Career Development Practices: What Theories and Models Have to Offer

Chapter authors in Part I of this book reminded us of the extensive history of career development, the recursive and essential relationship between theory and practice, and the issues that have emerged and remain unresolved in relation to extant career theory. Such issues have stimulated the development of a range of more contemporary theories. Part II of the book included 13 chapters based on contemporary career theories, most of which, to date, have received less attention in career development texts than foundational theories, some of which were first proposed in the mid-20th century. Such seminal theories have provided a firm foundation on which the profession of career development has been established and continues to influence the field and underpin practice. Part III of the book concludes the book. This chapter’s purpose is to synthesize themes from the chapters related to the four aims of the book and propose future directions for career theory.

Although the term career has an array of meanings, a converging point of view is that career is associated with work (Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989; Blustein, 2006; Richardson, 2000). This association is complex due to people’s varied experiences with academic preparation, employment, unemployment, and the personal meanings that they associate with careers versus jobs. There are also many variations in people’s cultural norms and values about work, their motivation for participating in the labour market, and how they determine their degree of satisfaction or success (Brown, 2002). Further, people’s career development must be viewed in light of many contextual influences that support access for some members of society to meaningful employment while continuing to pose barriers for others (Arthur, 2005a; Arthur & McMahon, 2005). Career practitioners are encouraged to review some of the excellent sources that detail the historical development of the concept of career, e.g., Blustein, 2006; Collin & Young, 1990). While notions of career continue to evolve, career development practices also need to be revised. Career practitioners need to be familiar with the broader changes that are taking place in society and their relevance for guiding career practice (Herr, 1993a, 1993b, 2001). One of the key roles of career practitioners is to interpret for clients how changes in the world of work impact career planning and decision-making. Career practitioners need to be knowledgeable about theories and models that account for adult working lives that are characterised by multiple transitions (Guichard & Lenz, 2005). Career practitioners may be involved in a variety of roles ranging from direct services with individual clients who are seeking educational or vocational opportunities, consulting to organisations, informing policy makers, and a range of other roles that may involve working directly or indirectly to promote community capacitybuilding and greater access for clients to employment. It should be remembered that the roots of social justice can be traced to Parson’s (1909) vision of social respon-

The aim was to determine the opinions of nurse managers about career planning and development for nurses in hospitals. Career planning and development are defined as an important and necessary tool in the development of nurses as professionals and in retaining nurses in a facility. A descriptive survey. The research population comprised nurse managers in 200+ bed hospitals on the European side of Istanbul province (n = 668). The entire population was targeted and 373 nurse managers were included in the study (55.8% return rate). Data were collected with a 32-item survey form that had three sections to determine the nurse managers' demographic characteristics, the career development practices at the facility where they worked, the nurse managers' responsibilities for career development and their expected competencies and recommendations. The findings of this study suggest that the most common technique used for nurses for career development was education programs, the career development practices of private hospitals were more developed than public hospitals and the nurse managers' perceptions about career development were different according to their management level, age group and educational level (p < 0.05). Although different practices were found in public and private hospitals in Turkey there were no effective career development practices identified and the nurse managers did not have agreement on the subject of career development. Hospitals which provide opportunity for horizontal and vertical promotion and have clear development policies will be successful hospitals which are preferred by high quality nurses. This study draws attention to the importance of career planning in nursing and the need for nurse managers to take an active role in career planning and development.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between career development practices and high performance talent. Particularly, the objectives of this study were (1) to identify the career development practice in selected service organization; (2) to examine the talent’s perception in regards to career development practice in the organization; (3) to identify the talent’s perception in regards to their current performance; (4) to study the relationship between succession planning, job rotation, pipeline system, mentoring program, educational and tuition reimbursement practices toward developing high performance talent; (5) to determine the relationship between overall career development practices and high performance talent. This study utilized theory developed by Gutteridge (1993), Holstein (2005) and Super (1954). Data were collected by both qualitative and quantitative methods. Focus group discussion with 15 selected Human Resource Manager was initially conducted to help the researchers to develop the survey questionnaire. A number 233 respondents from three selected organizations namely aviation, postal service and manufacturing involved in the survey. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics namely frequency, mean, and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the quantitative data. Results of focus group discussion found that among the career development practices that were practiced in their organizations are job rotation, mentoring, pipeline system, succession planning and education tuition fees reimbursement. Results of that correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between educational and tuition reimbursement, job rotation, mentoring program, pipeline system, succession planning and high performance talent ranges from moderate to strong relationship. The results also showed that overall career development practices was significantly correlated with high performance talent. Lastly, recommendations for practices and future studies were also discussed.

