ch 13

Career Choice: Motives, Identity, and Rationality

  • The Significance of Vocation: Choosing a vocation is considered one of the most critical developmental tasks during adolescence. A wise, realistic choice enables individuals to find self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction while meeting societal needs. Conversely, a haphazard or irrational choice leads to frustration, discontent, and social disapproval.
  • Emotional Needs and Identity:     * Vocational identity satisfies emotional needs for recognition, praise, acceptance, approval, and independence.     * Having a career makes an individual a "somebody" to others and provides emotional fulfillment.     * High career aspirations are a consequence of high self-esteem and contribute to a satisfying self-image.
  • Key Vocational Questions:     * How can I make a living? (Practical/Economic)     * What am I going to do with my life? (Purpose/Values)
  • Categories of Motives for Career Selection:     * Service Motives: Adolescents concerned with bettering society seek vocations where they can help others.     * Practical/Economic Motives: Focuses on vacant positions, salary/benefit packages, personal interest, and qualifications.     * Independence/Emancipation: For some, seeking a vocation is a means to show they are grown up, financially independent, and emancipated from parents; work is the entrance into the adult world.
  • Results of Irrational Choices:     * Many adolescents take the first job found or one offered by a family friend (happenstance).     * While they may enjoy temporary economic benefits, they often become unhappy later, realizing they are ill-suited to the tasks.     * The Occupational Outlook Handbook lists more than 800800 different occupations, most unfamiliar to teenagers, necessitating a rational selection process to ensure life satisfaction.

Major Theories of Vocational Choice

  • Eli Ginzberg: Compromise with Reality Theory (1988):     * Definition: Vocational choice is a developmental process occurring over a long period rather than a single moment.     * Subdecisions: A series of choices that limit future freedom (e.g., choosing to stop taking math after algebra makes becoming an engineer difficult later).     * Three Stages of Occupational Choice:         1. Fantasy Stage (up to age 1111): Children imagine work without regard for training, ability, opportunity, or realistic considerations. Choices are often glamorous or identifiable by costumes (e.g., pilot, ballerina).         2. Tentative Stage (ages 1111 to 1717): Focus shifts to interests and abilities.         3. Realistic Stage (age 1717 onward): Integration of desires with the reality of the job market and personal capacities.
  • Linda Gottfredson: Career Development Theory/Circumscription and Compromise (1981):     * Early Development: Children first realize men and women have different roles; gender stereotypes factor into early thinking.     * Circumscription: By late childhood, kids reject careers that require abilities they lack or effort they won't expend.     * Compromise: By early adolescence, choices are modified to align with reality (prestige, status, and needs). Modifications are often "anticipatory compromises" based on expectations rather than experience.
  • John Holland: Occupational Environment Theory (1985, 1996):     * Philosophy: People select occupations consistent with their personality types. Happiness occurs when personal characteristics and the work environment "mesh."     * Six Personality Types and Career Examples:         1. Artistic: Creative, independent. (Composer, fashion designer, art teacher).         2. Conventional: Structure, order, math. (Bookkeeper, bank teller, secretary).         3. Enterprising: Leading, persuading, ambitious. (Lawyer, real estate agent, school principal).         4. Investigative: Math, science, intellectual. (Biologist, dentist, veterinarian).         5. Realistic: Machines, animals, practical. (Carpenter, pilot, mechanic).         6. Social: Helping people, friendly. (Counselor, social worker, teacher).     * Gender and Holland Types: Boys often exhibit realistic and investigative traits; girls lean toward artistic, social, and enterprising realms.
  • Robert Lent et al.: Social-Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (1994, 2000):     * Based on Albert Bandura's social-cognitive theory.     * Core Concepts: Career self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to succeed) and outcome beliefs.     * Contextual Factors: Highlighting the influence of mentors vs. barriers (e.g., lack of parental support) and environmental influences (e.g., an economic downturn).

