CHAPTER 7
CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDHOOD
Career-related issues that affect child until age of 12.
SUPER’S MODEL OF THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
Curiosity:
• Desire for knowledge or something new or unusual
• Most basic of all needs and drives
Exploration:
• Act of searching or examining is a behavior
• Curiosity leads to children exploring their environment
Information:
Piaget: major periods of cognitive development
• Sensorimotor (birth – 2): infants attend to objects and events around them and then
respond to these objects and events.
▪ Attending – sensory acts of touching, seeing, smelling, etc.
Key Figures:
• Adults are important role models.
• Parents, teachers, public figures are examples.
• Significant method of learning for children is imitation.
Internal versus External Control:
• Children begin to experience a feeling of control over their own surroundings.
• They begin to develop a feeling of autonomy and of being in control of future events.
Development of Interests:
• Fantasies of occupations are affected by information about the world, and they
Time Perspective:
• Developing a sense of future
• Unrealistic to ask children (especially below 4th grade) to think about planning
future vocational training.
Self-concept and Planfulness:
Image norms
Developed by Giannantoni and Hurley-Hanson (2006). Includes 3 images of self.
MODIFICATION OF SUPER’S FANTASY STAGE
Howard and Walsh’s (2010, 2011) first two levels of the development of vocational reasoning
• Level 1. Pure Association– Children give attributes of a job, such as tools or uniform, but
don’t know what people do on the job (approximately age 4)
• Level 2 Magical Thinking– Little thought about how work is done or how you enter a
profession
MODIFICATION OF SUPER’S INTEREST SUBSTAGE
For Super, interest guides the choices of children ages 7 to 10
USING SUPER’S MODEL IN COUNSELING CHILDREN
Typical elementary school guidance problems
Developmental problems
Drug and alcohol problems of family
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF SELF-CREATION, CIRCUMSCRIPTION, AND
COMPROMISE
A developmental theory of career development in childhood and adolescence that emphasizes the
importance of gender and prestige in making decisions. (These emphases are generally not found in
any other theories).
Compatible-Fit their view of themselves.
Accessible– Occupations are ones individuals are likely to pursue.
Cognitive growth- Gottfredson uses Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive tasks
1. Remember-Learn facts
2. Understand-Identify and understand similarities and differences
Children who have more highly developed cognitive skills are more likely to be mature about
career choice or more ready to make career choices.
Self-creation- Biological and environmental factors interact with each other
Impact of parents on our intellectual abilities wanes with age.
Non-shared events– Events unique to an individual that may have impact on one’s choices
Traited-As we repeat experiences, traits develop.
Genes-drives-experience theory-Gottfredson’s view that biological factors have a continuing
influence on how we see ourselves.
Niches– life settings and roles that individuals occupy.
Similar to other theorists, Gottfredson’s theory includes intelligence, vocational interest,
competencies, and values.
Circumscription – The idea that various factors limit career choices at different ages.
Four stages of cognitive development (provides a way to look at oneself in the world)
1. 3 – 5 years old: Orientation to Size and Power
Children grasp the idea of becoming an adult by orienting themselves to the size difference
between themselves and adults.
4. 14 years old and older: orientation to the Internal Unique Self;
Adolescents become more introspective and develop greater self-awareness and
perceptiveness toward others.
Develop a more insightful view of vocational aspirations as they are affected by the view of
themselves, gender roles, and prestige.
Compromise: The necessity of an individual to modify his or her career choices because of the
reality of limiting environmental factors, such as a competitive job market or not having
sufficient academic performance to enter an academic program.
Three factors of the compromise process that create difficulty for young people:
1. Not knowing enough about how to enter or get education.
Implications of Gottfredson’s Theory for Super’s Theory
Super’s model does NOT deal with gender bias.
Gottfredson is consistent with the importance of career exploration unrestricted by gender-role
stereotyping.
Schools are more likely then to provide an atmosphere that promotes a variety of
INTERESTS*.
If exploration and information are not gender-biased, the selection of KEY FIGURES* is
CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR CHILDREN OF CULTURALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Research suggests that African American and Hispanic children may be impeded in their
exposure to exploratory activities in finding information that would enhance their development.
THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION
Occupational Information in Counseling- Small pieces and not overwhelming, seek to broaden
gender tolerance boundaries.
School-to-Work – provision of occupational information through the educational system.
1. Infusion of occupational information into the classroom through films, oral reports on
occupations, or development of interest centers in class.
THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS
A few inventories for children, such as Childhood and Career Development Scale, Holland’s
Self-Directed Search (Form E), Murphy-Meisgier Type Indicator (MBTI), Children’s Personality
Questionnaire
COUNSELOR ISSUES