Career Development Theories( Trait and Factors Theories)

Reported by: Iris Frani

What is career development theory?

• It is a set of concepts, propositions, and ideas that provides us with insights into what is believed to be true about the process of career development.

Trait-Oriented Theories• They are embedded in Parson’s (1909)

vocational counseling paradigm of matching individual traits with requirements of occupations.

• A key finding was potential sets of reinforces in the work environment that enhance job satisfaction.

Trait-and-Factor Theory

• Among the earliest theorists on vocational counseling, Parsons (1909) maintained that vocational guidance is accomplished:

1. studying the individual2. surveying occupations3. matching the individual with the occupation

• This theory greatly influenced the study of job descriptions and job requirements as theorists attempted to predict future job success by measuring job-related traits.

• The development of assessment instruments and the refinement of occupational information are closely associated with the trait-and-factor theory.

• Williamson was a prominent advocate of trait-and-factor counseling. Williamson’s counseling procedures maintained the early impetus of the trait and factor approach that evolved from Parsons’s work.

• This straightforward approach to counseling contained six sequential steps:

1. Analysis2. Synthesis3. Diagnosis 4. Prognosis5. Counseling6. Follow-up

• The following assumptions of the trait-and-factor approach also raise concerns about this theory:

(1) There is a single career goal for everyone. (2) Career decisions are based primarily on

measured abilities (Herr, Cramer, & Niles, 2004).

Will trait-and-factor theory be revitalized for the 21st century?

• Prediger (1995) suggests that person-environment fit theory has indeed enhanced the potential for a closer relationship between assessment and career counseling; assessment information can provide the basis for developing career possibilities into realities.

Person-Environment-Correspondence (PEC) Counseling

• it was referred to as the theory of work adjustment (TWA). In 1991, it was revised once again to include descriptions of the differences between personality structure and personality style and between personality style and adjustment style.

• According to Dawis and Lofquist, individuals bring their requirements to a work environment, and the work environment makes its requirements of individuals. To survive, the individual and the work environment must achieve some degree of congruence (correspondence).

Four key points of Dawis’s and Lofquist’s theory are summarized as follows:

(1) work personality and work environment should be amenable,

(2) individual needs are most important in determining an individual’s fit into the work environment,

(3) individual needs and the reinforce system that characterizes the work setting are important aspects of stability and tenure,

(4) job placement is best accomplished through a match of worker traits with the requirements of a work environment.

John Holland’s Typology

• According to John Holland (1992), individuals are attracted to a given career because of their particular personalities and numerous variables that constitute their backgrounds.

• First, career choice is an expression of, or an extension of, personality into the world of work, followed by subsequent identification with specific occupational stereotypes.

• Congruence of one’s view of self with occupational preference establishes what Holland refers to as the modal personal style.

• If the individual has developed a strong dominant orientation, satisfaction is probable in a corresponding occupational environment. If, however, the orientation is one of indecision, the likelihood of satisfaction diminishes.

• The key concept behind Holland’s environmental models and environmental influences is that individuals are attracted to a particular role demand of an occupational environment that meets their personal needs and provides them with satisfaction.

• Holland proposed that personality types can be arranged in a coded system following his modal-personal-orientation themes such as:

• R (realistic occupation)• I (investigative)• A (artistic)• S (social)• E (enterprising)• C (conventional)

Holland’s hexagonal model

Holland’s hexagonal model introduces five key concepts.

1. Consistency, relates to personality as well as to environment.

2. Differentiation. Individuals who fit a pure personality type will express little resemblance to other types.

3. Identity, describes those individuals who have a clear and stable picture of their goals.

4. Congruence, occurs when an individual’s personality type matches the environment.

5. Calculus he proposed that the theoretical relationships between types of occupational environments lend themselves to empirical research techniques.

• In the process of career decision making, Holland postulated that the hierarchy or level of attainment in a career is determined primarily by individual self evaluations.

• According to Holland, the stability of career choice depends primarily on the dominance of personal orientation.

• Holland’s theory is primarily descriptive, with little emphasis on explaining the causes and the timing of the development of hierarchies of the personal modal styles. He concentrated on the factors that influence career choice rather than on the developmental process that leads to career choice.

• The RIASEC model has been tested with a wide range of ethnically diverse individuals, including those from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and with international groups.

• Holland’s theory emphasizes the accuracy of self-knowledge and the career information necessary for career decision making.

What Counselor’s should do?

• Counselors have to assess the client’s ability to perform work related tasks.

• Counselors have to assess the overall job satisfaction.

• Counselors have to be aware of how stable or permanent a job will be.

• Be able to learn a client’s needs and values and factor that in to how well they will adjust to work.

Implication for Counselors

• Relies too heavily on assessments and test results.

• Static• Too simple• Career goals primarily based on abilities• Counselors own values and judgments toward

different careers

References:• Zunker, V. G, Career counseling: A Hollistic Approach• http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/208/2

13944/trait.pdf.

• https://prezi.com/5xg9iyvv9bk4/traitfactor-theory/