SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY

SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT), proposed by Robert Lent, Steven Brown, and Gail Hackett, takes a cognitive approach to the process of career development. It was formulated in response to growing ideological changes that placed importance on people’s cognitions. This theory posits that individuals’ interests are first influenced by contextual factors such as education, support, and role models and by individual factors such as gender, race, and culture. Contextual factors and individual factors then influence one’s self-efficacy in certain activities that, in turn, reflect one’s interests. 

Therefore, SCCT places importance on the individual’s cognitive process of choosing a career based on environmental and social factors, self efficacy, interests, and performance outcomes. Additionally, SCCT contends that as individuals gain more learning experiences over time, they revise their career-related self-efficacy.

Both SCCT and SLTCDM conceptualize career development as a continuous process of participating in activities, assessing one’s success, and refining career choices based on self evaluations. The difference between the theories is that SLTCDM emphasizes learning new activities, whereas SCCT emphasizes self-efficacy for the tasks in which an individual participates.