As you come into the campus cafeteria, you join your friends who are discussing how people make occupational choices. One friend believes that we choose our careers based on the importance we place on various work rewards, a second says we are pushed into our jobs through the social influence of parents and peers, and a third says there are much more potent forces in the broader social environment that affect where we end up occupationally. They ask you what you think. How do you respond?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

In response to your first friend, recent researchers have examined the role of work values in the process of career selection. However, we are not usually able to satisfy all of our work values and must settle for those that are achievable and that matter most to us. It often happens that we wind up in a job for which we initially feel we are not suited, but over time, as we grow and change, what seemed a "bad match" becomes a good match. In response to your second friend, since socioeconomic status is the strongest factor influencing occupational choice, our families influence us in that regard as well as by directing our education, achievement motivation, resources, and values, as well as through role modeling. However, your third friend is correct to consider the profound influence of the broader social context that affects our perceptions of labor market demands and our perceptions of the acceptability of jobs based on social status, ethnicity, and gender. You note that it is a combination of all three of these forces interacting together, and that career counselors-particularly in high schools-need to help individuals get accurate information about future labor market needs, pursue positions that will be consistent with personal and social ideals, and help adolescents make more informed and realistic career choices, free from stereotypes that might constrain their choices.

Key Points:

a) Some theorists look at the sorts of rewards individuals seek from their jobs.

b) Other theorists consider the influences of families and, particularly, resources and opportunities available as a result of a family's socioeconomic status.

c) The broad social context in which a person lives profoundly influences career options by offering expanded or limited opportunities through social forces as well as internalized belief systems.

d) Career education must help adolescents make informed and realistic choices by providing accurate information without the constraints of stereotypes.