The concept of career has been used by learning theorists from an occupational perspective as well as by tenants of the interactionist approach who aim to understand the subjective process and the development of a deviant identity. Using an empirical research of the Peruvian and Irish conflicts, this article uses both theoretical perspectives to analyze the career of women involved in the armed struggle. The richness and complexity of the process is put forth by focusing on the stages and stakes of the process through its different modes (vocational, due to the circumstances and under constraint) using attachment, commitment and stigma as the conceptual framework.