Contextual Influences: Happenstance, Parents, and Peers

  • Happenstance Learning Theory (Krumboltz, 2009): Career decisions are rarely purely rational; they are influenced by a combination of planning and chance events.
  • Five Traits for Leveraging Career Chance Events:     1. Optimism: Viewing new opportunities as attainable.     2. Curiosity: Interest in exploring new opportunities.     3. Flexibility: The ability to make changes.     4. Persistence: Continuing in the face of setbacks.     5. Risk Taking: Willingness to act when outcomes are uncertain.
  • Types of Interactive Influences:     1. Normative, Age-Graded: Biological or environmental influences tied to age (e.g., professional sports require youth).     2. Normative, Historical-Cohort: Large scale events affecting a specific generation.     3. Nonnormative, Life-Event: Unpredictable events unique to an individual.
  • Parental Influence:     1. Direct Inheritance: Inheriting the family business.     2. Apprenticeship Training: Parents teaching their trade (e.g., a carpenter father teaching his child).     3. Encouragement of Interests: Play materials and hobbies provided in childhood.     4. Role Models: Professional parent providing examples (e.g., a lawyer mother).     5. Direct Pressure: Parents may vicariously live through the child or use financial pressure to force a specific college or major.
  • Peer Influence:     1. Upward mobility of working-class adolescents depends on congruent influence from both parents and peers.     2. Peer interest in specific fields (e.g., science/engineering) increases the motivation of the group for those careers.

Gender Roles and Barriers to Career Entry

  • Women in the Workforce:     1. Traditional channeling into narrow ranges (teacher, librarian, secretary).     2. Occupational Breakdown (2012): 30%30\% of dentists were women vs. 98%98\% of dental hygienists.     3. Management: In 20142014, women made up only 14%14\% of executive officers in Fortune 500 companies.     4. Wage Gap: American women earn only 78 cents78\text{ cents} for every dollar that men earn.
  • Types of Barriers for Women:     1. Structural Barriers: Externally imposed limits like gender discrimination, refusal to hire, or denial of promotions/perks.     2. Normative Barriers: Societal expectations; burdens of child care lead girls to value flexibility over time-intensive careers.     3. Cognitive Differences: No significant gender differences in general intelligence exist; achievement motivation is tied to the perception of a task as "gender appropriate."
  • Women in Science and Math:     * Girls outperform boys in math/science early on but shift goals by high school.     * 2011 Degree Stats: Women earned 27%27\% of math bachelor's degrees, 20%20\% in engineering, and 36%36\% in physical sciences.     * Teacher/Parent View: Many teachers and parents stereotype math as a male domain, which harms female self-efficacy regardless of grades.     * Linguistic Option: Girls with high math ability often also have high verbal ability, providing more alternative high-paying options (like law) than boys with high math ability.

Economic Determinants: Interests, Opportunities, and Salary

  • The Strong Interest Inventory (Strong, 1943):     * Updated in 20122012.     * Includes 300300 multiple-choice questions; takes about 25 minutes25\text{ minutes}.     * Matches characteristics with over 100100 occupations.
  • Job Opportunity Trends: Continued shift toward white-collar and service occupations. Decreases in agricultural work; increases in medical sectors.
  • Starting Salaries by College Major (2015 average):     * Humanities: $45,042\$45,042     * Social Science: $49,047\$49,047     * Healthcare: $50,839\$50,839     * Agriculture & Natural Resources: $51,220\$51,220     * Business: $51,508\$51,508     * Math & Science: $56,171\$56,171     * Computer Science: $61,287\$61,287     * Engineering: $62,998\$62,998
  • The American School-to-Work Transition:     * American students take general courses; European students are more career-focused.     * In the U.S., a high school diploma and college degree are the main criteria for employment.     * American adolescents are generally older when they begin full-time work and are more likely to return to school after starting a career.

