Male engineers extending working life: issues in ongoing professional practice development

In an era of increasing expectation for baby boomers to extend their working lives, this thesis explored issues of professional practice in late career. Drawing on first-hand experiences and insights of mature-age male professional engineers and theoretical perspectives from several disciplines, the thesis links the external dynamics and tensions of mature professional practice with inner developmental transitions and tensions of later adulthood. A major contribution is the recommendation to professional associations that the distinctive issues of working in late career need to be reflected in continuing professional development in order to capitalise on the potential of mature practitioners in their workplaces.