The phenomenon addressed in this dissertation is the experience of completing a midlife career change. This experience is reported by many as they reach the ages between thirty-five and fifty-five. All research was conducted in response to the question: What is the meaning of the experience of completing a midlife career change? The data collection process followed the model of Barritt, Beekman, Blecker, and Mulderij (1983). It is known as the descriptive phenomenological approach which uses in-depth personal interviews and includes participants as co-researchers. Ten men and women referred by family, friends, and colleagues who had completed a midlife career change participated in the study. The phenomenological analysis of the protocols proceeded by first determining the elements and then establishing the themes into a structural whole--the individual description. These individual descriptions were reviewed and validated by the co-researchers. Following confirmation, the individual descriptions were integrated into a comprehensive Fundamental Description of the experience, again reviewed and validated by the co-researchers. The Fundamental Description identified six major themes which were common to each co-researcher's experience. The themes were: Preliminary Conditions for Change, Active Changing Process, Decision Making and Risk Taking, Outside-the-Self Assistance, Commitment to the Self, and Assessment of the Change. The analysis suggests that midlife career change is part of the continuum of normal adult development. The pejorative nature of the term "midlife crisis" is seen as inaccurate in the context of the present study, and needs to be reframed to reflect the "opportunity plus danger" that the Chinese definition of crisis suggests. That midlife career change reflects a personal instability is not supported by this study. Rather, the midlife career change is found to be a time of becoming free of enmeshed values in order to complete a successful career change. The implications of the disconfirmation of an instability model and the finding of an enmeshment-to-individuation process in the midlife career changer is discussed as it affects adult educators, counselors, and program planners. / Ed. D.

Chiu Chu-hing, Catherine. / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1985 / Bibliography: leaves 90-97

Chow, Ka Ying. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-133). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i-ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv-vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii-ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.X / Chapter CHAPTER ONE: --- INTRODUCTION OF THIS STUDY --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- General concept of the mobility --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- The role of job-housing relations and socio-economic factors in mobility --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Time use allocation and mobility --- p.3 / Chapter 1.5 --- Economic restructuring and mobility --- p.3 / Chapter 1.6 --- Focuses of the study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.7 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO: --- "MOBILITY, TIME ALLOCATION AND ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING" --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- What is mobility? --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Socio-economic and demographic factor and mobility --- p.9 / Chapter a) --- The impacts on commuting time/distance --- p.9 / Chapter b) --- The impacts on daily trips --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Time allocation and mobility --- p.12 / Chapter a) --- Commuting hours --- p.12 / Chapter b) --- Working hours (Work at job) --- p.13 / Chapter c) --- Non-working hours (Necessities. Housework and Leisure) --- p.14 / Chapter d) --- Literature on time use theory and daily trips --- p.14 / Chapter 2.4 --- Post-industrial restructuring and mobility --- p.16 / Chapter a) --- Post-industrialization --- p.16 / Chapter b) --- Spatial and social impacts --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- Framework for mobility pattern --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE : --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1 --- Data collection --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2 --- Data process and manipulation --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3 --- Data variables --- p.33 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR: --- MOBILITY PATTERN IN HONG KONG --- p.35 / Chapter 4.1 --- Case Background in Hong Kong --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2 --- The changes of employment sector by regions/districts --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3 --- Temporal Change of mobility pattern --- p.40 / Chapter 4.4 --- Spatial Change --- p.41 / Chapter a) --- Three Macro regions --- p.41 / Chapter b) --- 18 Districts --- p.43 / Chapter 4.5 --- Mobility pattern change associated with personal characteristics --- p.46 / Chapter a) --- Economic sectors --- p.47 / Chapter b) --- Job Types --- p.48 / Chapter c) --- Income --- p.51 / Chapter d) --- Ages and car ownership --- p.54 / Chapter 4.6 --- Mobility pattern change associated with allocation of time --- p.56 / Chapter a) --- Total working hours --- p.56 / Chapter b) --- Total Traveling Minutes --- p.57 / Chapter c) --- Non-Working Hour --- p.58 / Chapter d) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by income --- p.59 / Chapter e) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by position --- p.60 / Chapter f) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by industry --- p.61 / Chapter g) --- The Correlations analysis between socio-economic factors and mobility pattern --- p.65 / Chapter 1. --- Pearson Correlation --- p.65 / Chapter 2. --- Spearman Correlation --- p.66 / Chapter 4.7 --- Job-housing spatial mismatch and relations --- p.72 / Chapter a) --- Three Macro Regions --- p.72 / Chapter b) --- 18 Districts --- p.74 / Chapter 4.8 --- The combination of Spatial Mismatch and Mobility Level --- p.82 / Chapter 4.9 --- Chapter Summary --- p.83 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE: --- ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING AND MOBILITY --- p.86 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2 --- Two stages of post-industrial restructuring --- p.86 / Chapter 5.3 --- Three geographical shifts of economic activities and population --- p.90 / Chapter 5.4 --- Impact on mobility pattern --- p.96 / Chapter 5.5 --- Impacts of restructurings: spatial mismatch and qualification mismatch --- p.98 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX: --- THE TREND OF MOBILITY --- p.105 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.105 / Chapter 6.2 --- The trend of mobility gap --- p.105 / Chapter 6.3 --- Shopping Malls and mobility pattern --- p.115 / Chapter 6.4 --- Findings and implication --- p.117 / Chapter 6.5 --- Recommendations for further studies --- p.121 / BIBLOGRAPHY --- p.123

