to us. Meaning is not always explicitly addressed in the systemic
approaches just described. Brown’s values approach (Brown, 1995,
1996a) and Cochran’s narrative approach (Cochran, 1990, 1998)
are good examples of career theories that incorporate context by
addressing meaning. Brown, for example, suggests that values serve
as standards by which people evaluate their own actions and the
actions of others. In his view, values, which are influenced by con-
textual factors, are the fundamental unit of meaning. Cochran’s
“sense of vocation” is also an explanation that incorporates context
by focusing on meaning of the life-career. Later he extended this to
include a narrative approach to career counseling (Cochran, 1998).
As Cochran maintains, meaning reveals itself through narrative
that incorporates both time and place. In Young and Collin’s edited
book (Young & Collin, 1992), the studies described used natural
language, text, and interpretation as a means of constructing mean-
ing and generating contextual knowledge about career.
Savickas (2001) relies on the action-theoretical work of Baltes
(1997) as an explanation integrating other career theories that deal
with the multiplicity of variables, the interaction among them, and
the meaning they have for individuals and groups. In other words,
Savickas suggests that career theorists have to go beyond previous
explanations. In particular, we have to have a theory that addresses
not only the “what” of career but the “how”—the process of career.
We are heeding Savickas’s call for an integrative theory that
explains career process, and, as did Baltes (1997) and his colleagues,
we are relying on the construct of action,which is central to our
explanation of career in this chapter. Our explanation integrates the
three domains and the three properties of career into a contextualist
explanation. Along with addressing the properties of context in terms
of what career is, our explanation includes our assumptions about psy-
chological processes, about knowledge generation processes, and
about psychological practice in the career field. In our explanation,
what career is, knowledge generation about career, and career prac-
tice, as well as the properties of context, not only coexist but mutu-
ally influence and gain meaning from each other.
212 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT