Running Head: PARENTAL INFLUENCE ON CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Parental Influence on Career Development
Alyssa Heggen
Ball State University
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Introduction
A major component in career development is the influence parents have on their children.
Parents have a very unique relationship with their children in that they must care and provide for
their kin, while also helping them develop a sense of their own identity. This identity includes
occupational aspirations and goals related to the world of work. In the United States,
occupational choice is often considered to be an individual right that one must make based on
their personal preferences and interests. However, because American children are dependent on
their parents for support and financial resources, parents often become involved in making such
personal decisions (Bregman & Killen, 1999). Often times, this support is considered a positive
influence because of the levels of attachment children have with their parents and the view of
expertise that is often perceived. In fact, Turner and Lapan (2002) suggested parents to be key
providers of encouragement to their children to reach career goals. One way this is done is
through modeling goal-direct behavior. For example, parents model through their own
experience in the world of work that in order to succeed, they must work hard and go to work
every day. Parents also offer encouragement by providing real-life experiences that contribute to
occupational learning and development. Here, trips to the museum, zoo, or simply taking your
child to work can be incredibly beneficial. This parental encouragement was found to have
considerable effects on learning experiences, success in school, the child’s self-efficacy, and
their expectations about success in higher education (Turner & Lapan, 2002).
It’s important to note with parental influence, however, that there are multiple parties
involved here; the parent(s) and the child who is developing their vocational identity. Each
individual in this scenario has their own goals and ideas of what is best for career development.
Because of this, Young (1994) suggests that parental influence be viewed as “reciprocal rather
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than unidirectional.” With this dynamic relationship in mind, in this paper, while discussing the
parental influences on career development, I will consider the perceptions of both the parents and
the children. Further, I will discuss the effects the family as a whole, not just parents, has on
career development in youth. Finally, I will discuss what schools counselors, as major
contributors to career development in the school system, can do to assist both parents and
students through this journey of career identity and development. It’s important to note that
research reviewed for this paper was solely from the United States, and therefore, such
implications and findings are limited to the American population.
Parents’ Perception of Influencing Career Development
It has been suggested that parents ultimately want their children to feel good about
themselves by developing a positive self-image and ability to be successful individuals. Here,
such goals of self-efficacy greatly contribute to career development in children and therefore, are
a major task of parenting (Young and Frisen, 1992). How parents meet this task and what their
underlying goals are when raising their children was the central question in a study done by
Young and Frisen (1992). Here, ten categories were found and described as “intentions” parents
had when influencing their children in the area of career development. Intentions, or goals, found
in this study include skill acquisition, development of values and beliefs, protection from
unwanted experiences, development of independence, decrease in sex-role stereotyping,
moderation of parent-child relationships, development of healthy relationships, development of
good character, development of personal responsibility, and achievement of parents’ goals. In
general, the ten intentions or goals found demonstrated that parents wanted their children to be
well-developed in their personal identity and skills, and specific job occupation was not
necessarily important. Other studies have reported this finding that although they want what is
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best for their child, they had no intentions of choosing a specific occupation for their child,
which continues to support the North American notion that choosing one’s career is an
individual, and personal right (Young, 1994). Instead, parents influenced their children’s career
development by offering information and making suggestions (Young, 1994).
The final goal in the Young and Frisen (1992) study, however, was one of personal
interest to the parent themselves. Young and Frisen (1992) found several parents who wanted
their children to behave a certain way, so they their goals were met. For example, one mother did
not want her child to choose a celibate religion because she wanted grandchildren. This is similar
to another finding by Bregman and Killen (1999) who found that parents often view their
children’s career accomplishment as also accomplishments for their own lives. For example,
parents took pride in their child if they chose a high achieving job, just as must as if they chose
had the high achieving job themselves.
