The appropriateness of Super's career theory among black South Africans is discussed in terms of developmental stages, the self-concept, career maturity, and career decision-making. Suggestions are provided as to how these constructs may need to be re-evaluated and thus become more meaningful to career counsellors and researchers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaumgardnerS.R. (1977). Vocational planning: The great swindle. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 56, 17–22
2.
BetzN.E. (1994). Self-concept theory in career development and counseling. Career Development Quarterly, 43, 32–42
3.
BrownM.T. (1995). The career development of African Americans: theoretical and empirical issues. In LeongF.T.L. (Ed.), Career development and vocational behavior of racial and ethnic minorities (pp. 1–36). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
4.
CarterR.T.CookD.A. (1992). A culturally relevant perspective for understanding the career paths of visible racial/ethnic group people. In LeaH.D.LeibowitzZ.B. (Eds.), Adult career development (pp. 192–217). Alexandria, VA: National Career Development Association
5.
EriksonE.H. (1968). Identity: youth and crisis.London: Faber & Faber
6.
EvansK.M.HerrE.L. (1994). The influence of racial identity and the perception of discrimination on the career aspirations of African American men and women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 173–184
7.
FouadN.A.ArbonaC. (1994). Careers in a cultural context. Career Development Quarterly, 43, 96–104
8.
FouadN.A.BinghamR. (1995). Career counseling with racial/ethnic minorities. In WalshW.B.OsipowS.H. (Eds), Handbook of vocational behavior (2nd ed; pp. 331–365). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
9.
FreemanM. (1993). Seeking identity-township youth and social development. South African Journal of Psychology, 23, 157–166
10.
FreemanS.C. (1993). Donald Super: a perspective on career development. Journal of Career Development, 19, 255–264
11.
GelattH.B. (1989). Positive uncertainty: A new decision-making framework for counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 252–256
12.
HelmsJ.E. (1994). Racial identity and career assessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 2, 199–209
13.
HicksonJ.WhiteE. (1989). Career maturity development in black South African adolescents: Implications for vocational counselling. South African Journal of Education, 9, 77–81
14.
KatzJ.H. (1985); The sociopolitical nature of counseling. The Counseling Psychologist, 13, 615–624
15.
KellyG.A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs.New York: Norton
16.
NaickerA. (1994a). The psycho-social context of career counselling in South African schools. South African Journal of Psychology, 24, 27–34
17.
NaickerA. (1994b). A reply to 'Psycho-social aspects of developmental career theories.'South African Journal of Psychology, 24, 235–236
18.
OsipowS.H. (1983). Theories of career development (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
19.
ParhamT.A.AustinN.L. (1994). Career development and African Americans: a contextual reappraisal using the nigrescence construct. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 139–154
20.
Reid-Van NiekerkH.H.Van NiekerkE.C. (1990). Career maturity of black, coloured and white university students. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 16, 1–4
21.
RichardsonM.S. (1993). Work in people's lives: a location for counseling psychologists. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40, 425–433
22.
SmithE.J. (1983). Issues in racial minorities' career behavior. In WalshW.B.OsipowS.H. (Eds), Handbook of vocational psychology, vol. 1 (pp. 161–222). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
23.
South African Institute of Race Relations. (1997). South Africa survey 1996/7.Johannesburg, South Africa: Author
24.
SteadG.B. (1996). Career development of black South African adolescents: a developmental-contextual perspective. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 270–275
25.
SteadG.B.WatsonM.B. (1994). Psycho-social aspects of developmental career theories: Comment on Naicker. South African Journal of Psychology, 24, 234–235
26.
SuperD.E. (1950/1988). Vocational adjustment: implementing a self-concept. Career Development Quarterly, 36, 351–357. (Original work published in 1950)
27.
SuperD.E. (1957). The psychology of careers.New York: Harper & Row
28.
SuperD.E. (1963). Toward making self-concept theory operational. In SuperD.E.StarishevskyR.MatlinN.JordaanJ.P. (Eds), Career development: self-concept theory (pp. 17–32). New York: College Entrance Examination Board
29.
SuperD.E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16, 282–298
30.
SuperD.E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In BrownD.BrooksL. & Associates (Eds), Career choice and development. Applying contemporary theories to practice, 2nd ed. (pp. 197–261). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
31.
SuperD.E.SavickasM.L.SuperC.M. (1996). The life-span, life-space approach to careers. In BrownD.BrooksL. & Associates (Eds), Career choice and development, 3rd ed. (pp. 121–178). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
32.
VondracekF.W. (1992). Contemporary issues and trends in career development. Bulletin of the Faculty of Sociology Kansai University, 24, 89–108
33.
WatsonM.B.KochE.SteadG.B. (1992, September). Community, home and family, and leisure roles of South African university students. Paper presented at the 11 th National Congress of the Psychological Association of South Africa, Stellenbosch, South Africa
34.
WatsonM.B.SteadG.B.De JagerA.C. (1995). The career development of black and white South African university students. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 18, 39–47