Super's self concept theory

Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach

Theories of Career Development

Part III

Developmental Theories

Primary assumption is that career development is a process that takes place over the life span.
Developmental Theories

The Life-Span, Life-Space Approach to Careers
Donald Super (1972)

Career development was viewed as a continuous process.

Self-concept theory is a vital part of Super’s approach to vocational behavior.

Developmental Theories
Super’s Self-Concept

Research has indicated that the vocational self-concept develops through:
physical and mental growth

observations of work

identification with working adults

general environment

and general experiences.

Developmental Theories
Super’s Self-Concept

Although the vocational self-concept is only part of the total self-concept, it is the driving force that establishes a career pattern one will follow throughout life.
Thus, individuals implement their self-concepts into careers that will provide the most efficient means of self-expression.
Developmental Theories
Super’s Self-Concept

Self-concept developmental process is multidimensional.
Clients have a better chance of making optimal decisions when they are most aware of the work world and themselves.
Super’s Vocational Stages

Another of Super’s important contributions has been his formalization of vocational developmental stages:
Growth (birth to age 14 or 15)

Exploratory (ages 15-24)

Establishment (ages 25-44)

Maintenance (ages 45-64)

Decline (ages 65+)

Five developmental tasks are delineated by typical age ranges, but tasks can occur at other age levels.

Super’s Vocational Developmental Tasks

Vocational Developmental Tasks

Ages

General Characteristics

Crystallization

14-18

A cognitive process period of formulating a general vocational goal through awareness of resources, contingencies, interests, values, and planning for the preferred occupation.

Specification

18-21

A period of moving from tentative vocational preferences toward a specific vocation preference.

Implementation

21-24

A period of completing training for vocational preference and entering employment.

Stabilization

24-35

A period of confirming a preferred career by actual work experience and use of talents to demonstrate career choice as an appropriate one.

Consolidation

35+

A period of establishment in a career by advancement, status, and seniority.

Super’s Developmental Stages

Super (1990) modified the developmental tasks through the life span as shown on next slide and uses the terms cycling and recycling.
The Cycling and Recycling of Developmental Tasks Through the Life Span

Age

Life Stage

Adolescence (14-25)

Early Adulthood (25-45)

Middle Adulthood (45-65)

Late Adulthood (over 65)

Decline

Giving less time to hobbies

Reducing sports participation

Focusing on essential activities

Reducing working hours

Maintenance

Verifying current occupational choice

Making occupational position secure

Holding own against competition

Keeping up what is still enjoyed

Establishment

Getting started in a chosen field

Settling down in a permanent position

Developing new skills

Doing things one has always wanted to do

Exploration

Learning more about more opportunities

Finding opportunity to do desired work

Identifying new problems to work on

Finding a good retirement spot

Growth

Developing a realistic self-concept

Learning to relate to others

Accepting one’s limitations

Developing nonoccupational roles

Super – Career Maturity

One of Super’s best-known studies, launched in 1951, followed the vocational development of ninth-grade boys in Middletown, NY (Super & Overstreet, 1960).
The career maturity concepts developed by Super have far-reaching implications for career education and career counseling programs.
Implications of Super’s Approach

The critical phases of career maturity development provide points of reference.
The delineation of desired attitudes and competencies affords the specification of objectives for instructional and counseling projects.
Implications of Super’s Approach

Super (1974) identified six dimensions that he thought were relevant and appropriate for adolescents:
Orientation to vocational choice

Information and planning

Consistency of vocational preferences

Crystallization of traits

Vocational independence

Wisdom of vocational preferences

Implications of Super’s Approach

Example of how this information can be used.
The dimensions of career maturity support the concept that education and counseling can provide the stimulus for career development.
Super’s is most comprehensive of all developmental theories.