Adult Vocational Trajectory

Few of the sequential models of adult vocational development have based their theories on investigations using large samples. On the basis of interviews carried out with 786 adults randomly assigned after stratifying according to nine age strata, three socioeconomic classes, two sexes, and three working sectors, this article proposes a “spatial-temporal” model conceiving adult vocational development as a complex and constant readjustment in an always changing perception of personal space-time. More precisely, based on results describing phases of occupational life, this article presents two propositions of this model: the continuous alternation between states of instability and the interaction of influences.