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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.