Introduction : adolescent planful competence and the shaping of the life course -- The studies, their context, and the data -- Introduction to the life histories -- A finder of resources : Stuart Campbell -- Still learning at seventy : Mary Wylie -- Antecedents of planful competence -- Uphill all the way : Karl Schultz -- Destined for the law : Henry Barr -- Competence in men's lives : beyond the job -- Programmed for marriage : Alice Neal -- Against all adversity : Beth Green -- Planful competence in women's lives -- Women's lives : marriage and changing roles -- Family relationships -- The later years : looking forward and back -- Epilogue.