Major Career Development Theories and Concepts

Krumboltz's Social Learning Theory

Four Main Factors Influencing Career Choice

• Genetic Influences
• Environmental Conditions and Events
• Learning Experiences
• Task Approach Skills

Foundation of Krumboltz's Career Theory

Krumboltz’s theory of career decision making and development was based on Social Learning principles.

Parsons's Trait and Factor Theory

Purpose of Parsons's Theory of Occupational Choice

The purpose is to match careers to the talents, skills, and personality of a client.

Role of Assessments in Parsons's Theory

Assessments are necessary to gather the client’s talents, skills, likes, dislikes, and personality. Once this information is gathered, it can be used to help identify jobs or careers for which the client would be a perfect fit.

Ginzberg's Developmental Theory

Sub-Stages of the Tentative Stage

The tentative stage includes four sub-stages:

• Interest: Focus on your likes and dislikes.
• Capacity: Aligning abilities with interests.
• Values: Determining what is most important.
• Transition: When the individual assumes responsibility for their own actions and choices.

Characteristics of the Fantasy Stage

During the fantasy stage, children engage in:

• Role play.
• Thinking about the career they would like to pursue when they grow up.
• Example: “When I grow up, I want to be a school teacher.”

Holland's RIASEC Model of Vocational Personalities

Components of the RIASEC Method and Characteristics

The RIASEC model identifies six vocational personality types:

• Realistic (R): Hands-on, active, solving concrete problems, prefers working with things over people.
• Investigative (I): Likes math and science, loner, solves abstract problems, seeks intellectual challenges.
• Artistic (A): Creative, likes self-expression, emotional, original, introspective.
• Social (S): Friendly, responsible, humanistic, cooperative, generous.
• Enterprising (E): Leader, persuasive, confident, energetic, adventurous, enthusiastic.
• Conventional (C): Ordered, structured, dependable, persistent, practical.

The Self-Directed Search (SDS) and Personality Coding

The Self-Directed Search (SDS) is a widely utilized counseling technique for diagnosis. It allows the client to conduct a self-assessment of their personal traits.

Personality styles are typically coded by the dominant factors (usually the top three scores).

Example: SC for a librarian who is friendly (Sociable) and organized (Conventional).

Gottfredson's Theory of Circumscription and Compromise

The Four Stages of Circumscription (Ages and Explanation)

Gottfredson identified four stages of circumscription:

1. Orientation to Size and Power (Ages 3–5): Thought processes are concrete; children develop some sense through sex roles of what it means to be an adult.
2. Orientation to Sex Roles (Ages 6–8): Self-conception is influenced by gender development.
3. Orientation to Social Valuation (Ages 9–13): Development of concepts of social class contributes to the awareness of self in situation. Preferences for level of work develop.
4. Orientation to the Internal, Unique Self (Ages 14+): Introspective thinking promotes greater self-awareness and perceptions of others. The individual achieves greater perception of vocational aspirations in the context of self, sex role, and social class.

Concept: Images of Occupations

Images of occupations refer to occupational stereotypes that include the personalities of people in different occupations, the work that is done, and the appropriateness of that work for different types of people.

Super's Career Development Theory and the Career Rainbow

Entering the Exploration Stage at Age 45

Super views career development as an ongoing, developmental process, not tied to a single choice made in the past. Since people are not fixed but change over time, an individual can re-enter the Exploration Stage at any age (e.g., 45). This occurs when they are in the process of trying out new roles, determining what suits them, and developing or redefining their self-concept.

Services for Clients in Super's Decline Stage

When an individual reduces their participation in their work/career during the Decline Stage, possible suggestions include:

• Retirement options counseling.
• Interest inventories to find new hobbies or leisure activities.
• Volunteer opportunities.
• Referring them to support groups.
• Creating a new daily schedule to help manage excess time.

Tiedeman's Career Decision-Making Model

The Seven Stages of Career Decision Making

Tiedeman's model outlines seven stages:

1. Exploration: Marked by random, exploratory considerations. The individual has developed no strategy or plan of action.
2. Crystallization: Represents progress toward, but not the attainment of, a choice.
3. Choice: Represents a definite commitment, with some degree of certainty, to a particular goal.
4. Clarification: A process of closure in which the individual is involved in clarifying and elaborating the consequences of their commitment.
5. Induction: Adjustment to a new group of people and a new situation. This stage ends when a person becomes aware of being accepted by the group.
6. Reformation: The individual‘s primary mode of interaction is assertive, rather than passive. The individual has a strong sense of self.
7. Integration: In this stage, older group members react against the new member’s force for change, which causes the individual to compromise or modify their intentions.

Tiedeman's Career Assessment Tool

The career assessment David Tiedeman created is the Information System for Vocational Decisions.

Theoretical Influence on Tiedeman's Model

Tiedeman’s career decision-making model was influenced by Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory.

Roe's Personality Theory of Career Choice

Two Key Areas of Roe's Theory

• Theoretical Aspects of Personality
• Classification of Occupations

Parent-Child Interaction Patterns

Roe classified parent-child interaction patterns into three main categories, each with subcategories:

• Emotional Concentration on the Child:
  • Overprotective
  • Over Demanding
• Avoidance of the Child:
  • Emotional Rejection
  • Neglect
• Acceptance of the Child:
  • Casual
  • Loving

Eight Categories of Occupation in Roe's System

Roe's comprehensive classification system includes:

1. Service
2. Business Contact
3. Organization
4. Technology
5. Outdoor
6. Science
7. General Culture
8. Arts & Entertainment