混沌與秩序：重大生涯偶發事件後女性生涯建構之敘說探究
Abstract
為探討華人女性遭遇重大生涯偶發事件後調適自我以建構生涯的生命經驗，本研究採用敘說探究作為研究方法，邀請中年女性參與半結構深度訪談。透過分析三位研究參與者的敘說文本，研究發現，重大生涯偶發事件對她們的生涯產生意料之外的影響，在對這些經驗的意義建構中她們找到了自己、聽見「想要活出自己」的真實渴望。具體研究結果如下： 有關研究參與者遭遇重大生涯偶發事件的生命經驗，研究結果包括四個部分，分別為：（1）研究參與者所敘說之重大生涯偶發事件合計共17件，這些事件呈現三個特徵，即正負難分、以關係連結為主、橫跨家庭與工作生活；（2）研究參與者的調適因應包括內在準備狀態、女性特質、以及支持系統三個面向；（3）重大生涯偶發事件影響研究參與者生涯的結果內涵包括生涯阻礙、改變生涯、以及自我成長三部分；（4）重大生涯偶發事件相關故事揭露出研究參與者身處的四大類社會情境脈絡，涉及成長脈絡、婚姻脈絡、親職脈絡、道德規範與經濟脈絡。 在研究參與者透過敘說對重大生涯偶發事件進行意義建構方面，研究結果包括兩個部分，分別為：（1）四個意義結構，包括「逆境中的伺機脫困，自我覺醒與破繭重生」、「渴望活出自己的生命」、「渴望自我實現，順應天命成全自己」、「走出跟母親不一樣的人生」；（2）三個核心生涯主題，包括「活出勇敢與純粹的自己」、「活出真善美的人生」、「找回自立自強的自我」。 整體而言，本研究發現，發生重大生涯偶發事件發生後，研究參與者的生涯發展呈現意料之外、非線性等混沌特徵，然而她們也更靠近真實自我，走上成為自己的道路，聽見很想活出自己生命的真實渴望。最後，本研究結合過往文獻進行討論，亦就生涯諮商輔導實務與未來研究提出建議。
To explore how women strive to adjust themselves and construct their careers after experiencing salient chance events, the qualitative study conducted narrative inquiry as its research method to invite three middle-aged Chinese women to participate in semi-structured, person-to-person in-depth interviews. Analysis of their first-person narratives found that, while salient chance events did exert impacts on the participants by disrupting their careers unexpectedly, the participants found themselves and heard the authentic desire to “live out their own lives” through the sense-making process in their narratives. Major findings of the study are summarized below.In terms of the salient chance events and their impacts experienced by the participants, the following four features were noted: (1) The participants narrated a total of 17 salient chance events in their narratives, which exhibited three characteristics: Negative events together with positive meaning, a higher degree of events related to the relationships, and events spanning across both work and home life; (2) The participants demonstrated three types of response to salient chance events, which included internal characteristics, women’s strategies, and supports from the systems; (3) The encountered salient chance events were significant in three ways: Eecting career barriers, resulting in career changes, and triggering self-growth; (4) The narratives of the participants found them situated in four major social contexts of growth, motherhood, moral norms and economic aspects.With regard to the participants’ sense-making of their experiences in career construction after salient chance events involved in narratives, the dissertation uncovered the following insights: (1) The four distinct meaning structures were respectively “achieving self-awakening and rebirth through adversity,” “striving to live out myself,” “attaining self-realization and fulfilling my own destiny,” and “creating a life different from that of my mother;” (2) The three core career themes were respectively “live a life with brave and authentic self,” “live a life of truth, goodness and beauty,” and “live a life with a self-reliant and self-improving self.”In summary, the study found the life experiences of the participants after encountering salient career chance events marked by nonlinearity and unpredictability emphasized by the chaos theory of career. Nevertheless, chance events proved to be valuable experiences motivating the participants to better understand themselves and affirm their own values, leading to the emergence of a desire to live out their own lives. Based on the findings of this study, we further proposed several research and practical implications.
To explore how women strive to adjust themselves and construct their careers after experiencing salient chance events, the qualitative study conducted narrative inquiry as its research method to invite three middle-aged Chinese women to participate in semi-structured, person-to-person in-depth interviews. Analysis of their first-person narratives found that, while salient chance events did exert impacts on the participants by disrupting their careers unexpectedly, the participants found themselves and heard the authentic desire to “live out their own lives” through the sense-making process in their narratives. Major findings of the study are summarized below.In terms of the salient chance events and their impacts experienced by the participants, the following four features were noted: (1) The participants narrated a total of 17 salient chance events in their narratives, which exhibited three characteristics: Negative events together with positive meaning, a higher degree of events related to the relationships, and events spanning across both work and home life; (2) The participants demonstrated three types of response to salient chance events, which included internal characteristics, women’s strategies, and supports from the systems; (3) The encountered salient chance events were significant in three ways: Eecting career barriers, resulting in career changes, and triggering self-growth; (4) The narratives of the participants found them situated in four major social contexts of growth, motherhood, moral norms and economic aspects.With regard to the participants’ sense-making of their experiences in career construction after salient chance events involved in narratives, the dissertation uncovered the following insights: (1) The four distinct meaning structures were respectively “achieving self-awakening and rebirth through adversity,” “striving to live out myself,” “attaining self-realization and fulfilling my own destiny,” and “creating a life different from that of my mother;” (2) The three core career themes were respectively “live a life with brave and authentic self,” “live a life of truth, goodness and beauty,” and “live a life with a self-reliant and self-improving self.”In summary, the study found the life experiences of the participants after encountering salient career chance events marked by nonlinearity and unpredictability emphasized by the chaos theory of career. Nevertheless, chance events proved to be valuable experiences motivating the participants to better understand themselves and affirm their own values, leading to the emergence of a desire to live out their own lives. Based on the findings of this study, we further proposed several research and practical implications.
Description
Keywords
重大生涯偶發事件, 生涯建構, 生涯混沌, 女性生涯, 敘說探究, salient chance events, career construction, career chaos, women's career development, narrative inquiry