Self Concept Theory Of Career Development Psychology Essay

Super (1990), self-concept is a product of difficult interactions among a number of factors, including physical and mental growth, personal experiences, as well as environmental uniqueness and stimulation. (Herr, 1997; Savickas, 2002) Super’s theory has called for a stronger emphasis on the effect of social context as well as the reciprocal influence among the individuals and the surroundings. Building on super’s idea that (SCT) was essentially a personal construct theory, Savickas (2002, P.155) took a constructivist perspective as well as postulated that the process of occupational construction, is basically that of developing and implementing vocational self-concepts in work roles. A relatively stable self-concept must emerge in late adolescence to serve as a guide to job preference and adjustment. Although self-concept is not a static entity moreover it would continue to evolve as the individual encounters fresh experience and progresses through the developmental stages. Life as well as work satisfaction is an ongoing method of implementing the evolving self-concept through employment as well as other life roles.

The theory proposed a life stage developmental framework with the five stages of Super (1990)   development, exploration, business, maintenance as well as disengagement. In all phases one has to effectively manage the vocational developmental tasks that are socially expectations of individual in the given chronological age range. For instance, in the stage of exploration (ages around 15 to 24), a youngster has to cope with the professional developmental tasks of crystallization, specification and implementation.

Developmental life stages be described by Super (1990). Consequently, the thought of “career development” states the numbers of task that an individual was capable to accomplish in the professional developmental stage, same number of task required in every developmental phase. Super (1990) postulated that phase consisting of the equal tasks from development to disengagement would probably take place within each of the stages, mainly when an individual make transition from one phase toward the next. (Savickas, 2002) , stated that individuals would go during a mini-cycle stages whenever they have to compose expected as well as unexpected job transitions such as loss of employment or due to individual or socioeconomic circumstances.

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Several aspects of Super’s theory are beautiful to worldwide career direction expert and researchers, as well as concepts for example professional developmental tasks, developmental stages, career maturity as well as life roles. It offers a broad structure to illustrate and give details the procedure of professional development that could show career interventions as well as research. The fresh anchoring of the assumption on developmental contextualizes takes into deliberation the mutual influence among the individual and his social ecology, include one’s society similarly the conceptualization of job preferences as well as growth like a process of individual as well as career construction recognizes the effects of subjective cultural principles and viewpoint in shaping professional self-concepts and preferences.

3.5.7 Gottfredson’s theory:

This theory is often mentioned either underneath the event theory section or underneath the gendered theory section. Gottfredson’s (1981, 2002, 2005) theory of restriction and compromise was a shot incorporate each role socialization and socio economic standing at the side of different individual various factors into a theoretical framework telling regarding hoe occupation preferences area unit developed (Gottfredson’s 1981). Circumscription according to him is the processes in which people as they progress through different stages of life and understand those factors that play major role in their career choice, and then start eliminating those vocational options as possible for them. Compromise on the other hand refers to let go the previous options against the new option coming up that are more achievable and favorable. This theory states that for some people vocational development is not that important but rather acceptance of the least undesirable among less acceptable options.

Gottfredson’s (1981) theory explicitly acknowledge gender differences effect career choices unlike many other career theories, as the theories keep on developing.

Gottfredson’s theory offers individual theoretical base explanation as how this method occurs. While there is support for the consequence of the procedure of compromise, and there is also some indirect empirical support for influence overtime of interest, gender role and SES in determining preferred vocational options and aspiration. The priorities in circumscription and compromise posited by Gottfredson (1981) have not yet received strong empirical support (Bertz, 2008, Gottfredson’s, 2005)

3.5.8 Comprehensive theories for women’s:

Super (1957) and Psathas (1968), a lot of work has recognized the significance of a broad array of environmental influences in women’s career preferences and development. Nieva and Gutek (1981) distinguished among women’s career preferences and their final jobs, stressing that whereas personality accounts more for preferences, several demographics as well as financial variables account for the latter. This combination of personality and environmental influences in enlargement of career performance was more developed in 2 theoretical models Astin (1984) and Gotrfredson (1981, 1996). Astin (1984) model was one in all the main attempts to suggest a comprehensive theory to describe the career growth of women and men. She believed that her subsequent sociol psychological model was ready to be used to clarify the occupational activities of men and women, however they create completely different selections as a result of their early socialization experiences and changes in structural opportunities”. Astin model incorporates four major constructs: motivation, work expectations and structure of chance. Astin emphasized that modification within the arrangement of opportunity will result in to complete change in women career expectations.

Gotrfredson (1981, 1996) she developed self concept theory by proposing that self idea could be a combination of psychological variables and environmental variables concerned in job preferences. She planned that self concept interacts with occupational image to conclude person action preferences

3.5.1Women’s career theories

The study conducted by Sharon Mavin, 2000, in his research he found two important issues from previous research, first is that the traditional career model for education, full time career and retirement derived from the typical working lives of men and second is that, there is no any working model for modern working women (Flanders, 1994). It is clear that, while male career models remain same and woman are the one who step back from men for meeting the responsibilities of their families, they are continue to be at a competitive disadvantage in their career progression. (Levinson and Levinson, 1996; Reeves and Darville, 1994), however there is different meaning of work for women’s career from men (Holahan, 1994). Now a days many women entering into management profession and there are many opportunities for them to reach the top management positions, therefore it is necessary to understand their career preferences (White, 1995).

Careers have traditionally been considered as a meaningful progression through the series of related jobs in their careers (White, 1995). By tradition careers was assumed as an ordered sequence of ones career development extending over a period of time and progressively they get accountable roles within their occupation. O’Leary (1997) find out many researchers who agreed after doing analysis in their research that that women were just the informal workers who entered in the workforce and continue their emplacement until they married and had children.

Career development models describes the linear stages of progression on career paths through which individuals go through in the predictable, order manner through the different chain of related jobs and therefore fore jobs provides them financial benefits as well as huge prestige (O’Leary, 1997). Women have more career issues then men due to which they want to have job that allows more flexibility such as, careers allow them breaks to look after their families and elder relatives, that issues generally to be ignored in many traditional career models (Flanders, 1994). Gilligan (1982) argues that women get their own identity within their relationships with others and are influenced by many constraints while making their career and relationship decisions.

After viewing traditional men’s career development models, those women who prefer to work in good support and relationship atmosphere, have little career (O’Leary, 1997). If these people are most likely to be women, then they may perceive themselves to be inadequate in the career stakes and this raises the negative stereotypes of women and their careers. White (1995) identified through her study of successful younger women’s career paths that, in each of occupation, the successful women pass through the “life stages” and expressed the strong commitment to their careers.

O’Leary (1997) identified that both men and women measures success differently, as women measures success in both personal and professional areas through sense of personal or professional satisfaction, growth and career development where as men measures success through professional satisfaction, growth and career development only. O’Leary (1997) identified that career development models of women are based getting a balance between career and relationships with others

White (1995) and Hirsh and Jackson (1990) advocated that women’s careers should be designed by keeping the reality of women’s lives in mind, facilitate them to make a balance between personal and professional lives and also let them to make meaningful investment in both occupational and family roles and responsibilities. From the two past decades there has been a rising trend of women’s with having managerial as well as professional careers (Davidson and Cooper, 1992; 1993). And women are preparing themselves for both managerial and professional careers by having university education, currently there are almost half of women students in graduates of professional schools, such as, business law and accounting.