivity after age 59. Spilerman's conceptualization of work history guided the analysis. To a lesser extent, adult development theory (e.g., Hall and Nougaim, 1968) was also examined. Critical career events were content analyzed and compared. Distinct career paths through and beyond retirement emerged. Among other things, the active publishers have had a less varied career in terms of the different academic roles possible in colleges and universities. Obtaining the Ph.D. followed by research in one setting well beyond retirement characterize these individuals. The moderately active and inactive publishers began their work history with high school teaching and administration, later had college posts as department heads or deanships, and reported sharper separation from academic work at age 65. The importance of early start and place of work support Spilerman's contention of the organization shaping the individual. Career events did not cluster at either chronological or career ages and hence fail to corroborate adult development theorists. © 1979 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company.