Wendy Patton & Mary McMahon 
Career Development and Systems Theory 
Connecting Theory and Practice

Career Development and Systems Theory: Connecting Theory and Practice offers practitioners, researchers and students a comprehensive introduction to, and overview of, career theory; introduces the Systems Theory Framework of career development; and demonstrates its considerable contemporary and innovative application to practice. A number of authors have identified the framework as one of a small number of significant innovations in the career development literature. The Systems Theory Framework of career development was developed to provide coherence to the career development field by providing a comprehensive conceptualisation of the many existing theories and concepts relevant to understanding career development. It is not designed to be a theory of career development; rather systems theory is introduced as the basis for an overarching, or metatheoretical, framework within which all concepts of career development, described in the plethora of career theories, can be usefully positioned and utilised in both theory and practice. It has been applied to the career development of children, adolescents and women. Since its first publication, the Systems Theory Framework has been the basis of numerous publications focusing on theoretical application and integration, practice and research, with a growing number of these by authors other than the framework developers. Its application across cultures also has been emphasised. The theoretical and practical unity of the Systems Theory Framework makes this book a worthy addition to the professional libraries of practitioners, researchers and students, new to, or experienced in, the field of career development.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PREFACE; ABOUT THE AUTHORS; LIST OF TABLES; LIST OF FIGURES; PART 1: REVIEW OF EXISTING THEORIES; CHAPTER 1 RATIONALE FOR A SYSTEMS THEORY PERSPECTIVE; DEFINITIONS; The Meaning of ‘Career’; Career Development; BRIEF HISTORY OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY; THE STRUCTURE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY; Theories of Content; Theories of Process; Theories of Content and Process; Wider Explanations; Constructivist/Social Constructionist Approaches; Issues Related to Categorisation; Philosophical Underpinnings of Our Understandings of Career; Applying Systems Theory to Career Development; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 2 THEORIES FOCUSING ON CONTENT; THE WORK OF FRANK PARSONS; DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY; Trait and Factor Theory; Limitations and Criticisms of Trait and Factor Theory; Five Factor Model of Personality; Person-Environment Fit; Holland’s Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments; Theory of Work Adjustment; BORDIN’S PSYCHODYNAMIC MODEL OF CAREER CHOICE; BROWN’S VALUES-BASED THEORY; SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEORIES OF CONTENT; Self-knowledge; Work Environment; Person-environment Fit; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 3 THEORIES FOCUSING ON PROCESS; THE WORK OF GINZBERG AND COLLEAGUES; SUPER’S LIFE-SPAN, LIFE-SPACE APPROACH; Propositions; Self; Life-span and Life-space; Life-span; Life-space; CAREER CONSTRUCTION: A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOUR; INDIVIDUALISTIC APPROACH; GOTTFREDSON’S CIRCUMSCRIPTION AND COMPROMISE THEORY; Cognitive Growth; Self-creation; Circumscription; Stages of circumscription; Compromise; SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEORIES; CHAPTER 4 THEORIES FOCUSING ON CONTENT AND PROCESS; KRUMBOLTZ’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY OF CAREER DECISION-MAKING (SLTCDM); SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY; Interests; Career Choice; Career-related Performance; COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL; DEVELOPMENTAL-CONTEXTUAL APPROACH; ROE’S THEORY OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND CAREER CHOICE; A CONTEXTUALIST ACTION THEORYEXPLANATION OF CAREER; SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEORIES; Individual Content Influences; Context Influences; Process Influences; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 5 COMPARISON OF THE CURRENT THEORIES; THE INDIVIDUAL; THE CONTEXT OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT; DEVELOPMENT; PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS; RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES; DECISION-MAKING; CHANCE; INTERACTION PROCESS; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 6 THEORIES OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT: WIDER EXPLANATIONS; WOMEN’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT; Understandings and Definitions of Career for Women; Issues in Women’s Careers; THEORIES RELATED TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN; Specific Theories for Women; Adaptation of Traditional Theories; Comprehensive Theories Applicable to Women and Men; Specific Models Focusing on Individual Differences; Sociocognitive Models; Ecological or Systems Approaches; Women’s Career Development – Relational and Cultural Theories; Summary; THEORIES RELATED TO RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS; Existing Theories with Cross Cultural Perspectives; Broader Theoretical Models; Culture-specific Conceptual Models; THEORIES RELATED TO THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS; Theoretical Explanations; THEORIES RELATED TO THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS; SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT; THE RENEWED FOCUS ON SOCIAL CLASS IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT; THEORIES RELATED TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY; SOCIAL JUSTICE AGENDA IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT; CONCLUSION; PART 2: THE MOVE TOWARDS INTEGRATION AND CONVERGENCE; CHAPTER 7 TOWARD INTEGRATION IN CAREER THEORY; UNDERLYING WORLDVIEWS; STAGES IN INTEGRATION AND CONVERGENCE; INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORKS; THEORISTS’ MODIFICATION OF THEORIES AND NEW THEORIES; BRIDGING FRAMEWORKS; Developmental-Contextualism; Learning Theory; Person-environment Transaction; Theory of Work Adjustment; Developmental Systems Theory; Systems Theory; Social Cognitive Career Theory; Contextual