DIMENSIONS OF CAREER - AVOIDING REIFICATION IN THE ANALYSIS OF CHANGE

The paper considers the different ways in which sociologists have studied careers. It examines the various dimensions in careers research which constitute a developing research tradition. It highlights the problems associated with reification in analyses of career which are either implicit in particular models or are addressed in others but in ways which fail to resolve the difficulties. The paper suggests that the analysis of processes of change in career structures and career experiences can best enable researchers to avoid reification in their conceptualizations of career.