Confronting the possibilities: The dynamic interplay of action and structure in institutional and individual careers

In this dissertation, I developed a grounded theory that describes and explains the processes by which a sample of highly educated young adults organizes and gives meaning to work careers in the contemporary milieu. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 24 graduates from Harvard University\u27s Class of 1996, I identified a sense of the possibilities as the core conceptual category for understanding how informants construct careers. Through a combination of cultural, relational and individual influences, informants developed a sense of the possibilities that was either uncomplicated or complicated. An uncomplicated sense of the possibilities included awareness of a limited range of possibilities, clarity about the possibilities, a sense of the possibilities as relatively permanent career solutions and a conception of the possibilities as fixed. Conversely, a complicated sense of the possibilities involved awareness of an extensive range of possibilities, ambiguity about the possibilities, a sense of the possibilities as short-term career solutions, and a conception of the possibilities as pliable. The more complicated their sense of the possibilities, the more actively individuals engaged in constructing a career. Three subprocesses relate to this core category: becoming aware of the possibilities explains the conditions under which a sense of the possibilities develops, confronting the possibilities explains the strategies of action individuals employ to contend with their sense of the possibilities, and living with possibilities and choices explains how people\u27s careers and lives are shaped by the consequences of their actions and choices in the process of constructing their careers. The theory developed in this study suggests that, in constructing their careers, informants use whatever structural resources are available and impose their own structure where it is otherwise lacking and action is required. The convergence of available structural resources, a person\u27s sense of the possibilities, and the action strategies employed to confront those possibilities leads people to construct either institutional or individual careers. These distinct career orientations have different consequences for the shape of the resulting work career, for the relationships between work careers and other interdependent careers, as well as for people\u27s overall well-being