The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Super And Levinson's Theory

If economical factors such as money was no problem, everyone would wish to pursue their dreams and desires. I would either wish to indulge in a life of simply existing contently, or pursue my fervent, egotistical, and narcissistic wish to rule the world. But such are merely fanciful fantasies, and the responsibilities, limitations, and desires of reality, such as skill, income, and influence from internal and external factors such as family, determines our choice between income, emotional satisfaction, and skill compatibility. Simply put, based on our skill set, and our interests, we try to choose a profession that allows us to goals of whatever degree or term, depending on our aptitude and attitude for and toward work. The profession we choose is also often a product of influence from our romantic fantasies, the demands of society, and the suggestion and information available in our surrounding environment, such as teachers and counsellors. And often, our professional dreams, and goals, may or may not differ from our personal dreams and goals, and our profession, at least for me, is the means to the ends of my

According to Niles & Harris (2013), Donald Super developed his theory segmentally. There is no ‘Super’s theory’; there is just the assemblage of theories that Super sought to synthesize. The result is really a “segmental theory” describing three key aspects of career development: (a) life span, (b) life space, and (c) self-concept. The theory culminates in an intervention model labeled as the Career Development Assessment and Counseling (C-DAC) model.

Choosing a career that you will have for the rest of your life is a challenge. But if you go for something you, love you will find happiness. In order to become anything in life there are levels of schooling and training you must go through. Which this paper is going to help give a better understanding of the career I am working towards. Along with informing of equity issues, steps towards achieving this career, and many more important factors.

Savickas (2013) discussed the life design model to narrative career counseling, as it pertains to individuals already involved in a career. He stated that this model assists

I think the purpose of this assignment is to explore different career planning option. It has many assessments

The use of personality, interest, and values assessments are very crucial in overall career decisions. One should never choose a career unless they know it fits their personality, needs, and level of happiness. As Confucius once said, “Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. If we don’t choose a job that we like and enjoy doing, we may last a few weeks, months, or even years, but after a while we will feel like we are at a dead end job, doing the same thing every day, which may lead to not only stress on yourself, but also your family.

There comes a time in life where individuals have to leave school to join the world of work whereby they will work their way up to the top. This is where career development comes into place. Career development is defined as progress through various stages in a career (Schreuder & Coetzee,2011). These are stages one goes through in order to mature in a career and for development to even exist, one has to start with making a career choice then developing it .A career choice can be defined as the relation between people’s personality types and their different occupational environment in which they work in.

A brief background overview on a few career development theories will help direct this literature review and give a foundation to current theories in career development. Career development is a complex, lifelong process that is influenced by a variety of factors. Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey (2005) defined career development as “the lifelong psychological and behavioral processes as well as contextual influences shaping one’s career over the life span” (p. 12). Although there are many career development theories, this literature review will focus on just a few. Donald Super’s Life-Span, Life-Space Career Theory highlights the “complex and multifaceted nature of career development” (Niles & Hutchinson, 2009, p. 69). Super’s theory builds upon 14 assumptions and supports three key aspects of career development: life-span, life-space, and self-concept (Niles & Hutchinson, 2009). Life-span focuses on the development over one’s life through growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and

In the beginning, career counseling was strictly developed to help with job placement, but it became so much more than that after the career development was further researched by a group of theorist that focused on career process. What is it that drives us to choose a specific career path? According to Zunker (2012), different theorists such as Parsons, Holland, Krumboltz, Bandura, Super, and Gottfredson all developed theories on career development and their perspective on the importance of occupational process. Throughout this paper one will discuss the John Holland’s Typology and the significance of this particular career theory. Some of the points that will be covered in this paper include: history of theory, strengths and weaknesses, assessments used, population best fit for this theory, and diversity and

Vaillant argued that there is a stage between intimacy and generativity called career consolidation defined as a paid vocation or a stay-at-home mother or father. The outcome of this phase is the creation of a new social network for which the middle-aged adult’s primary work serves as a hub (415).Vaillant explains how individuals need to have a sense of commitment to themselves and their chosen field, in these choices they need to feel

In 1980, Donald Super introduced a theory that described career development in terms of life stages and life roles. Super was one of the first theorists to discuss the constantly evolving nature of career development, and the importance of finding a balance between career and personal life. Super’s developmental model emphasized how personal experiences interact with occupational preferences in creating one’s self-concept. Super discussed how each of us progress through various life and career development stages, including growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. He also discussed that each of us take on different roles as we go through life, such as a child, student, leisurite, citizen, worker, parent, and spouse. Each of these roles has an impact on our personal and professional development, and on our work/life balance. Finally, his “archway” of career determinants detailed how both personality characteristics (intelligence, needs, values) and societal characteristics (labor market, school, family) influence our career choices and have a major impact on our career development.

Gysbers (2003) proposes that the value of career theories comes from providing practitioners with a framework to examine client behaviour, help understand the possible meanings of or explanations for the behaviour and subsequently, enables them to identify and respond to clients’ goals or problems. Significantly then, such theories may help explain an individual’s vocational behaviour, such as their initial career choice or later aspects of career development. This essay attempts to identify the theoretical framework that will underpin my guidance practice in the future.

As the editor of a training and development magazine, Ketter give insight on the importance of career development and

Life-Span Theories. Trait and factor theories tend to deal with career issues at one point in time, whereas life-span theories take a long-term, developmental perspective (ibid.). The most widely known life-span theory is Super’s Theory of Vocational Choice, which suggests that individuals pass through stages of vocational development involving developmental tasks at each stage; it also considers the performance of multiple roles and their interaction across the life-span (Stitt-Gohdes 1997). However, some studies have shown that the life stages Super outlined are not exactly applicable to women, especially as their roles have changed in the last few decades (Sharf 1997). Super considered self-concept and vocational maturity to be important

Baruch, Y. (2004b). Transforming careers — from linear to multidirectional career paths: Organizational and individual perspective. Career Development International, 9(1), 58–73