Paths to Fulfillment: Women's Search for Meaning and Identity

How do women create fulfilling lives? How does the identity they choose (or not choose) by the end of their college career affect how their lives unfold? For 35 years, Ruthellen Josselson has followed 26 randomly selected women who graduated from college in the early 1970s. Because these women came of age at this particular time in history, they were the trailblazers in creating new possibilities for women's lives and were among the first of the Women's Liberation Movement to take on meaningful roles in the work world. These "real" women, in contrast to the pervasive media stereotypes of the time, took on the challenge in very different ways and championed very different lives for themselves. In Paths to Fulfillment: Women's Search for Meaning and Identity, Josselson traces the stages of these women's lives and the ways in which identity, intimacy, and care for others over time leads to fulfillment, or in some cases, a lack of fulfillment. She examines the complexity of the relationship between a woman's roots, her efforts to create a unique life for herself, and how others become part of the self altogether. Josselson examines individual lives in depth for clues to understanding the strengths that help a woman to find fulfillment, and how a focus on raising the younger generation plays a role in creating this identity. With remarkable clarity and insight, Josselson challenges the common stereotypes of women, and shows how work, love, and care are all intertwined in a woman's feeling of identity.

Table of Contents:
Preface Chapter 1. Women and Identity Chapter 2. The Pathmakers Chapter 3. A Pathmaker and Her Daughter - and a Pathmaker Who Lost Her Way Chapter 4. The Guardians Chapter 5. The Searchers Chapter 6. The Drifters Chapter 7. A Drifter Who Created a Path Chapter 8. Paths to Fulfillment - Reflections on Adult Growth and Development in Women Afterword Discussion Questions

About the Author :
Ruthellen Josselson is a psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University.

Review :
"Clinicians who work with young adult women will find these interviews and Josselson's analysis edifying. It is a must read for those who work with college students and are concerned with optimal identity formation in young adults." --PsycCRITIQUES "The women Josselson first interviewed as college seniors have reached their mid-50s, and in Paths to Fulfillment we become privy to their choices - what brought them pleasure and a sense of fulfillment and also what they regret. Studies of women's lives remain rare in the literature on adult development and Josselson is among the pioneers in making women her focus. In their ability to reshape their identities she sees the imprint of feminism and a cause for celebration." -- Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development "Ruthellen Josselson's Paths to Fulfillment is the culmination of a life's work dedicated to understanding women's development across the human life course. With extraordinary empathy and a sharp analytic sense, Josselson plays the role of psychological tour guide, as she leads the reader through a series of life journeys, each running from the college years through late midlife. What will happen next in the story? How will these women's lives turn out? The emotional suspense keeps you turning the pages, while Josselson's keen insights and elegant prose continue to nourish the intellectual soul." -- Dan P. McAdams, author of The Art and Science of Personality Development "Ruthellen Josselson has given us rare, powerful, and insightful glimpses into the lives of 26 women as they move from college graduation through young and middle adulthood to the present time at age 55. In particular, Josselson chronicles four general but very different identity pathways upon which these women embark, and she vividly illustrates the diversity of challenges, triumphs, and adjustments each woman makes in attempting to find her own place in the world. Beautifully written, this volume provides a fascinating chronicle of ongoing identity work through many decades of adult life." -- Jane Kroger, Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of Tromsø "[In Paths to Fulfillment] Josselson extends and enriches her lively portraits of women's identity development presented in her first two books by following them into mid-life. This book represents the best of clinical psychology: the insightful and scientifically-inspired description of meaningful human behavior offered by a skilled and experienced psychotherapist and researcher." -- James Marcia, Professor Emeritus of Clinical / Developmental Psychology, Simon Fraser University