How do people choose and build careers? - Writersblok1.org

career decisions) life span theories take a longer
term developmental perspective.
Life span theorists argue that there are distinct
stages which people go through in the course of
their lives (Donald Super, a prominent stage
theorist, proposed that the stages comprised
Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance
and Decline). How we negotiate these stages, and
how we reflect on them has a major impact on the
success of our life. During our lives we also play
a variety of different roles (often at the same time)
such as worker, partner, parent and leisurite (see
the simple version of Supers life career rainbow
below). How much time we chose, or have to,
devote to these different roles will vary dependant
on our own inclination and other influences.
Those advocating a lifespan approach stress
ongoing career development, rather than career
choice. Quite often, individuals thinking about
career only focus on the present and near future
(getting a job/beginning a career) and don’t
consider what type of “career” in its wider sense
that they wish to pursue and the possible
consequences of particular career choices for their
wider life.
Good career decisions involve thinking about the
immediate but also taking a longer term view
and considering the wider situation, and being
aware that career is a continuous process that
requires frequent re-evaluation and renewal.
Another implication of this approach is that
people can often experiment with different jobs
before finding the right “fit” for them, and that
what might be the right “fit” may change
significantly during ones life.
3) Structural theories.
Whereas the previous approaches stress the role
of the individual, structural theories of career
focus on the influence of the environment on
careers choice. Individual career decisions are, it
is argued, mostly determined by the labour market
situation (ones own situation in it, the state of the
labour market at the time one has to make
choices, etc). Other factors over which the
individual has little, if any, control include the
potential discriminatory effects of class
background, of ethnicity, gender and disability,
and the location that the candidate wants or needs
to get employment in or near.
Popular careers books and articles also often write
about “career choice” as if it were solely the
prerogative of the individual making his or her
choice or choices. But this approach can ignore
the fact that it is not solely the individual that is
making choices but that a career is also
determined by choices made by others. While an
individual may identify a particular career and try
to get into it- others (most particularly the people
selecting candidates for roles) will determine
whether that person does get a chance to begin
their career in that field. Think back to your own
situation prior to coming to Oxford- while you
made the choice to apply to study here, a tutor
chose to have you!
Being aware of structural factors that influence
our own career paths can encourage a fatalistic
approach to planning a career, just taking what
is on offer. But it can also lead to an awareness
that because the individual is not in sole control
of their future, it may be easier to remain
motivated when facing problems (for example, if
initially unsuccessful moving into a particular
career field, the individual doesn’t need to feel
that the problem is simply themselves).
But in a sense it is more than simply that ones
access to opportunities and hence career is often
determined by others. Because of our
environment and upbringing we may also
ourselves begin to limit what we think is possible
(our horizons for action are limited). Various
sociologists have noted how young people often
internalise the values and behaviours that others
in their communities have, thereby ensuring that
they themselves lead very similar lives to their
peers. In an Oxford situation, some students
similarly adopt an approach whereby the careers
they are willing to consider are those which they
think others will value (“I’d be letting myself and
my family down if I didn’t go into a typical