Professional obsolescence and updating-a cognitive-psychological perspective

Abstract

The accelerated rate of scientific and technological progress puts heavy demands on professionals, who are faced with the threat of professional obsolescence. A cognitive-psychological approach is used to explore variations in the obsolescence experience at different career stages. The study is based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with 50 engineers and scientists from Israeli high-tech organizations. Results indicate that professional obsolescence and updating represent different processes to different people, and that career stage and organizational rank are the main dimension along which this variation occurs. Three kinds of varieties were identified in the data: varieties of cognitive schemata, meanings of threat, and updating resources.<>