The Career Mystique shows that most Americans-men and women-continue to embrace the myth that hard work, long hours, and continuous employment pay off, even though it is out of date and out of place in twenty-first-century America. Phyllis Moen and Patricia Roehling argue that the lock step arrangements around education, work, family, and retirement no longer fit the realities and risks of contemporary living, yet the roles, rules, and regulations spawned by the career mystique remain in place. This books shows that ambiguities and uncertainties about the future abound in boardrooms, in offices, and on factory floors, as Americans face the realities of corporate restructuring, chronic job insecurity, and double demands at work and at home. Moen and Roehling show the career mystique for what it is: a false myth standing in the way of creating new, alternative workplaces and career flexibilities. Based on research funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Institute on Aging.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
In this compelling, clearly written, and well-researched book, Moen and Roehling make the best case I've seen for sustainable careers. If it's good for the environment, why shouldn't we do it for human beings? A powerful idea whose time has come. (Arlie Hochschild )
The book provides interesting details, including international examples and excellent references. Highly recommended. (Choice )
Worthy of attention. (Psychcritiques )
Provokes a great deal of reflection in the reader, challenging us to think in new ways about a plethora of interconnected aspects of the social world. An accessible sociological text. (Work, Employment And Society )
The Career Mystique is a chilling account of the mismatch between couples’ dreams and changing realities. Whether at work or at home, at any stage of adult life, nothing can be taken for granted anymore. This excellent book led me to conclude that we can no longer be complacent about the crisis we are in as family members and employees. (Rosanna Hertz )
The book provides interesting details, including international examples and excellent references. Highly recommended. (Choice )
Worthy of attention. (Psychcritiques )
Provokes a great deal of reflection in the reader, challenging us to think in new ways about a plethora of interconnected aspects of the social world. An accessible sociological text. (Work, Employment And Society )
The Career Mystique is a chilling account of the mismatch between couples’ dreams and changing realities. Whether at work or at home, at any stage of adult life, nothing can be taken for granted anymore. This excellent book led me to conclude that we can no longer be complacent about the crisis we are in as family members and employees. (Rosanna Hertz )
About the Author
Phyllis Moen holds the McKnight Presidential Chair of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Working Parents and Women's Two Roles and editor of It's About Time: Couples and Careers. She recently served as president of the Eastern Sociological Society. Patricia Roehling is professor and chair of the psychology department at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Introduction to the Career/Social Problems, but no original solutions,
By Avals Sher "Gambit" (FL, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream (Paperback)
For people unfamiliar with the myth of the middle-class being able to manage a one house, 2 car, 2.5 kid, 2 income life, this 2004 book is a great choice. However, this is old news. Written by a sociologist and a phycologist, this reads like a great 30 page research paper that has been stretched into a 200 page book (and 100 pages of footnotes and index). The writers give a great overview, but focus almost entirely on the middle-class problems and the rude awakening that many are having since the middle-class women of the 1950s have begun entering the work force. Slim discussion on single parent households and even slimmer discussion on low-income families (especially women), who have been facing a crisis for at least 100 years longer.
(Spoiler) The idea is basically that middle-class women of the 1950s provided a vital support for their bread winner husbands and nurtured the children (discussion about single women is lacking). With the 1970s allowing women to enter the workforce, the cracks have been appearing due to the stresses on family/work life with many middle-class women now being forced to do 2 jobs without adequte pay for either and with men not barring their fair share. Combine it less assurance of life-time employment, benefits, and pensions, and you get the cracks in the American Dream. Well, that's just great. Any original solutions? What about low-income women who have been out in the workforce for much longer? What about single women? The authors muse on how great universal flex time, paid maternity leaves without risk of layoffs or geopardizing promotions, and government support would be. However, they don't really come up with any original or unique solutions to the problem. They just say that something has got to change or we'll be in trouble. They label many corporate initiatives such as low cost day care as being really pro-work (since parents are able to stay at work longer) but don't provide any better solutions. Leaving it up to others. An economic perspective would have helped. Overall, a good summary, but severely lacking.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting read,
This review is from: The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream (Paperback)
I'm a sociology undergrad and was asked to read this book. While many sociology books that I've read are dry and difficult to get through, The Career Mystique is straightforward, with clear and easy-to-understand examples. More than that, this book forced me to look beyond the relative ease of the predicted, calculated, college life to what lerks beyond, namly trying to balance a career and a family. I think The Career Mystique clearly explains a problem that has been lurking within American society for the past few decades but until now remained unnamed. This is a must-read for anyone who will try to balance family life and a dual-earner relationship.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Need a wife? Read this book.,
By
This review is from: The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream (Paperback)
If you've ever felt that what you (and your husband) need to survive is a good old-fashioned wife, read this book! The Career Mystique explains how dramatic changes - including the revolutions in longevity and retirement - are at odds with rigid rules and expectations around work. It's clear, as authors Phyllis Moen and Patricia Roehling write, that we need entirely "new definitions of success at work and at home," new career paths for all stages of life, and much more flexibility. This terrific book will light the way.
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