This paper re-examines career theories and notes a number of their shortcomings which derive from a lack of rigor in approach and from certain epistemological and methodological considerations. The way forward suggested for this field of study represents a shift in the root hypothesis from organicism and mechanism to contextualism. The ecological, the biographical, and the hermeneutical approaches are proposed as a means of reconceptualizing this area of study.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BERGER, P. L., & LUCKMANN, T.The social construction of reality. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1971.
2.
BRONFENBRENNER, U.The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1979.
3.
BRONFENBRENNER, U.The context of development and the development of context. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Developmental psychology: Historical and philosophical perspectives. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983.
4.
CHECKLAND, P.Systems thinking, systems practice. Chichester, England: Wiley, 1981.
5.
COLLIN, A. "Mid-career change": An exploratory study of the process of "career" and of the experience of change in "mid-life." Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, England, 1984.
6.
COLLIN, A.Theories of adult life. Occasional Paper No. 1, Centre for the Study of Adult Life, Teeside Polytechnic, Middlesbrough, England, 1985.
7.
CRITES, J. O.The measurement of vocational maturity in adolescence. Psychological Monographs, 1965, 79.
8.
FREEMAN, M.History, narrative, and life-span developmental knowledge. Human Development, 1984, 27, 1-19.
9.
GAULD, A., & SHOTTER, J.Human action and its psychological investigation. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.
10.
GERMAIN, C. B.General-systems theory and ego psychology: An ecological perspective. Social Science Review, 1978, 52, 535-550.
11.
GIBBS, J. C.The meaning of ecologically oriented inquiry in contemporary psychology. American Psychologist, 1979, 34, 127-140.
12.
GIBSON, J. J.An ecological approach to visual perception. London: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
13.
GINZBERG, E., GINSBURG, S. W., AXELRAD, S., & HERMA, J. L.Occupational choice: An approach to a general theory. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951.
14.
GOFFMAN, E.The moral career of the mental patient. Psychiatry, 1959, 22, 123-142.
15.
GOLDTHORPE, J. H.The experience of social mobility. Paper presented at the Ninth World Congress of Sociology, Uppsula, August 1978.
16.
GOTTEREDSON, G. D.Career stability and redirection in adulthood. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1977, 62, 436-445.
17.
HARRE, R.The positivist-empiricist approach and its alternative. In P. Reason & J. Rowan (Eds.), Human inquiry: A source book of new paradigm research. Chichester, England: Wiley, 1981.
18.
HESKETH, B.In search of a conceptual framework for vocational psychology. Journal of Counseling and Development, 1985, 64, 26-31.
19.
HOFFMAN, R. R., & NEAD, J. M.General contextualizing ecological science and cognitive research. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 1983, 4, 507-559.
20.
HOLLAND, J. L.Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personality and work environments (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.
21.
HOLLAND, J. L., MAGOON, T. M., & SPOKANE, A. R.Counseling psychology: Career interventions, research and theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 1981, 32, 279-305.
HOWARD, G. S.A modest proposal for a revision of strategies for counseling research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1984, 31, 430-441.
24.
HUGHES, E. C.Institutional office and the person. American Journal of Sociology, 1937, 43, 404-413.
25.
JOHNSON, M. L.Doctors, careers and aging. Concorde, 1977, 65-87.
26.
JORDAAN, J. R., & HEYDE, M. B.Vocational maturity during the high school years. New York: Teachers College Press, 1979.
27.
KELLY, G. The psychology of personal constructs (Vols. 1-2). New York: Norton, 1955.
28.
KIDD, J. M.Self and occupational awareness as influences on the career development of young people. In A. G. Watts, D. E. Super, & J. M. Kidd (Eds.), Career development in Britain: Some contributions to theory and practice. Cambridge, England: CRAC/Hobsons Press, 1981.
29.
KRUMBOLTZ, J. D.A social learning theory of career decision making. In A. M. Mitchell, G. B. Jones, & J. D. Krumboltz (Eds.), Social learning and career decision making. Cranston, Rhode Island: Carroll Press, 1979.
30.
LAW, B.Community interaction: A "mid-range" focus for theories of career development in young adults. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 1981, 9, 142-158.
31.
LERNER, R. M., & BUSCH-ROSSNAGEL, N. A.Individuals as producers of their development: Conceptual and empirical issues. In R. M. Lerner & N. A. Busch-Rossnagel (Eds.), Individuals are producers of their development: A life span perspective. New York: Academic Press, 1981.
32.
LERNER, R. M., HULTSCH, D. F., & DIXON, R. A.Contextualism and the character of developmental psychology in the 1970's. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1983, 43, 101-128.
33.
LEVINSON, D. J., DARROW, C. N., KLEIN, E. B., LEVINSON, M. H., & McKEE, B.The seasons of a man's life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.
34.
LOFQUIST, L. H., & DAWIS, R. V.Adjustment to work. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
35.
MEAD, G. H.Mind, self and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934.
36.
McINTOSH, R. P.The background and some current problems of theoretical ecology. Synthese, 1980, 43, 195-255.
37.
MURPHY, P. P., & BURCK, H. D.Career development of men at midlife. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1976, 9, 337-343.
38.
