Virtually all psychological theories assume that early life experiences have an impact on later life choices. However, increasing doubts have been expressed about the universality and permanence of the relationship between women's work and family lives. To explore how early family experiences and early adult decisions affect women's later career achievement, three cohorts of married female college graduates were compared. Path analysis revealed powerful commonalities in the routes to career achievement. The stability of the importance of the number of years worked and the highest degree attained indicate that to achieve in the traditional terms of the workplace means that women must attain higher degrees and avoid dropping out of the workforce. Results suggest that career achievement does not depend on making the "right" decisions at specific "right" times, but does depend on accumulating some combinations of credentials, experience, and freedom from childcare responsibilities over time. In addition, credentials seem to decrease in importance over time, while experience seems to increase. (Author/JAC)