Topic X Career

10 Development

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. List the theories of career development;
2. Describe the theory that explains choice of career according to traits;
3. Describe the theory that explains choice of career according to
personality types;
4. Describe the theory that explains choice of career according to social
learning theory;
5. Describe the theory that emphasises self-concept and lifelong career
development; and
6. Explain the positive and the negative implications of taking up part-
time jobs among adolescents.

X INTRODUCTION
Career development is part of our normal social development. For many parents,
one of the hardest questions to answer is, "What are my kids going to be when
they grow up?" From that question, you start making choices on which school is
the best for your kids. You also decide what they should do with their lives. You
will be questioning yourself, „Which is the most suitable career for them?‰ But,
do you realise that the most important question you should be asking them is
what they are actually interested in?

This topic will delve into the various career development theories such as trait-
factor theory, HollandÊs career typology theory, SuperÊs life-span/life-space
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theory and KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of career choice. You will also
learn about the positive and negative implications of taking up part-time jobs
among adolescents.

ACTIVITY 10.1

Interview a few adolescents about their career choices. Explore their

reasons for choosing such occupations. Discuss your findings with
your classmates.

10.1 THEORIES OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Many influential theories of vocational development state that by the early mid
20s, we are expected to have become „established‰ in our careers. It means
having attained a viable occupational identity and embarked, in most cases, on
the initial phase of a lifelong career. Therefore, during the adolescent period, one
should be able to make critically significant decisions. Some decisions have to do
with whether to start work after finishing school or to further oneÊs studies at
university.

There is a dilemma regarding this issue. Most often, adolescents are encouraged
to delay making occupational choices and advised to pursue further education.
This postponement of job commitment is linked to other manifestations of the
prolongation of adolescence e.g. delay of marriage, tendency to be dependent on
parents.

Adolescents who decide to work without proper and formal vocational

knowledge go through a period of „floundering‰, shifting from job to job.
Researchers have found that these youths are at high risk for psychological
problems. Whatever the dilemma, guidance from you as a parent is important so
that your adolescent may make the right career choice.

What determines the adolescentÊs career choice? Researchers have found that
occupational choice is influenced by many factors such as life context, personal
aptitudes, environmental influences, educational attainment, etc. A few theories
in psychology explain how careers develop. These theories are illustrated in
Figure 10.1.
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Figure 10.1: Theories of career development

We will learn about each theory in detail in the next subtopics.

SELF-CHECK 10.1

List the theories of career development.

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10.2 TRAIT-FACTOR THEORY

The trait-factor theory was first introduced by the father of career guidance,
Frank Parsons in 1908 and further developed by Edmund Griffin Williamson in
the 1930s. The theory postulates that everyone has his or her own unique pattern
of traits made up of interests, values, abilities and personality characteristics.
These traits can be objectively identified to represent a personÊs potential.

Each job has its own factors which determine successful performance. These
factors can be objectively identified as job factors. It is possible to match oneÊs
traits and job factors using a direct problem-solving or decision-making process;
the closer the match between your personal traits and job factors, the greater the
likelihood for you to have successful job performance and satisfaction.

There are several aptitude, personality and interest tests and occupational
information materials that have been developed based on this theory. Some
examples are True Colours, General Aptitude Test Battery and Data-People-
Things Interest Test.

SELF-CHECK 10.2

Explain the trait-factor theory in your own words.

10.3 HOLLAND’S CAREER TYPOLOGY THEORY

HollandÊs career typology theory was introduced by John Holland who expanded
the concept of personality with career development. He believes that personalities
fall into six broad categories: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising
and Conventional (RIASEC). This can be illustrated as in Figure 10.2.
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Figure 10.2: HollandÊs Concept of Personality and Occupation

Source: http://www.personalitypiazza.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=963&start=0

The personality and work environment types as described by Holland are shown
in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1: The Personality and Work Environment Types as Described by Holland

Personality Work Environment Types

Realistic Practical, physical, hands-on, tool-oriented
Investigative Analytical, intellectual, scientific, explorative
Artistic Creative, original, independent, chaotic
Social Cooperative, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing
Enterprising Competitive, leadership, persuading
Conventional Detail-oriented, organising, clerical

The concept of this theory is similar to personality, which is, the work
environments can be clustered into six similar categories (RIASEC). You have
one category of personality which is dominant. Most often, your personality
tends to resemble up to three of the six personality factors. Your personality can
be matched with similar combinations of work environments using a problem-
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solving approach; the closer the match of your personality to your job, the greater
your satisfaction.

Some examples of assessment tools that emerged from this theory are the Self-
directed Search, Vocational Preference Inventory, Strong Interest Inventory and
Dictionary of HollandÊs Occupational Codes.

SELF-CHECK 10.3

1. Describe the concept of HollandÊs Career Typology Theory.

2. List six personality types suggested by Holland.

ACTIVITY 10.2

1. Assess your own trait and personality. According to HollandÊs

career typology theory, what are the suitable work environment
types for you?
2. Are you satisfied with your current occupation? Have you made
a good choice? Discuss with your classmates.

10.4 SUPER’S LIFE-SPAN/LIFE-SPACE THEORY

SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory was introduced by Donald Super (1910-1994)
in 1957. He identified three key concepts as can be seen in Table 10.2.