The most fundamental challenge that career psychology faces is the construction of a new identity that will challenge the career theories and counselling practices that have occupied centre stage in evolving forms for over a century. As part of that challenge, career practitioners and career educators need to address the critical question of what constitutes a good narrative for career practice at the present time. Central to the re-definition of career theory and counselling is the need to address and redress the diversity of environments in which career development and career counselling takes place. The present article explores the cultural roles inherent in career counselling and the possible reconstruction of the identity of career practitioners, particularly in terms of their responsibilities in culturally diverse settings. This exploration raises ethical concerns about the present training of career practitioners.

A definition of careers and career theories is first presented. Then, the evolution of career theory, particularly as it pertains to mid and late careers, is briefly outlined. Next, traditional and contemporary career theories most relevant to mid and late careers are discussed. Several contemporary career theories are then briefly highlighted, with an emphasis on the lifespan developmental model of careers. What constitutes subjective and objective career success is linked to the evolution of career theory, specifically as it pertains to mid and late career workers. The entry concludes with recommendations for future research on career theory.

Research background: The paper uses labor economics and career theory to design an integrative approach to career research focusing on new occupations and career development. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to call for an integrative approach to career research aiming to characterize labor market trends and discuss perspectives on careers using highly skilled migrants from Central and Eastern Europe as a case. The paper discusses the specificity of career development in the context of the Industry 4.0. and an integrative approach vs. other approaches. Methods: The methodology insists on several ways that enable a triangular analysis. The research combines in-depth-analysis of bibliographic data in the Web of Science database, unstructured interviews with top managers/co-owners of multinational companies in August and September 2020 as a base for writing two narrative cases. Findings &amp; Value added: Findings show the tendency of career theory to provide a narrow view of a career. They highlight the trends in considering the wide variety of career situations, which results from the fact that careers locate in time and space. The paper provides examples to explore career differences better and seek for alternative explanations to career experiences. Because career dynamics are influenced by individual characteristics and career development practices, a more integrative approach to career research must address the complexity of labor markets. The added value is to encourage discussions about career theory focusing on a wide range of issues.

Herr (1996), Bloch (1996), and Watts (1996) highlight important shifts that are occurring in the structure of work, in social policy related to career services, and in the ecological context of guidance. Such shifts may have far‐reaching implications for the science and practice of career development, particularly for counselors' roles in assisting individuals and organizations with issues of work preparation and transition. This article revisits some of the authors' key assumptions and observations, offering additional suggestions for ensuring that career theory, research, practice, and policy remain responsive to the changing social–political–economic context.

