There is one interesting aspect of E’s profile that bears investiga-
tion early in the process of career counseling. She claims to be an
independent decision maker and espouses the idea that she want to
establish a lifestyle based on her own accomplishments, although she
admits that she hopes to marry and have children. However, Inde-
pendence is absent from her list of highly prioritized values. More-
over, it did not surface as a highly prioritized value in any of her life
roles. There are two possibilities. One is that being Independent is
contrary to E’s perception of herself and perhaps of women in gen-
eral and thus is uncrystallized at this time. There is a hint of this in
that she does not list Loyalty to Family or Group as one of the val-
ues she hopes to satisfy in the family and in the role of significant
other. The other possibility is that E is consciously or unconsciously
planning her lifestyle with the expectation that she will marry and
perhaps place greater emphasis on the family role than the work role,
as her mother has done. Both alternatives should be explored. My
suggestion to E is that, in either case, she should prepare for a career
that best satisfies her work values and allows her to develop a lifestyle
that will satisfy all her highly prioritized values.
There seems to be little doubt that E should explore careers in
the legal profession, given her background and interests. This
search should probably focus on those aspects of the legal profes-
sion that would allow her to have her Concern for Others value
satisfied, such as family law. Managerial careers, particularly in
charitable and “help-giving” businesses and public health, should
probably be explored as well because of the salience of E’s Concern
for Others value. E’s primary reason for seeking career counsel-
ing was to narrow her choices and make certain that she had
chosen an appropriate major. The addition of some business elec-
tives might be recommended if she decides to pursue a managerial
career.
Summary
The model described at the outset of this section and applied in the
cases of K and E can be seen in Exhibit 11.1.
498 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT