Issue Analysis
Child rearing and career pursuit are commonplace during early adulthood although men and women experience the two differently for obvious reasons. Women have the biological requirement to carry the growing child during pregnancy and giving birth. Nature also wired women with a maternal instinct to nurture and care for their children. Biology places women in a position that often puts them at odds with their career objectives. The level of success of the feminist movement to place women on an equal platform in the workplace with men is debatable. Further, whether professional women are opting out of the workplace by choice or are forced out by socio-cultural pressures is in question. Some observers suggest that the feminist movement has not gone far enough whereas others suggest that the movement has already served its purpose. In this paper, I examine the pros and cons on either side of the issue. I will also explore optional roles adults may adopt through their primary roles as parent, spouse, or through career pursuits. Often professional women leave their careers giving family priority. However, the rationale that drives that choice is debatable.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Pro Side Linda Hirschman in an article titled “Homeward Bound,” takes the position that while publicly and professionally attitudes toward women’s roles have changed allowing them greater opportunity in the business world. However, Hirschman (2005 p. 341) notes “private lives have hardly budged. The real glass ceiling is at home.” She supports her thesis beginning with her own teaching experience followed by her own impromptu survey of several women who had appeared in the New York Times Sunday Style section’s wedding announcements. Her findings did support her thesis yet the classroom experience is anecdotal and the sample used from the New York Times is a bit small to extrapolate to the population of professional women. The references to the television show “Sex in the City” do not add credibility except in the context of art imitating life. Hirschman further buttresses her stance with historical notations on the evolution of the feminist movement. She notes the shift of the movement from judgmental to placing emphasis on choice with the more radical sects of the movement addressing domestic gender relations, in which, according to Hirschman, the real problem lies. “The family—with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks—is a necessary part of life, but it allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing than public spheres like the market or the government” (Hirschman, 2005, p. 345). It seems that between feminism and tradition, tradition is the stronger of the two. Hirschman’s opinion carries weight and her strength is in her astute observations of home life a la Americana.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Con Side Pamela Stone’s article puts forth the argument that women are not opting of the workplace as much as they are forced out given the quality of choices laid before them. Stone puts forth the question of why women are not “railing against the tyranny of an outmoded workplace that favored a 1950s-era employee or bemoaning their husbands’ drive for achievement at the expense of their own (Stone, 2007, p. 358)? Stone believes that feminism has fallen for a rhetoric of choice rather than acknowledge the facts of a movement that failed to alter the structure and more important, the attitude of the workplace. Stone highlights the double bind that professional women encounter between fulfilling the role of the ideal worker and the attentive mother. Women are often caught in the tug of war between motherhood and career. The strength of Stone’s position is her focus on the prevailing constraints of a workplace that has not broken with traditional norms. How many professional men would give up their careers to become Mr. Mom if their wives income equaled or exceeded their own? The role of caregiver, not only for the children, but also for elderly parents, traditionally has been assigned to women. Stone (2007) goes on to note that the so-called choice that women have available to them is “kids versus careers, and their own careers versus those of their husbands.”

Based on the statements presented in the critical issue, which author do you agree with? Provide supporting evidence. Stone’s argument has merit but appears to place women in a victim role. The forces she describes do have an impact, but the choices are not as narrow as she makes them seem. On the other hand, Hirschman’s assertion that women are opting out by choice to have children is accurate but not for the reasons she states. Economist Heather Boushey takes a more scientific approach to the question. Her analysis indicates that women “opting out” has more to do with the downturns in the labor market than with child rearing. Boushey’s (2005) analysis shows a “downward trend for women with small children, across age groups, and across educational attainment levels, except for women in their thirties with professional or advanced degrees, for whom there is no statistically significant change over time.” In her view, the opting out notion is a myth. The articles by Stone and Hirschman are devoid of research data and references, which makes Boushey the more credible witness.

Explore two other roles that can be acquired during early and middle adulthood, such as through parenthood, romantic relationships, and career. How have these roles changed through the past generations? The pursuit of a career and parenting are likely the most commonplace roles adopted in early and middle adulthood. Establishing a vocational identity is important to career stability, but in the past, the job market did not require the level of education required to land higher paying jobs. The nuclear family model cast the father in the breadwinner role. Now second wave feminism has opened up the workplace so that women can pursue elite careers once held by men only. Dual career families are common. The trend is to delay matrimony to pursue careers and educational objectives. Just a few generations ago, it was common for men to marry their high school sweetheart soon after graduation and enter a job that will become their career. Currently, several romantic relationships and cohabitation before marriage have become the social norms.

What psychological adjustments are made during early and middle adulthood to adapt to aging and changes in life style? How does this affect development? The psychological adjustments in early to middle adulthood set the tone for the remainder of the life span. Habits developed in early adulthood tend to continue throughout life. During this phase of development, people strive to establish their vocational identity. Many attend college while holding jobs, which helps to develop vocational identity. The next major psychological adjustment comes with raising children. Ideally, one result of the shared experience of child rearing is parental alliance. However, the addition of children sets in motion not one but several cascading psychological adjustments for the whole nuclear family as the children move through their stages of development. Selective optimization with compensation is a strategy that people use to maintain balance. According to Berger (2008, p. 567), “people seek to optimize their development, looking for the best ways to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient at activities they can already do well.”

Conclusion The labor force has changed markedly since the 1960s allowing more women to enter the workforce and hold jobs traditionally held by men. Because women are the child- bearers, they often find themselves torn between family and the pursuit of career. Some forsake their careers giving family priority, while others find ways to continue their work and still pursue a career whether from home or in a modified schedule. Research suggests that women opting out of professional careers are often more a result of the economy. There is little evidence to support the notion that women are opting out because of business or cultural forces.

References
Berger, K. S. (2008). The developing person through the life span (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Boushey, H. (2005, November 1). Are women opting out? debunking the myth [Center for Economic and Policy Research Briefing Paper, Retrieved January 14, 2012, from www.simmons.edu/som/docs/insights_25.pdf.

Hirschman, L. (2005). Homeward bound. In Andrew M. Guest.(Ed.), Taking sides: Clashing views in life-span development (3rd ed.)(pp. 341-350) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Guest, A. (2011). Taking sides: Clashing views in life-span development (3rd ed.)(pp. 341-350) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Stone, P. (2007). The rhetoric and reality of opting out. In Andrew M. Guest.(Ed.), Taking sides: Clashing views in life-span development (3rd ed.)(pp. 351-359) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Guest, A. (2011). Taking sides: Clashing views in life-span development (3rd ed.)(pp. 341-350) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.