You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In just the past decade there has been enormous change in both work lives and aspirations among women. More women work, including those with small children. While many women work out of necessity and others still subscribe to more traditional values, many have internalized a work ethic long present in middle-class men: the overt expression of ambition and the desire “to go the distance” professionally.
Yet one still hears the remark, “So and so is really successful for a woman.” This remark suggests that despite the energy unleashed in newly formed ambitions, women, by and large, do not reach the same level of attainment as men. And, indeed, statistics continue to show that women seldom reach the upper echelons in their fields. Insofar as the barrier to success is external, one is dealing with sexism and the solution is political.1 Insofar as the barrier is internal, one is dealing with psychological phenomena, and the solution is individual change.
Women increasingly seek treatment explicitly as an aid in their search for autonomy and self-realization, the vehicle of which is believed to be professional or creative achievement. As more