Analyze potential effects of career path decisions on balancing work and family throughout family and career life cycles.
Analysis should include
- stages of the family life cycle
- stages of the career life cycle
- ways in which each stage influences career choices, involvement, and the balancing of personal and career responsibilities.
Process/Skill Questions:
Thinking
- Why is it important to understand the relationships between stages of the family life cycle and career decisions?
- What would happen if the stages of the family life cycle dictated career involvement? For example, what would happen if one parent were forbidden to work outside the home if there were a child under age five living in the household?
Communication
- Do different stages of the family life cycle call for different communication skills? Why or why not?
- What communication skills can help you evaluate interrelationships between the family life cycle and career patterns?
- How would being in a particular stage of the family life cycle influence time spent at work and time spent with family?
Leadership
- How would being in a particular stage of the family life cycle influence your opportunities for advancement in the workplace?
- What leadership skills can help you analyze the career implications of various stages of the family life cycle?
- Which stage of the family life cycle often poses the most difficulty with balancing personal and career responsibilities?
Management
- How would being in a particular stage of the family life cycle influence the number of responsibilities at work? At home?
- What changes in family life cycle stage will most likely influence your career patterns in the next five years? Ten years?
- What steps can you take to prepare for changes in career patterns?