Blog 2

The Use of Genograms and Theories of Career Choice:

I found the genogram article to be extremely interesting.  I strongly agree with much of what was stated in the article.  I was able to better understand the reasoning behind creating a personal genogram, and how it relates to career choice and development.  “The conceptual foundation of the comprehensive developmental guidance program is life career development, which is defined as “self-development over a person’s life span through the integration of the roles, settings, and events in a person’s life.” (Gibson 2005).  I thought this was a great way to summarize how we look at career development over an entire life span and not just at a specific point in time.     

            From reading this article, I noticed that at a young age, gaining what is called career awareness could be a very useful tool towards eliminating the stress and build-up of the overwhelming career decisions that need to be made later on in life.  The language Gibson uses in this article feels very welcoming and productive for individuals at all ages.  “Tools such as family trees and genograms help provide children with a nonthreatening method of assessing and discussing the career patterns” (Gibson 2005).  I like the use of the word nonthreatening here because choosing a career is extremely overwhelming and at times threatening to an individual’s sense of well-being. 

            One piece in the article, which I found particularly interesting, was how research showed that children may often identify more with their mother’s occupation as opposed to their father’s, meaning that early ambitions might play a large role in a future career path.  My personal career choice definitely is more similar to my mother’s occupation, rather than my father’s.  I remember wanting to be an accountant like my father as I grew older, but obviously that has changed dramatically.  This whole article seems to stress the relevance of getting to an individual as early as possible when it comes to deciding a career path.  I always think about how people constantly tell you, “It’s never too late to change (your career path).”  This article points out that it might not be necessary to have to change if it is considered at a much earlier age.  Overall, this article has made me much more enthusiastic about creating my own genogram to see where I fall now. 

            I equally enjoyed reading the chapter in our textbook.  One of the points I picked out from the chapter is how, “Many have argued that current theories have limited applicability to minority groups, sexual orientation, and women” (Brown 2012).  I find this intriguing because much of the world and workplaces today are so diverse, which leads me to question whether any of these theories can be considered accurate.  Later in the chapter, the section on values helps support my claim, that different cultural groups hold many different values.  According to this theory, “Cultural and work values are the primary variables that influence the occupational choice-making process, the occupation chosen, and the satisfaction” (Brown 2012).  In my opinion, I think this theory plays one of the larger roles in an individual’s decision-making process for a career. 

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Gibson, D.M. (2005). The use of genograms in career counseling with elementary, middle, and high school students. The Career Development Quarterly, 53(4), 353-361.