by Ting Kwok-Fai. / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1985 / Bibliography: leaves 123-126

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Iowa, 2000. / Supervisor: Scott R. Eliason. Also issued in paper (viii, 114 leaves, bound ; 28 cm.). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued on CD-ROM (43 files, 421 kilobytes).

In accordance with structural theory and distributive justice theory, this study investigates if Americans' personal encounters with the opportunity structure and their existing reward conditions will influence their perceptions toward distribution outcomes in the U.S. I argue that higher-status individuals possessing various "attributes of structural privilege" will exhibit less support for regulating income inequality in society than lower-status individuals. Upward mobility should also be negatively related to support for restoring greater equality in allocation outcomes. However, the effect of mobility on justice perceptions should vary by class status, since class has been known to be a reliable predictor of these attitudes. The study employed a sample of 438 American adults from the GSS 2000 dataset, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was applied in the analyses of the data. Two of the three above hypotheses received partial confirmation, that is, there were class, race, and gender differences in distributive justice perceptions. Class also interacted significantly with occupational mobility in altering distributive justice perceptions.

Why does merit-based elite recruitment exist under authoritarianism, notwithstanding its adverse impact on elites' private interests? In my dissertation, I develop an argument that centers on the role of upward mobility in authoritarian regime dynamics. I argue that merit-based elite recruitment provides individuals from non-elite background an opportunity to move into the ruling class by effort; it enhances their perception of upward mobility and thus reduces their discontent with the status quo. An authoritarian ruler, therefore, may deliberately adopt and institutionalize meritocracy in elite recruitment to engineer limited but sustained upward mobility, which co-opts large numbers of non-elites and helps stabilize the regime. Focusing on the case of China and its national civil service examination (NCSE), I draw on qualitative, quantitative, and experimental evidence to triangulate the complex dynamic between the CCP leadership, local officials, and ordinary citizens in merit-based elite recruitment. I employ two survey experiments to demonstrate that, by imposing institutional constraints on local officials, the CCP leadership can make its commitment to merit-based recruitment credible and enforceable. Analyzing data from two national representative surveys, I find that the institutionalization of NCSE forges a widespread and persistent perception of upward mobility among citizens eligible for the exam and weakens their pressure on the regime for income redistribution; it also strengthens public support for local government and contributes to the legitimacy of the CCP regime. These findings contribute to our understanding of the effects of meritocracy under authoritarianism and highlight the importance of upward mobility in relation to regime resilience.

The Chinese market transition has provided new opportunities for individuals to improve social status. In contemporary urban China, do people have equal access to opportunities to obtain occupational status? Following theories of human capital, social network and market transition, this study uses a dataset of the 2003 China General Social Survey and interviews, to explore different effects of human capital, family background and social network on occupational mobility from a perspective of work sector change. The first major finding is that the returns for education were highest for those whose first and second occupations were in the state sector. Work experience and party membership were significant only for workers remaining in the state sector and human capital was often considered equal to work ability. In the private sector, occupational status depended on recognition of the ability to work. Secondly, family background was meaningful for workers transferring within both sectors. In the state sector, the effects were mainly through the use of fathers’ political power to make occupational promotion whereas in the private sector, it came down to economic support or information transmission. Thirdly, social network was significant in the form of strong ties if workers stayed in the state sector or transferred there from the private sector. It mainly took the form of job information for those staying in or transferring to the private sector. And last, education significantly affected income for all groups but with the highest returns for stayers. I conclude that for one thing, human capital, family background and social network exert markedly different effects on occupational mobility in four subgroups in contemporary urban China. The use of political power is the main influence of family background and social network, especially for those transferring to the state sector. The institutionalization of occupational promotion based on political power may result in unequal opportunity for job and status mobility and consequently the stagnation of economic and social development. In order to establish a fair labour market, five policy proposals are made related to promotion of a market-oriented economy, disclosure of information in the labour market, law regulation, reform of distribution of socioeconomic benefits, and political system reform.

Thèse (Ph. D.)--Université Laval, 2000. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.