CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY

CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Donald Super first proposed his career development theory in 1953, making it one of the earliest theories on career development. 

Combining life stage psychology and social role psychology, Super’s theory addresses the significant roles and career development tasks that occur during life stages. One element of Super’s theory that combines life stages and social roles is the life−career rainbow, a graphic representation of lifespace and life span, key terms in Super’s theory. Lifespace refers to the roles that a person assumes that are related to both work and nonwork; examples of lifespace roles include child or worker. 

The life–career rainbow depicts changes in the centrality of roles over time—for example, the development from daughter or son to full-time worker to retirement. Life span, or time, refers to stages in a career, which coincide with developmental stages such as childhood and adulthood. Super identified six major stages of career development and the important developmental tasks of each stage. Additionally, Super estimated the age range during which most people go through each stage. 

The first stage that Super proposed is growth, a period of childhood development that takes place from age 4 to 13. Major developmental tasks of this stage include developing a concern about the future, increasing personal control over one’s life, motivating oneself to achieve, and acquiring competent habits and attitudes toward work. 

The next stage of career development is exploration, occurring from age 14 to 24. Super asserted that during this stage, people crystallize, specify, and implement an occupational choice. During this stage individuals are constructing their self-identity by choosing and preparing for an l occupation. Super concentrated much of his research on understanding development in this stage. 

When individuals enter into a specific career, they begin the establishment stage. Establishment, which occurs between the ages of 25 and 45, is the process of stabilizing one’s position in an organization. Furthermore, individuals consolidate their position by demonstrating positive work habits and attitudes. 

Many individuals focus on having families and developing skills to be a parent during this stage. Toward the end of this stage, individuals are expected to advance their work roles by taking on new responsibilities or working toward promotion. 

Once an individual decides to continue in the same career, the maintenance stage begins. This stage comprises the remainder of the time spent in paid labor, typically lasting from ages 45 to 65. During this stage, individuals continue to maintain the skills needed for the occupation they have chosen. They also continue to learn new skills to keep up with changes in their job. The final career developmental stage is disengagement. Around age 65, when individuals plan for or begin the process of retirement, they enter the disengagement stage. At this time, individuals reduce their work efforts as they retire from their careers, and they shift the focus of their lifestyle from work to other activities such as family or leisure interests.

Though individuals are assumed to progress through the career stages at certain ages and in a particular order, Super concedes that the stages may not take place at the same age for everyone, and people may actually cycle through each stage more than once. This concept, known as recycling, suggests that individuals go through previous stages when they begin a new job or new career. 

Furthermore, the theory speculates that this cycle of developmental stages may also apply to non-work-related roles such as leisure activities or familial roles. For example, if an individual becomes physically unable to participate in athletic leisure activities, he or she may recycle back to the exploration stage to develop skills for a new leisure activity. 

As people progress through the career development stages, the choices they make reflect their selfconcept. In other words, as individuals select vocations, they attempt to choose a career that depicts their own self-image. Career development, then, is an iterative process whereby the congruence between selfconcept and career increases with each subsequent occupation or job.