Part I: Introduction. The Structure of the Life Course: Classic Issues and Current Controversies. (R. Macmillan). Part II: Concepts and Characteristics. De-Standardization of the Life Course: What It Might Mean? and if it Means Anything, Whether it Actually Took Place? (H. Brückner, K. Ulrich Mayer). The Structure of the Life Course: Gender and Racioethnic Variation in the Occurrence and Sequencing of Role Transitions. (P. Brayboy Jackson, A. Berkowitz). Measuring the Transition to Adulthood in Mexico: An Application of the Entropy Index. (E. Fussell). Part III: Contexts and Contingencies. Colleges, Careers, and the Institutional Structuring of the Transition to Adulthood. (A.E. Person, J.E. Rosenbaum, R. Deil-Amen). From Old to New Structures: A Long-Term Comparison of the Transition to Adulthood in West and East Germany. (S. Hillmert). Age Norms, Institutional Structures, and the Timing of Markers of Transition to Adulthood. (J.T. Mortimer, S. Oesterle, H. Kr¨t;ger). Trials and Tribulations in Coupling Careers. (S-K Han). Embedded Career Clocks: The Case of Retirement Planning. (P. Moen, S. Sweet, R. Swisher). Part IV: Consequences. Mapping Social Context on Mental Health Trajectories through Adulthood. (P. Clarke, B. Wheaton).
Work and Activity Characteristics Across the Life Course. (P. Drentea). The Life Course of Academic Professionals: Substantive Tasks, False Assumptions, Institutional Accommodations, and Personal Adjustments. (V. Shaw). Author Index. Subject Index.