Lesson 2
Theories in Career Development
• Having a life goal sets the direction to the choices and
efforts we undertake in our life.
• Personality type theory involve matching the type of
personality of the individual with the type of environment
where his or her work is.
• Super’s developmental theory is based on the belief that selfconcept changes over time and develops as a result of
experience.
Personality Type Theory
• Choosing a career involves reaching a match between the
type of personality of an individual and the type of work
environment he or she would like to work in.
• John Holland, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at John
Hopkins University and an American psychology.
Holland’s Six Personality Types
Type
Realistic type (R)
Investigate type (I)
Description
 people who like mechanical activities, outdoor activities
 prefer working with their hands rather than with people
 people who like to watch and learn about the world around them, they are
generally quite; they spend time thinking to solve difficult problems
Artistic type
(A)
Social type
(S)
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likes to think up new ideas
they are creative, artistic, imaginative
likes to be with other people
they are talkative, friendly and interested in helping or teaching others
Enterprising type
(E)
Conventional type
(C)
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people who like to influence, lead and persuade other people
sociable and outgoing
like to work with numbers
good at carrying out details
neat, orderly, organized, and practical
Personality Type Theory
• Holland believes that a good career must find congruence in
the interaction between a personality type and a work
environment type.
• Holland’s theory is one of the earliest explanations in career
development but it has its own criticism for having gender
bias because females tend to score in three personality types
(artistic, social, and conventional).
Super’s Developmental Theory
• A popular and most influential theory in career development
was developed by Donald Super, an American renowned
career development theorist, and professor at Columbia
University.
• Super’s Developmental Theory is based on the belief that
self-concept changes over time and develops as a result of
experience.
Super’s Developmental Theory
• Super recognizes that the self-concept changes at different
stages in one’s life. A person at age 20 has a different view
about himself and the world compared to a person at age
40. Self-concept develops over time. As a person grows and
meets various experiences in life, his or her self-concept also
gradually develops.
Super’s Five Life and Career Development
Stages
Stage 1:
Growth Age 0-14
Stage 2:
Exploration Age 15-24
• Development of self-concept, attitudes, needs, and
general world of work
 “Trying out” through classes, work experiences, hobbies
 Tentative choice and skill development
Stage 3:
 Entry0level skill building and stabilisation through work
Establishment Age 25-44
experience
Stage 4:
 Continual adjustment process to improve position
Maintenance Age 45-64
Stage 5:
 Reduced output, prepare for retirement
Decline Age 65+
Four Categories of Career
Development Theories
1. Trait Factor
- skills, values, interests, and personality characteristics
are analysed and matched with job factors or an
occupational profile.
Four Categories of Career
Development Theories
2. Psychological
– developed by John Holland. This second category is
an offshoot of Parson’s Trait Theory Factor Theory where
Holland identified six personality categories. A person usually
made up of all six personality categories, will be have one
dominant type, but may exhibit up to three of these types.
Four Categories of Career
Development Theories
3. Decision
– this theory is based on Albert Bandura’s theory of
self-efficacy, which means that a person may exercise control
over his or her thoughts, beliefs and actions, and that selfefficacy is the predictor of behaviour.
Four Categories of Career
Development Theories
4. Developmental or the Life-Span or Life-Space Theory
– propose by Donald Super who based the theory on
the idea that are always in constant change and go through life
learning and doing new things while hanging roles in the
process.
To be continue…..