256 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT
self-exploration and related activities would be futile if career devel-
opment were entirely determined by factors over which clients have
no control.
By the same token, counselors, theorists, and researchers are
also well aware that career development is not just a cognitive or a
volitional enterprise and that there are often potent (external and
internal) barriers to choice, change, and growth. For instance,
social and economic conditions promote or inhibit particular career
paths for particular persons. Affective reactions influence rational
thought processes. People differ in their abilities and achievement
histories. In short, a complex array of factors such as culture, gen-
der, genetic endowment, sociostructural considerations, and dis-
ability or health status operate in tandem with people’s cognitions,
affecting the nature and range of their career possibilities.
Background of the Theory
This chapter presents an evolving view of career development from
a social cognitive perspective—a position that attempts to trace
some of the complex connections between persons and their career-
related contexts, between cognitive and interpersonal factors, and
between self-directed and externally imposed influences on career
behavior. Termed social cognitive career theory(SCCT), this perspec-
tive complements, or builds conceptual linkages with, other theories
of career development. Embracing constructivist assumptions about
humans’ capacity to influence their own development and surround-
ings, SCCT has been inspired and influenced by a number of key
developments in vocational psychology, other psychological and
counseling domains, and the cognitive sciences.
Theory Convergence
One source of inspiration has been the recent focus on theoreti-
cal convergence and complementarity in vocational psychology
(Savickas & Lent, 1994). Although theory and research on career