MURRAY, J. R., POWERS, E. A., & HAVIGHURST, R. J.Personal and situational factors producting flexible careers. The Gerontologist, 1971, 2, 4-12.
39.
NICHOLSON, N.A theory of work role transitions. MRS/SSRC social and Applied Psychology Unit Memo No. 487, Sheffield, England: University of Sheffield Department of Psychology, 1983.
40.
PACKER, M. J.Hermeneutic inquiry in the study of human conduct. American Psycologist, 1985, 40, 1081-1093. (a)
41.
PACKER, M. J.The structure of moral action: A hermeneutic study of moral conduct. Contributions to Human Development, 1985, 13. (b)
42.
PEPPER, S. C.World hypotheses. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1942.
43.
PLUMMER, K.Documents of life: An introduction to the problems and literature of a humanistic method. London: Allen & Unwin, 1983.
44.
POLKINGHORNE, D. E.Further extensions of methodological diversity for counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1984, 31, 416-429.
45.
ROBBINS, P. A. I. Career change in males in middle adulthood and its implications for higher education. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 1977.
46.
ROBERTS, R. J.An alternative justification for careers education: A radical response to Roberts and Daws. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 1980, 8, 158-174.
47.
RUNYAN, W.Life histories and psychobiography: Explorations in theory and method. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
48.
SARASON, S. B.Psychology misdirected. New York: Free Press, 1981.
49.
SCHEIN, E. H.Career development: Theoretical and practical issues for organizations. In Career planning and development. Geneva: International Labour Office, Management Development Series No. 12, 1976.
50.
SCHUTZ, A.Collected papers. I: The problem of social reality. The Hague: Martinhus Nijhof, 1962.
51.
SHOTTER, J."Duality of structure" and "intentionality" in an ecological psychology. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 1983, 13, 19-41.
52.
SHOTTER, J., & NEWSON, J.An ecological approach to cognitive development: Implicate orders, joint action and intentionality. In G. Butterworth & P. Light (Eds.), Social cognition: Studies of the development of understanding. Brighton, England: Harvester Press, 1982.
53.
SONNENFELD, J., & KOTTER, J. P.The maturation of career theory. Human Relations, 1982, 35, 19-46.
54.
STEBBINS, R. A.Career: The subjective approach. Sociological Quarterly, 1970, 11, 32-49.
55.
STEWART, A., PRANDY, K., & BLACKBURN, R. M.Social stratification and occupations. London: MacMillan, 1980.
56.
SULLIVAN, E. V.A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world. New York: Plenum Press, 1984.
57.
SUPER, D. E.The psychology of careers. New York: Harper & Row, 1957.
58.
SUPER, D. E.Vocational maturity in mid-career. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 1977, 25, 294-302.
59.
SUPER, D. E.A life-span approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1980, 16, 282-298.
60.
SUPER, D. E.Approaches to occupational choice and career development. In A. G. Watts, D. E. Super, & J. M. Kidd (Eds.), Career development in Britain: Some contributions to theory and practice. Cambridge, England: GRAC/Hobsons Press, 1981.
61.
SUPER, D. E., & HALL, D. T.Career development: Exploration and planning. Annual Review of Psychology, 1978, 29, 333-372.
62.
SUPER, D. E., & KNASEL, E. G.Career development in adulthood: Some theoretical problems and a possible solution. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 1981, 9, 194-201.
63.
SUPER, D. E., CRITES, J. O., HUMMEL, R. C., MOSHER, H. P., OVERSTREET, P. L., & WARNATH, C. F.Vocational development: A framework for research. New York: Teachers College Press, 1957.
64.
TAYLOR, C.Interpretation and the sciences of man. Review of Metaphysics, 1971, 25, 3-51.
65.
THORESEN, C. E., & EWART, C. K.Behavioral self-control and career development. Counseling Psychologist, 1976, 6, 29-43.
66.
VAN MAANEN, J.Reclaiming qualitative methods for organizational research: A preface. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1979, 24, 520-526.
67.
VONDRACEK, F. W., LERNER, R. M., & SCHULENBERG, J. E.The concept of development in vocational theory and intervention. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1983, 23, 179-202.
68.
WATTS, A. G.Career patterns. In A. G. Watts, D. E. Super, & J. M. Kidd (Eds.), Career development in Britain: Some contributions to theory and practice. Cambridge, England: CRAC/Hobsons Press, 1981.
69.
WATTS, A. G., SUPER, D. E., & KIDD, J. M. (Eds.). Career development in Britain: Some contributions to theory and practice. Cambridge, England: CRAC/Hobsons Press, 1981.
70.
WILENSKY, H. L.Work, careers and social integration. International Social Science Journal, 1960, 12, 543-574.
71.
WILLIAMSON, E. G.Vocational counseling. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965.
72.
WILLIS, P.Learning to labour. Farnborough, England: Saxon House, 1977.
73.
YOUNG, R. A.Career development of adolescents: An ecological perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1983, 12, 401-417.
74.
YOUNG, R. A.Toward an ecology of career development. Canadian Counsellor, 1984, 18; 152-159. (a)
75.
YOUNG, R. A.Vocation as relationship. Counseling and Values, 1984, 28, 169-178. (b)
