Aspirations and decision making in women's lives

This research focuses on the relationships among: 1) women's recalled aspirations, 2) the events that come about in their lives, and 3) the decision making process. The intention is to relate this work to the growing body of literature on young women's aspirations. A purposeful, non-probability sample of twenty-four women between the ages of twenty-seven and thirty-one years of age was selected from the local alumni of a high school in the eastern end of the Annapolis Valley. Semi-structured, in depth interviews were conducted. The interviews showed that for most of these women, the aspirations of their late teen years are the ones they have pursued into adulthood. Their decision making was examined and found to reflect a continuum of taken for granted decisions, to some intentional planning, to evidence of more forethought and deliberation. In the area of intimate relationships, their decisions reflect more open agendas and taken for granted assumptions. In the area of education and employment however, these women are more actively engaged in the process of freely choosing their particular path.