Career identification and women's attitudes toward retirement

This study seeks to heighten understanding of the retirement process as experienced by women through an examination of working women's attitudes toward retirement. The subjects for this study were 201 female teachers employed in the public school system in a central Oklahoma district. The survey instrument used was a questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic and work-related variables. The findings indicate that overall, females with stronger work identities have significantly more negative attitudes toward retirement than those with weaker work identities; this difference remains significant when controls are introduced for years of teaching experience, expected age of retirement, and attitude toward work. The implications of these findings are discussed.