Career Choice and Development

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6 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT


he subsequently revised (Holland, 1985, 1997). His theory has pro-
vided the impetus for hundreds of research studies. It has had a
tremendous impact on practice because of the instruments he
developed, and, all in all, is the most influential model of vocational
choice making that is currently in existence.
Numerous new theories of career choice and development have
emerged since the fifties. In 1963, Bordin, Nachmann, and Segal
published a career development theory grounded in psychodynamic
thought. In 1969, Lofquist and Dawis published the first version of
their work adjustment theory. In 1979, Krumboltz set forth what he
termed a social learning theory of career decision making. Two years
later, Gottfredson (1981) published her developmental theory of
occupational aspirations. In 1991, Peterson, Sampson, and Reardon
set forth their theory of career development, which is based on cog-
nitive theory and relies on an information-processing model to
explain the processes involved. In 1994, Lent, Brown, and Hackett
published their model of career decision making, which is grounded
in social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). In 1996, Brown and
Crace published the first version of Brown’s values-based model of
career decision making. A revision that focuses solely on occupa-
tional choice, satisfaction, and success and includes both cultural
and work values is scheduled for publication (Brown, 2002).


Sociologically Based Theories


The theories mentioned to this point are psychologically based and
have dominated the thinking of psychologists and career counselors
alike. However, sociologists have been and still are vitally concerned
with career choice making. Their concerns about career choice and
development have little to do with career counseling, although they
do have implications for certain aspects of practice. For the most
part, sociologists have focused on the antecedents to status attain-
ment, which include the socioeconomic status of the family and the
gender and race of the individual. Hollingshead (1949), Reissman
(1953), and Sewell, Haller, and Strauss (1957) studied sociological

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