On the assumption that cross-fertilization across (allied) disciplines is profitable, one of the contemporary theories of human development, namely life span theory, is selected for its potential usefulness for career theory, research, and practice. Life span theory is a particularly apt choice for such an exercise because of its overarching framework, comprehensiveness, multiple levels of generality/specificity, and relevance of content. The key ideas of life span theory or life span developmental psychology are outlined and discussed first. Largely adapted from the writings of Paul Baltes, the first set of these key ideas includes the following: Lifelong processes in development; plasticity as pivotal, more importance to change than in previous theories of development; the need to reformulate the concept of developmental change; development as a gain-loss dynamic; and development as a process of selective adaptation involving the coordination of three processes (i.e., selection, optimization, and compensation). The second set of key ideas, also drawn from Baltes's work, includes culture as compensation, coevolution of biology and culture, development as a process of biocultural co-construction, and an incomplete architecture of human development.Next, in order to clarify the extent to which life span theory opens new perspectives or reiterates extant perspectives, selected career theories are examined for their extent of rapprochement with life span theory: theory of work adjustment; Holland’s theory of vocational personalities in work environments; Super’s life-span, life-space approach to career development; theory of career construction; and social cognitive career theory. It is found that although there is some rapprochement between life span theory in human development and career theories, this rapprochement is neither consistent nor adequate. At best, there is some recognition of the need for a life span orientation and variable acknowledgement of the value of plasticity.This exercise yields new directions as well as reinforces existing foci in career theory, research, and practice. It is clear, for example, that greater attention needs to be paid to lifelong processes in career development. In which case, there is a simultaneous need to orient ourselves to plasticity in career development. The complementarity of the constructs of lifelong development and plasticity needs better reception and integration in career theory, research, and practice.Using life span theory, career development can be viewed as constituted of gains and losses in adaptive capacities or functions through selection and selective optimization at multiple points in the life span. Individuals and groups can be assisted in identifying the specific adaptive capacities or functions that they would like to strengthen and the careers or types of jobs that provide the means to do so. Successful career development can be facilitated by promoting (a) general plasticity and (b) assisting individuals and groups in maximizing gains and minimizing losses. Lastly, in the careers field we must recognize that the limits of human development are unknown because these limits are continually extended through biocultural coevolution. Therefore, the conclusions about career development can be only based partly (and not wholly) on the past, and we need to continually regenerate our knowledge base as well as modes of practice.KeywordsLife SpanAdaptive CapacityCareer DevelopmentOutcome ExpectationWork AdjustmentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The Career Development Quarterly celebrated its 100th anniversary during the past year and continues to provide high‐quality research and conceptual articles of import to the study of career development and intervention. This article reviews the 2011 career counseling and development literature to highlight advances in theory, assessment, and intervention presented within the following themes: (a) from the past to the future, (b) work and well‐being, (c) diversity and career, (d) career theory and concepts, (e) career assessment, (f) career intervention, (g) career development: life‐span perspectives, and (h) international perspectives.

The career development literature published in 2008 is summarized and presented thematically: (a) professional issues, (b) career assessment, (c) career development, (d) career theory and concepts, (e) career interventions, (f) advances in technology, (g) employment, (h) international perspectives, and (i) research design and methodology. Traditional and emerging theories and practices are robust and vibrant.

This annual review of the research and practice literature related to career counseling and development during 2007 is presented in 9 areas: professional issues, career assessment, career development, career theory and concepts, career interventions, advances in technology, personnel selection and job placement, international perspectives, and book reviews. Professional issues of a multicultural, multiethnic, and diversified workforce have become among the most frequently enumerated themes of the 2007 career development literature. The author summarizes and discusses the implications of the findings in this literature for the practice of career counseling.

This annual review of the research and practice literature related to career counseling and development published during 2003 is presented in 6 major areas: professional issues, career assessment, career development, career theory, career interventions, and technology. The authors discuss the implications of the findings in this literature for career counseling practice.

The study determined the moderating role of career development practices on the relationship between open communication and organizational citizenship behaviour. The study was anchored on the social exchange theory. The study employed explanatory research design ingrained with the pragmatism philosophy. The target population of the study comprised of 702 employees drawn from Kenya Forest Service North Rift Conservancy. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 248 respondents. The primary data for the study was collected using closed ended questionnaires and semi-structured interview schedule. Data was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Regression, Correlation and ANOVA) while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The hypothesis was tested using multiple regression model and hierarchical regression for moderation. Findings of hierarchical regression showed that career development practices moderate the relationship between open communication and OCB (β=.24, p<0.05, R²Δ=.01). This implies that firms with career development practices have higher probability of improving OCB with open communication. It therefore calls for formulation and promotion of open communication and its effective implementation. Moreover, in order for open communication to enhance OCB, organization needs to implement career development practices.

Social justice has underpinned career development work since its inception. Over time however, while awareness of social justice issues has been retained, the focus of intervention has largely remained individual. Further, career theory has been criticised for its lack of attention to cultural influences such as gender, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, in people's career development. In this regard, progress has been made to the extent that multicultural and diversity competencies have been identified and elaborated. However, such competencies maintain a predominant focus on interventions with individuals and there have been calls for career development to identify social justice competencies which necessarily suggest different roles and levels of intervention for career development practitioners. As the implications of globalisation become more apparent and societal inequity is perpetuated, it is timely to revisit the social justice origins of career development and consider how career development may position itself in the 21st century. This paper examines social justice in career development theory and practice, and considers implications for career development practitioners.