It is also important to consider unconscious intentions of parents in term gender
differences in their influence of career development. Young (1994) found that parents reported
differences in how they help their sons and daughters. Parents seemed demonstrate more interest,
provide more information, and challenge to their sons compared to their daughters. In addition,
parents seemed more understanding of their sons than their daughters, which resulted in greater
self-efficacy among the sons. This is an important finding by Young (1994) considering that
other studies have found that decreasing gender role stereotyping to be a goal of their parenting
(Young & Frisen, 1992). Parents may not realize the significance some of their behavior has on
their children.
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Children’s Perceptions of Parental Influence on Career Development
A unique study was done by Bregman and Killen (1999) which studied how children
perceive the influence their parents put forth on their career development. The study found that
despite the cultural expectation of making your own career decisions, adolescents actually valued
influence and guidance of their parents. Further, adolescents in a study by Turner and Lapen
(2002) demonstrated higher confidence in their ability to perform career-related tasks when they
perceived their parents as supporting their career decisions. This influence was determined to
more significant then influence by peers. When studying younger adolescents, this influence was
even more prominent, accounting for one-third to one-half of the young adolescent’s confidence
in career development. This is important for parents to consider when helping their child in
career development. By simply supporting and affirming a child’s abilities to succeed, parents
can be more influential than an adolescent’s peer group. Further, Turner and Lapen demonstrated
that the younger the age that parents begun supporting and influencing the child, the greater the
impact in terms of confidence and ability, showing that it is never too early to begin helping your
child develop a career identity.
However, this involvement by the parents was only valued when done in a certain
manner. For example, Bergman and Killen (1999) found that parents using bribery and
punishment were negatively viewed by adolescents as ways of influencing career-related
decisions. When asked, the adolescents in the study explained that such methods were immoral
and could lead to conflict in the parent-child relationship. Having this knowledge of how youth
perceive the help of their parents is incredibly valuable for the parent because it allows them to
know what behavior and ways of helping will be more beneficial in terms of connecting with
their child and helping them develop their vocational identity.
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Influence of Family as a Whole on Career Development:
Recently, there has been compelling evidence that that the experiences in one’s family
are an important factor in career development. Specifically, experiencing safe and secure
relationships within one’s family system has found to be beneficial and allows for greater career
exploring (Usinger, 2005). One particular study by Penick and Jespen (1992) examined how
family functioning is related to the career developmental tasks of crystallizing and specifying
one’s career identity. Here, it was found that family functioning significantly predicted an
adolescent’s certainty of career identity, more so than SES or educational achievement did.
Penick and Jespen (1992) suggest that the need for organization and boundaries help navigate
through the career development tasks. This study also found that being outgoing, sociable, and
expressive in settings outside of the family also increases career development. Thus, it seems that
a healthy balance is needed between attachment to the family and a sense of independence,
which are again, two goals parents have been found to have (Young & Frisen, 1992).
Accordingly, it has also been found that adolescents who demonstrate more extreme
forms of attachment to their families have difficulty navigating through the tasks of career
development (Penick & Jepsen, 1992). Here, adolescents may not develop a sense of identity
because they are too involved with rules and expectations of their family system. On the other
extreme, Penick and Jepsen (1992) suggest that adolescents who come from disengaged families
may lack the support necessary to accomplish career development tasks. This is related to the
confidence that is gained through support of parents that Turner and Lapen (2002) found.
However, that is not to say that individuals who lack this familial support or healthy attachment
will develop a career identity. Instead, Penick and Jespen (1992) suggest that their development
may be delayed, or they simply may seek other significant role models for support and guidance
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such as teachers or school counselors. Further, I find Penick and Jepsen’s study on the family
system to be incredibly insightful because it demonstrates that it’s not simply the parents that are
of particular influence in career development, rather the family system as a whole and how the
various relationships within the system function and operate.