Explanation of Career; Career Construction Theory; Integrative Relational Theory of Working; THE 1990s FOCUS ON CONVERGENCE; INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORKS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY; ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CONVERGENCE; THE PRESENT POSITION OF CAREER THEORY; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 8 SYSTEMS THEORY; THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS THEORY; GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY; Fritjof Capra; Gregory Bateson; Berger and Luckmann; Transactional Functionalists; Kurt Lewin; Katz and Kahn; Ford – Living Systems Framework; Developmental Systems Theory; Motivational Systems Theory; Complexity Theory; Chaos Theory; ISSUES IN SYSTEMS THEORY; Assumptions about Knowing; Limitations of Language; SYSTEMS THEORY ELEMENTS; Wholes and Parts; Patterns and Rules; Acausality; Recursiveness; Discontinuous Change; Open and Closed Systems; Abduction; Story; SYSTEMS THEORY PERSPECTIVES IN CAREER THEORY; Acknowledgment of Potential of Systems Theory; Specific Incorporation of Systems Theory Principles; Frameworks Specifically Derived from Systems Theory; Systems Theory and Related Conceptualisations; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 9 A SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT; Development of the Systems Theory Framework; THE SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK; The Individual; The Individual System; The Contextual System; Recursiveness; Change Over Time; Chance; The STF, Culture and Context; ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK; IMPLICATIONS OF A SYSTEMS THEORY PERSPECTIVE; Implications for Extant Theory; Implications for Our Understanding of Career; Implications for the Process of Career Decision-Making; Implications for Practice; APPLICATION OF THE SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK; Systems Theory Constructs Applied; The Individual as a Learning System; CONCLUSION; PART 3: SYSTEMS THEORY AND CAREER PRACTICE; CHAPTER 10 LIFELONG CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING: A FOUNDATION FOR CAREER PRACTICE; THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF CAREER SERVICES; CONSUMERS OF CAREER SERVICES; LIFELONG LEARNING; Previous Acknowledgment of Lifelong Learning in the Career Literature; What is Learned; The Location of Learning; The Language of Learning; Implications for Career Development Facilitators; Learning Systems; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 11 TRAINING AND SUPERVISION: CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING SYSTEMS; A PROFESSIONAL DILEMMA; TRAINING; Experiential Learning Theory – A Foundation for Training; CREATING A LEARNING SYSTEM; Developing a Learning Alliance; Clarifying the Process and Learning Objectives; The Life of the Learning System; The Learning Approach; An Example of an Experiential Learning Process; Learning Activity: Using the Systems Theory Framework to Explore Career Development; Part 1 – Grounding in Experience; Part 2 – Multiple Perspectives or Reflective Observation; Part 3 – Creating Concepts; Integrating Observations into Logically Sound Theories; Part 4 – Multiple Perspectives; Part 5 – Reflective Observation; Part 6 – Making Decisions and Solving Problems; Part 7 – Multiple Perspectives; THE CONTENT OF LEARNING; Self-learning; Diversity; Social Justice; Counselling Theory and Practice; Use of Technology; Career Assessment; Employment Market, Social and Economic Trends; Assessment; EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING VIEWED FROM A SYSTEMS THEORY PERSPECTIVE; LIFELONG LEARNING IN SUPERVISORY SYSTEMS; Overview of Supervision in Career Counselling; Supervision and Lifelong Learning 31upervision and Systems Theory; Reflection; Meaning-making; Learning; Agency; THE STF, CULTURE AND CAREER COUNSELLING; THE STF AND CAREER ASSESSMENT; The My System of Career Influences Reflection Activity (MSCI); REVIEWING PRACTICE; Reflecting on the Pattern of my Own Career Development; Demonstrating that I am a Lifelong Learner; Understanding of the Integration of Career Development Theory and Career Counselling Practice; Knowledge of Counselling Theory and its Application to Career Counselling; My Personal Advice; MEETING 21ST CENTURY CAREER COUNSELLING NEEDS; CHAPTER 14 ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL CAREER SYSTEMS: NEW RELATIONSHIPS; THE CONTEXT FOR CHANGE; CAREER RESPONSESTO CHANGE; CRITIQUES OF AND SUPPORTS FOR THE ‘NEW CAREER’; INTEGRATION OF INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANISATIONAL APPROACHES TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT; Approaches to Discipline Integration; Integrative Model (Van Maanen & Schein, 1977); Metaphors of Career (Inkson, 2004, 2007); Systems Theory Framework (Patton & Mc Mahon, 1999, 2006a); A Multidisciplinary Dialogue (Collin & Patton, 2009a); THEORY AND PRACTICE: TRADITIONAL ORGANISATIONAL CAREERS TO NEW CAREERS; The STF and Career Counselling; CONCLUSION; REFERENCES; INDEX; Supervision as Experiential Learning; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 12 CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS; HISTORY OF CAREER GUIDANCE IN SCHOOLS; RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING; APPLYING THE SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK TO SCHOOLS; The School as a Subsystem in the Context of Time; Accountability; THE SCHOOL AS A SYSTEM; The Career Development Facilitator; The Students – Learners and Consumers; IMPLEMENTING CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING; Learning Content and Processes; REVIEWING CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING IN SCHOOLS FROM A SYSTEMS THEORY PERSPECTIVE; The School System; The Environmental-Societal System; The Context of Time; CONCLUSION; CHAPTER 13 CAREER COUNSELLING SYSTEMS; HISTORY OF CAREER COUNSELLING; The Trait and Factor Approach; Signs of Change; CONSTRUCTIVISM; The Counselling Relationship; The Counselling Process; Language; The Narrative Approach; Assessment; THE SYSTEMS THEORY FRAMEWORK AND CAREER COUNSELLING; The Therapeutic System; The STF and the Process of Career Counselling; Connectedness; Career Counsellors Connecting with Their own Career Stories; Career Counsellors Connecting with Clients; Connecting Clients with Their Systems of Influence.