Table 10.2: Three Key Concepts of SuperÊs Life-span/Life-space Theory

Key Concept Description

Life Span Your career development is lifelong and occurs throughout the five
major stages of your life:
x Growth;
x Exploration;
x Establishment;
x Maintenance; and
x Disengagement.
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Key Concept Description

Life Space You have your own potential. You have skills and talents that you
develop through different life roles making you capable of a variety of
tasks and numerous occupations.
Self-concept When you make a decision for any job, you are expressing your own
understanding of yourself, i.e., your own self-concept. Self-awareness
(e.g. your own interests, needs, etc) is a key to your career choice and
job satisfaction.

The key elements of SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory are illustrated in

Figure 10.3:

Figure 10.3: Key elements of SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory

Source: http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/scholars/doc_fa07/Viviana.Duran/
EPORTFOLIO/CEP100.html

SELF-CHECK 10.4

1. Describe SuperÊs life span/life space theory.

2. List the five major life stages suggested by Super.
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10.5 KRUMBOLTZ’S SOCIAL LEARNING

THEORY OF CAREER CHOICE
KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of career choice is based on the social learning
theory. It was introduced by John D. Krumboltz. He believes that your career
decisions are the product of your learning experiences, e.g., you want to be a
psychologist because you have seen other psychologists helping people with
courage and empathy. You may also have had learning experiences, especially
observational learning from your significant role models (e.g., parents, teachers,
heroes). Those experiences have a powerful influence on your career decisions,
making some occupations more attractive than others.

SELF-CHECK 10.5

Describe KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of career choice.

10.6 IMPLICATIONS OF PART-TIME JOBS

Teenagers are likely to have a fair amount of spare time especially during long
weekends and school holidays. They also have the desire to earn money. The
typical jobs for teenagers include working at a fast-food restaurant; as a clerk in a
store or as a babysitter.

Let us look at the positive and negative implications of part-time jobs.

10.6.1 Positive Implications of Part-time Jobs

Some of the benefits for teenagers include the opportunity to:
(a) Get valuable job experiences;
(b) Learn proper time management;
(c) Learn good work habits;
(d) Know how to effectively manage finances;
(e) Attain useful, marketable skills; and
(f) Become financially independent.
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10.6.2 Negative Implications of Part-time Jobs

The negative implications of working during adolescence may prevail over the
positive benefits. Some examples of the negative implications include:

(a) Less Time on Homework

Working students may not have enough time to complete their homework
and are less likely to do revision.

(b) More Absenteeism and Less School Involvement

Working causes students to suffer from lack of sleep. This leads to being
tired and subsequently they will have less time to prepare for academic
activities. It also discourages working teenagers from going to school and
getting involved in extracurricular activities.

(c) Less Academic Effort and More Classroom-Inappropriate Activities

Working students may put less effort into academic activities; they may
turn to cheating, and copying assignments because they have less time for
serious school work.

(d) Poorer School Performance

Studies show that students who work more than 20 hours a week perform
poorly at school compared to students who work 10 or less hours a week.

(e) Less Time with Family

Working affects interaction time with the family; it reduces the amount of
time spent with parents and siblings.

(f) More Disagreement with Parents Over Spending Decisions

Conflict can occur between teenagers and family over how they spend their
money. Working teenagers may want to use their money according to their
own needs and desires

(g) More Likely to Use Drugs and Alcohol

Substance abuse, e.g., smoking and alcohol consumption are higher among
working teenagers than non-working teenagers.

(h) Having Negative Opinions of Work

Adolescents who work in a negative or harsh work environment may have
negative views of work.
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Basically, the negative effects of working are associated with the duration of
working hours. The more hours teenagers work, the more prone they are to
experience these negative effects.

SELF-CHECK 10.6

What are the negative and positive implications of part-time jobs

among adolescents?

x Theories that explain career development are the trait-factor theory,

HollandÊs career typology theory, SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory and
KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of career choice.

x Trait-factor theory believes that individual traits and job factors can be
matched to increase job performance and satisfaction.

x HollandÊs career typology theory believes that an individualÊs personality

types and job factors can be matched to increase job performance and
satisfaction.

x SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory suggests that career development is

lifelong and occurs throughout the major stages of oneÊs life. Each individual
has his or her own potential and self concept, which is important for job
success and satisfaction.

x KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of career choice states that career decisions
are based on oneÊs learning experiences.

x The positive implications of having a part-time job among adolescents are:

valuable job experiences, proper time management, good work habits,
effective financial management, attainment of marketable skills and financial
independence.
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x The negative implications of part-time job among adolescents are: less time
on homework, more absenteeism, less school involvement, less academic
effort, more classroom inappropriate activity, poorer school performance,
less time with family, more disagreement with parents over spending
decisions, more likely use of drugs and alcohol, and having negative
perceptions of work.

Artistic Life space

Career development Life span
Conventional Realistic
Enterprising Self concept
HollandÊs career typology theory Social
Investigative SuperÊs life-span/life-space theory
KrumboltzÊs social learning theory of Trait-factor theory
career choice

Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2004). Human development: A life-span view

(3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Niles, S. G., Herr, E. L., & Hartung, P. J. (2001). Achieving life balance: Myths,
realities, and developmental perspectives information series no. 387.
SuperÊs Life-Space Theory: A Useful Framework for Achieving Life Balance.
Retrieved February 14, 2011, from http://www.calpro-online.org/
eric/docs/niles/niles4.pdf

Patton, W., & McMahon, M. (2006). Career development and systems theory.
(2nd ed.). The Netherland: Sense Publisher. Retrieved February 14, 2011, from
www.sensepublishers.com/catalog/files/90-77874-13-5.pdf