Module 2 Discussion

Chapter 4 Developmental Theories: Donald Super and Linda Gottfredson

Things to Remember

The stages in development as outlined by Super and Gottfredson

The major tenets of Super’s theory of vocational choice

How circumscription and compromise work together to limit occupational choices

Similarities and differences between Gottfredson’s and Super’s theories

Developmental theories focus on the biological, psychological, sociological, and cultural factors that influence career choice, adjustments to and changes in careers, and withdrawal from careers. These theories focus on stages of development (e.g., childhood and adolescence). The first developmental theory was presented in 1951 by Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, and Herma, but their theory has been overshadowed by Super’s lifespan, life-space theory, which is discussed ahead. Another developmental theory was presented by Gottfredson (1981, 1996), who focused on circumscription and compromise. Although her theory is not as comprehensive as Super’s theory, it examines an extremely important aspect of the career development process: the impact that sex-typing occupations has on career choice.

Super’s Lifespan, Life-Space Theory

Probably no one has written as extensively about career development or influenced the study of the topic as much as Donald Super. His writing on career development is so extensive that even a highly motivated student faces a major challenge in reviewing all of his work. The references cited here provide considerable depth but are not intended to be all inclusive. (See the references at the end of this chapter for a listing of several works by Super.)

Super’s earliest theoretical statements were influenced by researchers in differential psychology, developmental psychology, sociology, and personality theory. Super has often stated that his view is a “segmented” theory consisting of several related propositions, out of which he hopes an integrated theory ultimately emerges. He has, from time to time, restated these segments, broadening slightly earlier statements and on two occasions adding more segments. His 1953 article presented the initial 10 postulates. He added two more in the 1957 book written with Bachrach. His 1990 article expands the list to 14 propositions that are the basis for the following consideration of Super’s lifespan theory. In this sequence, the original 10 propositions fall under items 1–6 and 9–12, and the additional propositions are identified by items 7, 8, 13, and 14. Super’s 1990 statements are italicized, followed where appropriate with a brief discussion of the proposition.

People differ in their abilities and personalities, needs, values, interests, traits, and self-concepts. The concept of individual differences is so widely recognized and accepted that no one seriously challenges it. The range of personal characteristics varies widely both within each individual and among individuals. Within each person are traits or abilities so pronounced that often they seem to caricature the individual. At the same time, in other areas each person is relatively weak or inept. Although most of us are more or less like other people in many traits, the uniqueness of each person is apparent in the individualized combination of strengths and weaknesses.

People are qualified, by virtue of these characteristics, for a number of occupations. The range of abilities, personality characteristics, and other traits is so wide that every person has within his or her makeup the requisites for success in many occupations. Research in the field of rehabilitation has demonstrated that even individuals with severe disabilities have the choice of many occupations in which they can perform satisfactorily. For people without serious physical or emotional impairment, the gamut of possibilities is wide indeed.

Few occupations require special abilities, skills, or traits in excessive quantity. Just as most athletic activities involve only certain muscles or muscle groups, so too most jobs require only a few specific characteristics. A person can thus perform successfully in any occupation for which he or she has the qualifying characteristics. The lack of a certain skill or its presence in minute quantities excludes the person from an occupation only if that skill is important in meeting the demands of a particular job.

Each occupation requires a characteristic pattern of abilities and personality traits—with tolerances wide enough to allow both some variety of occupations for each individual and some variety of individuals in each occupation. For each ability or trait required in the performance of a particular occupation, we might expect to find a modal quantity that best fits the nature of the work. On either side of this amount, however, is a band or range of this characteristic that satisfactorily meets the demands of the work. For example, picture an extremely simple task that requires, hypothetically, only a single characteristic. In studying this task, we might ascertain the quantity of this trait that would best meet the requirements of the job. We would also expect that a person could perform satisfactorily even though he or she possessed less than the ideal amount of the trait, as long as the person surpassed the minimum demanded by the job. However, we could also expect satisfactory performance even if the worker possessed more of the trait than was required for optimum performance.

Because the patterns of abilities required in various occupations are rarely unique, we can expect to find considerable overlap. Thus, a number of occupations exist in which a particular distribution of assets can result in satisfactory performance, just as a number of patterns of ability exist that can result in satisfactory performance in a given occupation.

Vocational preferences and competencies, the situations in which people live and work, and, hence, their self-concepts change with time and experience, although self-concepts—as products of social learning—are increasingly stable from late adolescence until late maturity, providing some continuity in choice and adjustment. As individuals exercise certain skills or proficiencies, they may increase or expand them to a higher level. As these higher-level skills develop, workers may be drawn to occupational outlets that provide opportunities to use them. Similarly, as workers perform successfully in given work situations, they may realize that participating in more rewarding or more responsible positions may result in even more satisfaction. However, work situations may be so demanding on some workers that they may look for positions that do not tax the pattern of abilities so heavily.

Because the pattern of skills and preferences, as well as the work situation, undergoes constant change, it is likely that a job a worker once found entirely satisfactory is no longer viewed that way. The individual whose self-concept changes may also find that a once-satisfactory job is no longer so. Either of these changes may result in the worker seeking a new work situation or attempting to adjust the current position in some way so that it again becomes comfortable and satisfying. Because neither the worker nor the job is static, either change or adjustment is necessary to keep the two in balance.

Super (1984, 1990) emphasizes that self-concept should be defined broadly to include not only an internalized personal view of self but also the individual’s view of the situation or condition in which he or she exists. This is a significant factor, because the situation surrounding the individual always bears on the person’s behavior and self-understanding. Super suggests that personal-construct might be a more useful term than self-concept, because it permits this broader definition.

This process of change may be summed up in a series of life stages (a “maxicycle”) characterized as a sequence of growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline, and these stages may in turn be subdivided into (a) the fantasy, tentative, and realistic phases of the exploratory stage and (b) the trial and stable phases of the establishment stage. A small minicycle takes place in transitions from one stage to the next or each time an individual is destabilized by a reduction in force, changes in type of personnel needs, illness or injury, or other socioeconomic or personal events. Such unstable or multiple-trial careers involve new growth, reexploration, and reestablishment (recycling). If the minicycle is not disrupted, the stage of maintenance also reoccurs.

The growth stage refers to physical and psychological growth. During this time, the individual forms attitudes and behavioral mechanisms that become important components of the self-concept for much of life. Simultaneously, experiences provide a background of knowledge of the world of work that is ultimately used in tentative choices and in final selections.

The exploratory stage begins with the individual’s awareness that an occupation is an aspect of life. During the early or fantasy phase of this stage, the expressed choices are frequently unrealistic and often closely related to the play life of the individual. Examples can be seen in young children’s choices of such careers as cowboy, movie star, pilot, and astronaut. These choices are nebulous and temporary and usually have little, if any, long-term significance for the individual. Some adolescents and even some adults, of course, have not advanced beyond the fantasy phase. Often, the understanding of themselves or of the world of work needed to make more effective choices is either missing or disregarded.

In the tentative phase of the exploratory stage, individuals narrow choices to a few possibilities. Because of uncertainty about ability, availability of training, or employment opportunity, the list may contain choices that later disappear. The final phase of the exploratory stage, still prior to actual entrance into the world of work, narrows the list to those occupations that individuals feel are within reach and provide the opportunities they feel are most important.

The establishment stage, as the name implies, relates to early encounters within actual work experiences. During this period, the individual, at first perhaps by trial and error, attempts