As part of a larger longitudinal study of the effects of secondary school characteristics on career behavior in young adulthood, findings are presented that were obtained from 1,007 males and females who graduated from high school in academic or vocational curricula in 1972 or 1974. Criterion behavior included the completion of career development tasks in the exploration and establishment life stages as measured by the Adult Form of the Career Development Inventory, certainty about immediate occupational plans, satisfaction with occupational goals, and progress toward meeting them. Significant differences were found in the pattern of career development by curriculum but not by sex, in certainty by curriculum and sex, and in satisfaction by neither curriculum nor sex. The implications for a stage theory of career development are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)