6. An overview of career theory Flashcards
(3 cards)
splain trait theory and its advantages and disadvantages
It aims to match or fit individuals to suitable jobs and work environments.
Parson’s Trait-Factor theory involves three steps:
Understanding the individual’s traits (e.g., attitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resource limitations).
Analyzing the factors of the job and work environment (e.g., job requirements, conditions for success, compensation, opportunities, prospects).
Comparing the individual’s traits with the work; a greater overlap suggests a better fit.
This approach heavily relies on psychometric testing.
Critique of Trait Theories :
Strengths:
Provided a foundation for many modern career development theories (like Holland’s) by identifying core content areas. The theory was also developed to facilitate social change and justice, making it relevant to South African issues like unemployment and economic recession.
Weaknesses:
Considered a narrow approach. It is largely atheoretical (lacking a deep explanatory basis). Its assumptions about psychometric testing and the nature of careers are questioned.
Work adjustmnet thoery big boyy
Emphasizes the need for “correspondence” (fit) between people and their work environments.
Both individuals and workplaces have various needs, and adjustments are required from both sides to meet these needs (this is “work adjustment”).
An employee is considered satisfactory when their abilities and performance meet the job’s demands.
An employee is considered satisfied when their needs and values are reinforced by the organization.
Reinforcers can include factors like supportive co-workers, opportunities for achievement and advancement, authority, job security, social status, and variety in work.
The theory includes the concepts of a trade-off between the person and the environment, and an individual’s “adjustment style”.
Adjustment is viewed as a necessary process throughout life due to life stages and changes in organizations.
that bra with the narrative approach to dap up distance
Mkhize’s (2005) article argues that traditional, often more quantitative and “matching” approaches to career counselling are “inadequate by postmodern developments”. The “postmodern condition is characterised by flux, unpredictability, uncertainty, and the social dislocation of the self,” meaning careers are less stable and individuals’ sense of self is more fluid, requiring approaches that can capture this complexity.
