Gottfredson’s Circumscription, Compromise, & Self Creation Christopher Belser, M.Ed., NCC University of Central Florida

To get us started… Think back to last week when Coralis asked you about a job you wanted when you were a child… What made you change your mind about that one?

Meet Linda Gottfredson Worked in Peace Corps in Malaysia Taught in high needs schools in Oakland, CA. Worked for the Human Relations Commission in Oakland, CA researching media bias and black underrepresentation in journalism Ph.D. in Sociology Her theory emerged in the early 1980s

Her ideas were shaped by the social issues she witnessed and experienced.

from an interview with Gottfredson: “Beginning with my dissertation, I worked toward integrating the sociological and psychological approaches to career development. My particular aim was to understand better why individuals of different races, sexes, and social classes tend to end up in different kinds of jobs—and hence different places within the social order…”

“The two spoke different languages… Sociologists classified occupations vertically, by socioeconomic status, while vocational psychologists ordered them horizontally, by field of work or vocational interests. So where one emphasized invidious (unjust) distinctions, the other avoided them. Psychologists studied how people choose occupations; sociologists, how society erects barriers to free choice.” --Linda Gottfredson (2007)

Circumscription

Orientation to Size & Power https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlHA86Y_BaM

A different kind of career theory

Orientation to sex roles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmgV3OFn0aE

A different kind of career theory

Orientation to social valuation Everybody Loves Raymond clip (1 min) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mueg4

A different kind of career theory

Orientation to Internal, Unique Self https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1F9-NKqDDk

A different kind of career theory

Key concepts Self-concept: a multifaceted view of one’s self; includes personal aspects such as appearance, gender, values, abilities, personality, etc.

Key concepts Images of occupations: stereotypes of occupations related to who can work in an occupation and what kind of work they do

Key Concepts Occupational Preferences: compatibility between images of occupations and one’s preferred level of effort Perceived Accessibility of an Occupation: obstacles or opportunities that affect chances of getting into an occupation Occupational Alternatives: Product of compatibility and accessibility

Cognitive Maps of Occupations Heart surgeon Psychiatrist Federal Judge Tolerable Effort Boundary Social Space (Zone of Acceptable Alternatives) HS teacher Kindergarten teacher Real Estate Agent Receptionist Tolerable Prestige-Level Boundary Tolerable Sex-Type Boundary Construction Worker

Activity! Let’s make a map! Refer to the back of your handout Find the 5 listed careers and complete the list. Plot the 10 careers on the map where they would fit within the perceived level of prestige (y axis) and perceived sex type (x axis)

Heart surgeon Kindergarten teacher

Reflection on activity Why are certain careers placed where they are? Who or what may have influenced these ratings? How do your ratings compare to a classmate’s?

Key concepts Circumscription: Progressive elimination of one’s least favored options; occurs within the four stages

Key concepts Compromise: adjusting preferred career options based on external or environmental constraints on career choice (settling) If discrepancy between preference and reality is small, individuals won’t compromise on area of interest If discrepancy is moderate, individuals are more likely to compromise on sex type than prestige. If the discrepancy is large, individuals are more likely to sacrifice area of interest than prestige or sex type

Criticisms Limited mostly to children & adolescents Not much for adult development More conceptual, without concrete activities or interventions Only plots careers based on gender and SES The “G factor”

The “g factor” Gottfredson was and is interested in the impact of intelligence on abilities and career choice Briefly researched race and general intelligence (biologically-based) Has since changed her views on these specific studies Currently investigating how genetic intelligence factors (nature) and environment (nurture) interact to impact ability and career choice

Praise and Implications Moves the conversation about careers beyond trait-and-factor Provides counselors with a framework for understanding sociological factors for why an individual may experience career distress or indecision The Cognitive Map of Careers can help counselors and clients understand how they perceive certain careers; this opens the conversation to why those perceptions are what they are. Helps counselors factor reality into the conversation about careers Informs school counselors of the necessity to expose students to non-traditional careers