Learning theory and ‘Career’ Krumboltz’s (1979, 1996) Social Learning Theory of Career Development

The origins of Krumboltz’s work can be found in Bandura’s (1971) Social Learning Theory. A basic assumption of Social Learning Theory is that personality and behaviour can be best explained on the basis of the unique learning experiences of the individual. This assumption does not deny the significance of innate and developmental processes.

Social Learning Theory identifies two major types of learning experiences: 1. Instrumental learning experiences These occur when an individual is positively reinforced or punished for the exercise of some behaviour and its associated cognitive skills. People tend to repeat behaviours that are positively reinforced. The repetition of behaviour may lead to the development of particular skills; the behaviour may become intrinsically interesting to the extent that positive reinforcement is no longer necessary. People tend to avoid engaging in behaviours for which they are punished; they may learn to dislike these behaviours. People are engaged in instrumental learning experiences when they learn from the consequences of their behaviour.

2. Associational learning experiences These occur when people associate some previously neutral event or stimulus with an emotionally laden event or stimulus. For example – an individual associates hospitals with treatment that saved a relative’s life and, as a result, is interested in a medical career. Social Learning Theory also acknowledges the importance of self efficacy, i.e. that people’s beliefs about their skills, and the outcomes that are likely to result from using these skills, have a significant impact on behaviour. For example, a person proficient in maths may have a self-efficacy belief in their lack of ability in the subject - this may lead to an avoidance of maths related occupations

Following the basic tenets of Social Learning Theory, Krumboltz and colleagues (1979) formulated their Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (SLTCDM). The SLTCDM identifies four categories of factors that influence the decision making path for any individual: 1. Genetic endowment and special abilities: The influence of genetic factors may be due to an inherited trait, e.g. perfect pitch, or due to cultural practices associated with the genetic characteristic, e.g. sex discrimination. Genetic characteristics may include ethnicity, gender, physical impairment. It is assumed that special abilities such as intelligence, artistic talent, or muscular co-ordination result from the interaction of genetic factors and exposure to selected environmental events

2. Environmental conditions and events: This refers to social, political and economic forces, as well as forces such as natural disasters and the location of natural resources. These are generally outside of an individual’s control and include: number and nature of job and training opportunities social policies and procedures for selecting trainees and workers financial and social rewards of particular occupations labour market legislation natural disasters availability and demand for natural resources technological developments changes in social policy – e.g. welfare family experiences and resources ( occupational, social, financial)

3. Learning experiences Each person has a unique history of learning experiences that results in a chosen career path. People often do not remember the specific nature and sequence of these learning experiences, but rather remember the resulting generalised conclusions – e.g. ‘I love to help people’. Generalised conclusions are based on a history of instrumental and/ or associative learning experiences.

4. Task approach skills Interactions among learning experiences, genetic characteristics, special aptitudes and environmental influences result in task approach skills. These skills include: performance standards work habits perceptual and cognitive processes (e.g. attention and retention) mental sets emotional responses

According to the SLTCDM, as a result of the interaction of the four types of influencing factors, people form generalisations, or beliefs, in an attempt to represent their own reality. The SLTCDM refers to people’s beliefs about themselves as self-observed generalisations, and beliefs about the world of work as world-view generalisations. 1. Self-observed generalisations This assumes that people are constantly observing themselves and assessing their performance in comparison to their own or others’ standards. These self-observed generalisations may be overt or covert and influence the Outcome of new learning experiences. They result from prior learning experiences.

As a result of learning experiences, people draw conclusions and make generalisations about activities that they do and do not enjoy – i.e. interests SLTCDM does not refer to interests as traits – rather they are one type of self-observed generalisation linking a causal learning experience with subsequent choices and actions. Interests are very important in career decision making because they provide a summary of individuals’ reactions to their previous learning experiences.

2. World-view generalisations According to the SLTCDM, as a result of learning experiences people make generalisations about the environment in which they live. Furthermore people use these generalisations to predict what will occur in the future and in other environments. For example, people make generalisations about the nature of various occupations, such as ‘to be a top civil servant you need to be an Oxbridge graduate’. World-view generalisations, like self-observed generalisations, may be more or less accurate. Their accuracy will depend on the numbers of experiences on which they are based and the representativeness of those experiences.

Following the logic of SLTCDM, by virtue of making self-observed and world-view generalisations in relation to career, people learn and apply task approach skills to cope with their environment and make overt and covert predictions about future events. According to the SLTCDM, the following task approach skills are important for career decision making: Recognising an important decision situation Defining a task realistically Examining and accurately assessing self-observations and world-view generalisations Generating a wide variety of alternatives Gathering needed information about the alternatives Gradually eliminating unattractive alternatives

Finally – from theory to practice……. The theory stresses the importance of identifying past and potential learning experiences when exploring a client’s career. The theory regards interests as an indicator of the client’s prior learning experiences (this is in contrast with trait-factor approaches). The theory provides a means of examining how the client has learnt about career – i.e. what instrumental and associative learning experiences are evident in the client’s account of career. 4. The theory highlights the importance of beliefs, these being in the form of self-observed and world-view generalisations. It also emphasises the importance of challenging and re-framing beliefs, particularly those of a self-defeating kind that have arisen from faulty learning experiences.