1. Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach
Chapter 2: Theories of Career Development
PART 3: Developmental Theories &
Person-In-environment perspective
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2. Developmental Theories – Key Points
Career development is viewed as a lifelong, continuous process that is very inclusive, involving multiple life roles
Individuals make changes during developmental stages and adapt to changing life roles
Self-concept – individuals project self into work environment as a means of self-expression
A system of developmental tasks over the life span provides key points for counseling interventions
Developmental needs are evaluated when establishing counseling goals – e.g. adult concerns are addressed & not just initial career choice (a strength of developmental theories)
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Key points, cont.
Individuals circumscribe or narrow career choice through self-awareness that is determined by one’s social class, level of interests, & experiences with sex-typing
A primary role is to assist clients to understand how their unique development influences perceptions of life roles, including the work role
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4. Super: Life-Span, Life-Space
Vocational Self-Concept - the driving force that establishes career patterns followed throughout life
Develops through physical & mental growth, observations of work, identification with working adults, general environment & general experiences
The process is multidimensional – Internal factors (aptitude, values, personality) & Contextual factors (external situational conditions )
Differences & similarities between self & others are assimilated
As experiences become broader in relation to awareness of the world of work, a more sophisticated vocational self- concept is formed
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5. Developmental Stages & Tasks
Pages 48 – 50
Super considered ages & transitions as very flexible and not occurring in a well-ordered sequence
An individual can recycle through one or more stages (minicycle)
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Career Maturity
Acquired through successfully accomplishing developmental tasks within a series of life stages
Often unstable during highschool; Maturity in 9th grade is predictive of success in young adulthood
Clients have a better chance of making optimal decisions when most aware of the work world and of themselves
Students gain career maturity by learning how to plan for the future & understand the benefits of planning
Recommend school curriculums that offer opportunities for students to make connections between classroom activities & future work roles
6 dimensions for adolescents – p. 51
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7. Life Stage Model Life Career Rainbow – p. 52
2 dimensional: life span & life space
Roles are experienced in the following theaters:
Home, community, school, & workplace
Success in 1 role facilitates success in another
All roles affect each other begs for a holistic approach & for more research
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8. Archway Model (p. 53) Archway of Career Determinants
Interactive learning forms the keystone (the self)
Career development is a pervasive part of life – life activities & developmental stages are integrated
Developmentally based career guidance programs must address a broad range of variables & counseling techniques & intervention strategies
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Evaluating Super’s Theory
Evaluations have been predominately positive
Evolved during 60 years of research - one of the most comprehensive
Criticized for being too vague – concepts not defined well & difficult to measure (e.g work satisfaction, career maturity, & vocational development)
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10. Practical Applications
Career Development Assessment & Counseling Model (C-DAC)
Super remained dedicated to the roles of developmental stages within three main segments of his theory: life space, life span, & self-concepts
Numerous assessment instruments were developed to measure developmental tasks over the life span that are currently used in the career counseling process.
Counseling steps: p
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11. Gottfredson’s Developmental Theory of Occupational Aspirations (1981)
Offers a developmental, sociological perspective of career development
Gottfredson’s theory answers the question, “Why do children seem to re-create the social inequalities of their elders long before they themselves experience any barriers to pursuing their dreams?
Career Development is a nature-nurture partnership
Social identities are established through work 11

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Stages of Development – p. 56
Stage 1: Orientation to size and power
Stage 2: Orientation to sex roles
Stage 3: Orientation to social valuation
Stage 4: Orientation to the internal, unique self
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Social Space – zone of acceptable alternatives in each person’s cognitive map of occupations; view of where one “fits” into society
Circumscription - the process of determining occupational preferences during self-concept development; self-concept is heavily influenced by social class or SES, intellectual level & sex-typing
Compromise - the process of modifying career choices based on generalizations formed about occupations (cognitive maps – e.g. sex-type & prestige – p. 57) & external realities (family obligations, educational opps)
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14. We create boundaries or tolerable limits of acceptable jobs.
Career choice is a process of eliminating the negative rather than selecting the most positive.
We create boundaries or tolerable limits of acceptable jobs.
Satisfaction – good fit between the choice & self-concept
Counselors should respect the individuality of all clients & make no assumptions about a client’s interests, attitudes, & abilities 14

15. Practical Implications
Counselors should respect the individuality of all clients & make no assumptions about a client’s interests, attitudes, & abilities
Career education should begin with the very young
Empower children & their choices by being aware of the influence of circumscription & compromise 15

16. Encourage clients to be realistic (p. 59)
Gottfredson’s Criteria for Determining a Counselee’s Restriction of Options:
Able to name one or more occupational options
Possesses interests and abilities adequate for the occupation(s) chosen
Satisfied with the alternatives identified
Has not unnecessarily restricted alternatives
Is aware of opportunities and realistic about obstacles 16

17. Evaluation of Gottfredson
Some research shows that students widen their range of career exploration during high school, not narrow it
Limited to children – do you agree? 17

18. Anne Roe’s Personality Theory of Career Choice
Anne Roe ( ), a clinical psychologist, considered the impact of children’s early child-rearing environments on their later career choice
Drawing upon Maslow’s (1954) needs theory, Roe suggests that unmet needs become important motivators in the occupational choices people make; the level is influenced by factors such as genetic structure & SES

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20. Roe identified three primary modes of child rearing environments:
emotional concentration (overprotection- overdemanding),
avoidance (neglecting needs)
acceptance (physical and psychological needs are met)
Roe suggests individuals choose occupation fields based on their need structures.