Now the basic groundwork has been done. Whereas Part I captures the field as we know it and Part II offers some new perspectives, Part III presents some samples of what might be made of the interplay among the ideas so far presented.

Three major scholars, each sympathetic to our endeavors to advance career theory, were asked to take the material in the first two parts and let their own thinking take its own creative course. There was a basic agreement that each writer would take primary responsibility for, but not be restricted by, a single level of analysis: the individual (Bailyn), the organization (Nystrom, joined by Me Arthur), and the society (Kanter). In the spirit of the exercise to allow the ideas to develop freely, no further guidelines were given. The result is three quite different chapters. What is common, however, is that each chapter offers a powerful demonstration of what can be made of the “land and materials*” from Parts I and II.

In Chapter 23, Bailyn looks principally at the individual's experience of career processes and develops implications for career practice as well as theory. Bailyn stresses two complications in the study of careers: that the career is an interstitial concept and that career theory needs also to serve as a guide for applying the knowledge it conveys. From these she develops an argument that the immediate context of work, the acknowledgement of discontinuity, and the character of subjective experience are major issues for future career studies.