How women manage their professional and personal lives in a time of profound and rapid social change: A study of six Trinidadian women in midlife

This qualitative study explores the intersection of political and social events and individual lives. Using a Life History method, it examines the narratives of six occupationally prominent women who are wives and mothers as they reflect on the ways in which the transformation of Trinidad from a British colony to an independent nation changed the meaning of women's work and gender roles. From the perspective of midlife they trace the pathways by which they managed their multiple roles in the public and personal domains. Parental directives, educational opportunities and the impact of mentors and models, the nationalistic ideology and the coincidence of the needs of the new national institutions and the ambition and abilities of the women, as well as the impact of industrialization and of new technologies of communication are revealed as significant to the management strategies observed.; The findings contribute to the expansion of the feminist understanding of woman. They also suggest the utility of having an ideal rather than a career label in times of social change, and the importance of including context in any analysis of individual lives. The use of a narrative analysis creates a space for the voices of the women themselves to be heard.