Families from Low SES
In addition to family functioning, it is important to consider the socioeconomic status of
families and the impact it can have on a child’s career development. A unique study was done to
determine the outlook of career development for seventh and eighth graders from an
impoverished school district (Usinger, 2005). In terms of parental influences, Usinger (2005)
found that this population of students was being raised in a rather nondirective environment,
where students were neither encouraged nor discouraged about career-related decisions. For the
most part, parents in this study had little to say about their child’s career development. Instead,
most parents reported that their decision was up to the student themselves. This again, supports
the American culture idea that career decisions are personal, independent choices. Despite this
lack of direction, parents in this study did report viewing career development as important and
wanted their child to succeed in the future. When parents in this study discussed their child’s
future, Usinger (2005) found that they often reverted back to decisions they had made about their
future and often expressed regret and shame. Further, these parents expressed wanting their child
not to make the mistakes they had made. Overall, Usinger concluded that it seems that the
families who were studied did desire for vocational success for their seventh and eighth grade
children, but they also seemed to be lacking the confidence to provide guidance due to feelings
of guilt about their own career decisions. This study demonstrates that for the most part, parents
have positive expectations for their children, regardless of their background. It also implies that
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work needs to be done to empower these parents to demonstrate their capability of helping their
children in career development.
Implications for School Counseling
All of the knowledge that has been collected through reviewing the literature thus far
provides a lot of practical implications for school counselors that may allow them to better assist
students and parents in terms of career development. To begin, Turner and Lapan (2002) suggest
that students need support of their parents and form a school-based guidance program that allows
for the development of confidence and self-efficacy to make career-related decisions. In order to
do this, Turner and Lapan suggest that school counselors take the time to educate parents about
the various types of careers that are available today. This could be done through after-school
parent outreach meetings, during open-house nights, or during parent-teacher conferences, or
school newsletters. Informative materials should also always be available in the guidance office.
It is also recommended that school counselors provide training seminars for parents that teach
communication skills so that parents are able to effectively communicate about career-related
issues (Turner and Lapan, 2002). This includes active listening skills, providing feedback, and
providing instruction or insight about the world of work.
In terms of the goals and intentions that parents have that were described by Young and
Frisen (1992), counselors can take this knowledge to better understand the behavior of both the
children and parents when it comes to career development. Further, the counselors can help
parents determine if their goals are in the best interest of the child, and redirect goals that may be
harmful for the student’s career development. School counselors can help parents make their
goals more explicit so that the students may better understand the intentions of the parents. This
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could prevent a lot of conflict and help build a more positive relationship between the parent and
child. This is especially beneficial at the high school age, where adolescents are starting to exert
their own independence and make important decisions about their future, which can cause both a
lot of stress and parental conflict.
For parents and students that come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds,
school counselors can provide resources that may not be readily available to both parents and
students. Counselors can educate parents on emerging themes in the world of work and higher
education including job requirements and college information. It’s also important for counselors
to encourage parents to become active agents in the student’s career development. Although they
may not feel competent enough, these parents have the ability to support and be positive
influences in their child’s life. Further, school counselors can provide information about financial
assistance for continuing education to parents and students. Here, it is also important that school
counselors encourage students to not let socioeconomic barriers get in the way of their career
aspirations and goals.
Overall, school counselors can provide an invaluable service to students and parents by
simply being available for consultation, support, and guidance when needed. Knowing how
parents influence students allows counselors to develop positive working relationships bring
student’s to their fullest potential in career development.
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References
Bregman, G., & Killen, M. (1999). Adolescents' and young adults' reasoning about career choice
and the role of parental influence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9, 253-75.
Penick, N. I., & Jepsen, D. A. (1992). Family functioning and adolescent career
development. The Career Development Quarterly, 40, 208-222.
Turner, S., & Lapan, R. T. (2002). Career self-efficacy and perceptions of parent support in
adolescent career development. The Career Development Quarterly, 51, 44-55.
Usinger, J. (2005). Parent/guardian visualization of career and academic future of seventh
graders enrolled in low-achieving schools. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 234245.
Young, R. A. (1994). Helping adolescents with career development: The active role of
parents. The Career Development Quarterly, 42, 195-203.
Young, R. A., & Friesen, J. D. (1992). The intentions of parents in influencing the career
development of their children. The Career Development Quarterly, 40, 198-207