Post 2

I really enjoyed the group discussions in class last week, both in our small group and with the class at large. I appreciate the varied backgrounds and ideas we bring to this course.

Theory…ugh…totally essential and certainly helpful but reading it and digesting it is a bit of a slog. As we began to hear about theory in career development in class, beginning with Frank Parsons in 1909, I kept thinking – how much have we evolved and is this new modern, digital era with our “flattened” global market topography? Are we so different than 1909? Are our social needs and wants, or our individual and collective psychology much different? After all every generation thinks they live in the most modern and complex time. I have been working on my genogram and I think that project is contributing to my mental digressions. My maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Sicily and Northern Italy. I can immediately see in the genogram something that I already know – how deeply their values impacted career within the generations.  Each generation was expected to complete more education than the previous and obtain careers in increasingly prestigious and financially lucrative fields. I am sure I will talk about this more in my paper, so I won’t get into it too much here – but the women in the family go from homemakers to teachers to college professors. Another interesting thing is how readily I can see the change in the larger culture through time – from agricultural to industrial to service/technology based. I keep thinking that a dynamic theory that accounts for interaction between the person and the environment seems more complete. I also think there are many layers to both the “person” and the “environment”.

In our text, so far I am most drawn to the Values Based Theories. I agree with the point Brown (2012) makes about how cultural and contextual values interact and are not separate from one another. I appreciated Gottfredson’s theory the most. I think that many of our experiences through various phases of our lives are important. I agreed that the career development process begins in childhood (Brown, 2012). It is a fit for me. I don’t remember a great deal of things from childhood, but I do remember my mother being angry when I said I wanted to be a nurse not a doctor. She was angry because my reasoning was that I was a female so naturally I should be a nurse. I grew up in the 70’s – a decade that likes to think it was progressive – but society still sent messages about what little’s girls should do versus little boys (and things haven't changed too terribly much today). I also agree that career aspirations are attempts to implement one’s self-concept (Brown, 2012).  I definitely think of myself as caring, kind, helpful, (all very stereotypically female…I digress) and social – I can utilize all of that as a counselor. On a sidebar- I have had to acquire a skill for challenging thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and other people to be effective in my job. Somewhere along the way I got the idea that challenging ideas/people is not a “nice girl” thing to do. So I am grateful to this career for helping me with that (the career impacts the individual). As far as career satisfaction… I just am not sure where I am at with that. I think I have been doing this for 15 years and still feel brand new…I think there is something satisfying about that. I remember I started college because I wanted a job where I never stopped learning…mission accomplished.

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