Developing Self in Work and Career Concepts, Cases, and Contexts

Human beings possess the unique psychological ability to self-reflect. Few human experiences and behaviors define the self and allow us to characterize ourselves within the social world more than work and career. The pressing economic and social conditions of the information and globalization age require workers to be more self-directed by managing their own work lives, rather than solely relying on organizations to support them. Given these shifting occupational structures, it is time to reassess the long-standing emphasis on fitting workers to jobs and move toward empowering them to adapt to change. In this volume, leading scholars and practitioners examine the construct of self through vocational psychology and career development topics centered on theory, assessment, and intervention. Chapters in Part I consider predominant theoretical models of career choice and development, such as person-environment fit, developmental, sociocognitive-behavioral, and constructionist perspectives. In Part II, contributors offer counseling methods rooted in these theoretical models and in contemporary industrial and organizational psychology to foster self-construction through work and career. In the final part, authors examine contextual dimensions of gender, culture, and socioeconomic class to investigate how self is constructed in relation to our social world. By exploring theories of career choice and development and their related counseling practices, practitioners can more effectively meet the needs of a rapidly changing global workforce.