VALUES BASED CAREER THEORY
BY DUANE BROWN
Brown’s Values-Based Career Theory

Values are beliefs that are experienced by individual as standards regarding how he or she
should function

Values are important not only in the selection of life roles but also in the satisfaction derived
from life roles

Values serves as standards by which people evaluate their actions and the actions of others.
Brown’s Values-Based Career Theory

Brown theorized that values are shaped by genetics and environment

Values are solidified in the early adult years and tend to remain stable over time; however, age,
experience, and traumatic life events can modify them.
How Values Develop
1. Enculturation is the process by which individuals incorporate the beliefs and values of
their cultural group and form a values system
2. Most individuals are monocultural
3. Acculturation involves the enculturation of beliefs from a culture different from one’s
own.
Types of Values
1. Cultural Values
2. Work Values
3. Life Values
 Brown’s Theory attempts to draw attention to the function of values in decision-making and
career counseling as well as to set of values into the broader context of life roles.
 Brown’s choice of focus on work values and cultural values is related to the identification of
work values as a critical variable in career development, and evidence that cultural values also
play an important role in career development (Brown, 2002, 2003)
 • Individuals are exposed to different values throughout their lives from many different sources,
such as family, peers, environment and the media (Patton & McMahon, 2006, 40).
 • An individual’s cultural background, gender, socioeconomic status affect the type of
opportunities and experiences they encounter.
 • There is variation of values both within and between subgroups of society.
Roles of Values in the Career Decision-Making Process
1. Work values that are high in priority are the most important determinants of choice from among
alternatives.
2. An individual’s value system is learned from the society they grow up in, and thus this society is
of great influence when career decisions are made.
3. Culture, sex and socioeconomic status affect the opportunities an individual is offered.
4. Choices that are in line with an individual’s values is essential to career satisfaction.
5. Life Satisfaction is the result of role interaction.
6. An individual’s level of functioning correlates with their values; high- functioning individuals
have crystallized and prioritized values.
7. Success in any role depends on the abilities required to perform the role’s functions
Propositions of Brown’s Values-Based Career Theory
1. Highly prioritized work values are the most important determinant of career choice from people
who value individualism.
2. Individuals who hold collective social values and come from families who hold the same values
defer to the wishes of the family in occupational decision-making.
3. When taken individually, cultural values regarding activity do not constrain the occupational
decision-making process.
4. Males, females, and people from differing cultural groups enter occupations at varying rates.
5. The process of choosing an occupation value involves a series of estimates.
6. Occupational success is related to job-related skills acquired in formal and informal educational
settings, job-related aptitudes and skills, SES, preparation in the work role, and the extent to
which discrimination is experienced.
7. Occupational tenure is partially the result of the match between the cultural and work values of
worker, supervisors, and colleagues.
References:
Brown, D., Crace, R.K., & Almeida, L. (2006). A culturally sensitive, values-based approach to career
counseling. In A. J. Palmo, W. J. Weikel, & D. P. Borsos (Eds.), Foundations of mental health counseling
(pp. 144-171). Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.
Crace, R. K., & Brown, D. (2002). Life Values Inventory. Williamsburg, VA: Applied Psychology Resources.
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