The Dual Career Couple: Concerns, Benefits, and Counseling Implications

Abstract

A comprehensive conceptualization of concerns and benefits experienced by dual career couples is presented. Counseling implications are provided to address the concerns. Counselors are asked to expand their roles to help couples challenge unquestioned societal values and practices and uniquely define their own standards for success in career and family roles.

Applying the Cognitive Information Processing Approach to Career Problem Solving and Decision Making to Women's Career Development

“…The counselor's own support of the client can also be important in increasing her motivation to explore new ideas. A woman with a partner who has traditional sex role expectations and who may be ambivalent about his wife's career choices can be encouraged to attend sessions with his wife to explore issues related to dual-career relationships (Wilcox-Matthew & Minor, 1989).…”

Carreira e conjugalidade: a percepção da mulher sobre a influência da relação conjugal no desenvolvimento de sua carreira

“…No universo empresarial, predomina a tradição patriarcal (Wilcox-Matthew & Minor, 1989). A maior parte das organizações reforça a desigualdade na divisão das responsabilidades familiares ao estabelecer políticas diferenciadas para homens e mulheres, como, por exemplo, as diferenças entre a licença maternidade e a licença paternidade e a concessão de jornadas parcial e horários flexíveis somente para mulheres (Gilbert, 1994 (Higgins et al, 1992).…”

The Multiple Role Coping Inventory (MRCI): development and factor structure investigation using a sample of employed mothers

“…Interpersonal concerns include potentially differential perceptions of work importance, competition between work roles within the family, inequality in commitment to household responsibilities, and childcare negotiation (Wilcox-Matthew & Minor, 1989). Yet, relationships are more stable when there is self-role congruence, where expectations about one's roles should be consistent with selfconcept (Hiller & Philliber, 1982).…”

“…Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985;Pleck, 1985;Wilcox-Matthew & Minor, 1989) as sources of multiple, stress inducing, and potentially conflicting, demands. This literature quickly shed light on gender role inequalities that typically occur in the family environment (Hoschild, 1989;Steil & Weltman, 1991 ;Gilbert, 1984).…”

“…Wilcox-Matthew & Minor, 1989). The bulk of the literature at that time has found that women tend to experience greater role 22 conflict than men (Lewis & Cooper, 1983;Chassin, 1985;Greenglass, Pantony, & Burke, 1988;Kramer & Melchoir, 1990), in addition to conflict among more varied combinations of roles (Greenglass, Pantony, & Burke, 1988).…”