Whether or not one advances to more responsible positions, late in
the years of establishment most every worker, at one time or another,
thinks about what remains of her or his work life. Sometime during
midlife, individuals reach a point where taking care of what they
have established, that is, maintaining, becomes more important
than advancing in new directions. This concern introduces the
next career stage: maintenancein Super’s vocational development
theory or managementin career construction theory.
Career Stage Four: Maintenance or Management
As individuals begin to concentrate on maintaining what they have
established, they typically encounter the midlife question: Do I
want to do this for the next twenty-five years? Essentially, they ask
themselves and their family and friends if they should hold on or let
go. This vocational development task of renewal requires that indi-
viduals reevaluate work experiences and revise their vocational self-
concept accordingly. This is a question of re-finding, not refining,
the self. If reevaluation leads them to change organizations, occu-
pations, or fields, then they must recycle through exploration and
establishment by crystallizing and specifying a different choice and
then stabilizing in a new position (Williams & Savickas, 1990). If
they decide to remain in the established occupation and organiza-
tion, then they enter the stage of career maintenance, generally
defined as ages forty-five to sixty-four or from midlife to retirement.
Society expects mature adults to hold steady in the positions they
occupy by remaining interested in their work and committed to
their organization. The goal of this maintenance is to sustain one-
self in an occupational role and preserve one’s self-concept.
Because the chief task of maintenance is self-concept preserva-
tion, the focus is on style of maintaining one’s position, not on cop-
ing with a predictable sequence of age-related tasks. Super (1984)
conceptualized three styles of positive functioning during the main-
tenance stage: (1) holding, (2) updating, and (3) innovating. In hold-
inga position, individuals must meet the challenges presented by
A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOR 179