¶ … human existence, work has been a critical factor in social organization and development. Even cultures such as the Greek and Roman civilizations had a complex occupational structure. The diversity and complexity of occupations have, naturally, evolved along with the more advanced technological society. The Industrial Revolution accelerated employment specialization and, more recently, the computer and its offshoots have produced huge growth in the number and types of jobs available. More than ever, individuals need support from professionals in making career decisions based on such factors as skills, interests and strengths/disabilities. Career counseling, or assisting a person with a career choice or change, involves a number of different factors such as establishing a rapport, assessing the nature of the problem, goal setting and intervention (Brown 16).
A number of theories have been suggested to help people with their career choice and development. One of these is Krumboltz's Social Learning Theory. Based on Bandura's previous theories (1977), Krumboltz identifies four kinds of factors that influence career decision making: 1) genetic endowment and special abilities, or inherent characteristics that can influence an individual, such as race, gender and physical appearance; 2) Environmental conditions and events, or synthetic or natural influences that may lie out of the realm of control of a person. These include training opportunities, social policies and procedures for selecting workers and technological advancements;
3) Learning situations that include instrumental experiences, where the individual acts on the environment to produce consequences and associative experiences, and associative experiences, where individuals learn by reacting to external stimuli; and 4) Task approach skills, or those tools the individuals apply to each new task, such as work habits and cognitive processes.
According to Krumboltz, a person is born with certain genetic characteristics. As time passes, he/she confronts environmental, economic, social and cultural events and conditions. The individual learns from these situations, building skills that are applied to new events. In an interview (Feller, 2001, np), Krumboltz states that each person has thousands of learning experiences throughout life that have taught him/her what to like, at what he/she excels, and what are accurate expectations. Individuals learn their skills, interests,...
Career Counseling -- Systems Theory The Case of Alex: Applying Systems Theory The work and personal life challenges that Alex is facing can be explained through various lenses; however, in this particular case, systems theory as applied in the multicultural environment context will be most useful to develop possible interventions that will help Alex re-establish his career in a new social environment (North Carolina). Systems theory, as defined in Arthur and McMahon's (2005)
No matter how intelligent a person is and how successful he can be, there are many reasons for him to choose a career not really worthy of his talents. This can be due to the conception that some races do not succeed in a certain field. Similarly some women might want to become a space technician but not really take it up believing that women are not welcomed there
From the list of personal dimensions of development produced by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (Arredondo et al., 1996), gender is the dimension most neglected or ignored, in spite of the fact that gender intersects with all other dimensions across cultures (see Hansen, Gama, & Harkins, 2002). Whether internal or external, one major weakness is the need to motivate more counselor educators to value career counseling and to
Sixth, I look at Alex's vocational personality. I do this by looking at her stories through with Holland's RIASEC hexagon. Using this tool I see that she most resembles the Enterprising type (Holland's Theory of Career Choice and You, 2009). She likes to be a leader, act with enthusiasm and enjoys being the center of attention. In Alex's case it appears that her choice of becoming an attorney and possibly getting
RT, in his mid-30s, has worked for the services sector in the past 7 years as a Business Development manager. He is currently out of work because the agency he used to work for 'folded up' when it was badly hit by the economic recession in 2008. He has tried setting up a small business right after his resignation, but he has not managed to improve his company's financial status
Career Counseling and Multicultural Students in School-to-Work Transition Good career counseling always takes place within a cultural context, which is true regardless of ethnicity. Current theoretical models may not be adequate to explain the career behavior of racial and ethnic minorities. Vocational assessment has to be culturally sensitive, and only culturally appropriate tools should be used in vocational assessment. The goal of career counseling is to help clients make career choices that
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