Youth Employment Trends and Effects

  • Scope of Employment:     * Nearly 90%90\% of high school students hold formal jobs before graduation.     * If freelance work (babysitting, lawn mowing) is included, most begin working by age 1414.     * Nearly 3 million3\text{ million} 15-to-17-year-olds work during the academic year; 4 million4\text{ million} work in summer.
  • Summer School Impact: Summer employment among 16-to-19-year-olds was 60.5%60.5\% in July 20142014 (the lowest since 19891989), attributed to increased enrollment in summer courses.
  • The Correlates of Adolescent Employment:     * White, middle-SES adolescents from intact families are most likely to work due to job access and transportation.     * Minority youth face residential segregation and lack of cars, making commuting difficult.
  • The Cost-Benefit Ratio of Youth Employment:     * Detrimental Effects (The linear/cumulative model): Research by Marsh and Kleitman (2005) on 12,00012,000 students showed that any amount of working can be harmful.     * Observed Outcomes: Increased absenteeism, smoking/drinking, worse grades, fewer extracurriculars, and less time with family.     * Surprising Finding: Working as a senior is more harmful than working as a sophomore; 1515 of 2323 outcomes were adversely affected by senior-year work.     * Cynical Attitudes: Stressful, fast-paced jobs (like fast-food/cashiering) can lead to cynicism, lying to bosses, and tolerance for petty theft.
  • Military Enlistment: African American youth often use the military for upward mobility due to its less discriminatory environment and college tuition benefits post-service via the G.I. Bill.

Volunteerism and Community Service

  • Statistics (2014): 26%26\% of American 16-to-19-year-olds participated in volunteer activities.
  • Profile of a Volunteer: Most likely from two-parent homes with high GPAs and high-SES backgrounds where parents also volunteer.
  • Benefits of Volunteerism:     * Gain of skills and knowledge.     * Identity development through reflection on moral values.     * Higher self-esteem and lower problematic behaviors (including bullying).     * Increased likelihood of attending college and interest in politics.     * Enhanced Social Concern: Only found in those who actively interacted with needy individuals (e.g., feeding shut-ins) according to Metz et al. (2003).

Youth Unemployment and Career Education

  • Unemployment Rates (May 2015):     * Overall rate: 5.5%5.5\%.     * Teenager rate: 17.9%17.9\%.     * Highest among African American and Hispanic American youth.
  • Causes of Youth Unemployment:     * Lack of training, skill, and experience.     * Credentialism: Employers require degrees that aren't tied to job skills; dropouts are denied for lack of credentials.     * Government/Policy Causes:         1. State licensing boards requiring long apprenticeships.         2. Union requirements and seniority rules ("last in, first out").         3. Minimum Wage Legislation.
  • Career Education Programs:     1. Tech-prep: Partnerships between schools and two-year vocational institutions starting in junior year.     2. Apprenticeships/Internships: Students split time between work, career classes, and academics.     3. School-based enterprises: Schools simulate small businesses.
  • Stern et al. Classification:     * Learn-and-stay: Channeling students into a specific industry/company.     * Learn-and-go: Learning general skills transferable to any business. (Recommended for converting dead-end part-time jobs into educational experiences).

Questions & Discussion

  • Wouldn't You Like to Know…     * Question: How do you know whether a career will suit you?     * Answer: It matches interests, abilities, and values (Ginzberg/Gottfredson) and personality (Holland), while having external support (Lent et al.).     * Question: Do men and women have equal opportunities?     * Answer: Gradually improving, but structural/normative barriers persist; women often shoulder more family responsibility.     * Question: Is it good or bad for adolescents to have paying jobs?     * Answer: More good for low-income (helps future employment); more bad for middle-class (detracts from school/family).     * Question: What is the best way to avoid being unemployed?     * Answer: Graduate from college.
  • In Their Own Words (Anonymous Teenagers):     * One teen reflected on fast-food work: "I learned very quickly that freedom of choice in the job market for precollege teens is basically nonexistent… that is not a job I would want to wake up to every day… so I had better not screw up the next four years because I need that degree."     * Another teen compared volunteer work vs. retail: "I worked one summer as a cashier… dealing with a hung-over manager, sweeping floors, and getting yelled at by little old ladies… I felt like a monkey could have done my job… I had a much better experience doing occasional volunteer work… I actually felt useful there."
  • Writing Prompt: Holland's Personality Types:     * Assignment: Which of Holland's personality types best describes you? Are you planning a career based on his suggestions? If not, why? (Student response required).
  • Writing Prompt: School Influence:     * Assignment: Did a teacher/coach/counselor influence your career choice for good or ill? (Student response required).