Exploring the Meaning of Age for Professional Women Who Acquire Master's Degrees in Their Late 40s and 50s

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to help understand the meaning of age as experienced by older university graduates. The participants of this study were Finnish healthcare and social work professionals who earned master's degrees in their late 40s and 50s. They were all female, and their main purpose of study was to upgrade credentials. The analysis was informed by the sociology of age. The research questions were the following: What kind of meaning did these older graduates give to their age? How did the social category of “old” influence their reflections on age? As a result, age was meaningful for the participants at least in three different ways. First, when age was seen as a resource, it referred to the prior life history, especially to all those earlier working experiences which have made the person who she was. Second, when age was seen as a difference, it referred to all those social and cultural differences that divided older and younger students. Third, when age was seen as a limiting option, it referred to the time that one had left to fulfill different life plans.

Notes

^a Pseudonyms were used to protect participants' identities.

^b This was the age at the interview. Most participants have graduated two or three years earlier. Only Mervi had graduated five years earlier, being the youngest to graduate at age 46.