A Contextualist Action Theory Explanation of Career
The contextualist explanation of career development and counsel-
ing proposed here is founded on the notion of action as goal-
directed, intentional behavior. Career is full of goals, plans, and
intentions, but these are virtually meaningless without reference to
context. Similarly, career behavior and associated contexts only
gain substance and importance when understood in relation to the
person’s intentions.
Action is conceptualized as being cognitively and socially reg-
ulated and steered. It is organized as a system that has hierarchical,
sequential, and parallel dimensions. Hierarchypertains to the super-
and subordination of actions toward goals; for example, quitting this
job and finding another may be part of a superordinate action of
working in a field that is consistent with one’s values. Sequence
refers to the temporal ordering of actions; for example, applying for
a job may involve reading the advertisement, preparing a résumé,
and being interviewed. Actions can also be parallel, that is, differ-
ent actions for different goals can coexist.
The simplest way to understand action is to consider it from three
perspectives:manifest behavior, internal processes,andsocial meaning.
Because these are perspectives on what is essentially a single phe-
nomenon, their order here is arbitrary rather than causally or tempo-
rally related. Studying for an examination is a career-related action
that is embodied in manifest behavior(for example, sitting at one’s
desk, making notes). These behaviors can be observed by others.
Studying for an examination is also experienced by the student as
cognitive and emotional internal processes(for example, in identify-
ing topics needing more work, feeling anxious). Finally, studying for
an examination expresses and is couched in social meaning(for exam-
ple, studying results in making good grades and being successful in a
chosen field). Thus anyone drawing on social meaning can under-
stand this action and will attribute conventional short- and long-
term goals and intentions to the student, or the student will attribute
them to herself. Thus the social and cultural understanding of this
A CONTEXTUALIST EXPLANATION OF CAREER 213