The Oxford Handbook of Career Development Peter J Robertson Full Chapter

The Oxford Handbook of Career
Development Peter J. Robertson

Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-career-development-peter-j-r
obertson/
The Oxford Handbook of
Career Development
OX F O R D L I B R A RY O F P S YC H O LO G Y
AREA EDITORS:
Clinical Psychology
David H. Barlow
Cognitive Neuroscience
Kevin N. Ochsner and Stephen M. Kosslyn
Cognitive Psychology
Daniel Reisberg
Counseling Psychology
Elizabeth M. Altmaier and Jo-Ida C. Hansen
Developmental Psychology
Philip David Zelazo
Health Psychology
Howard S. Friedman
History of Psychology
David B. Baker
Methods and Measurement
Todd D. Little
Neuropsychology
Kenneth M. Adams
Organizational Psychology
Steve W. J. Kozlowski
Personality and Social Psychology
Kay Deaux and Mark Snyder
OX F O R D L I B R A RY O F P S YC H O LO G Y
The Oxford Handbook

of Career Development
Edited by
Peter J. Robertson
Tristram Hooley
Phil McCash
1
2021
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form

and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Robertson, Peter J. (Career adviser), editor. | Hooley, Tristram,
editor. | McCash, Phil, editor.
Title: The Oxford handbook of career development /
edited by Peter J. Robertson, Tristram Hooley, Phil McCash.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000116 (print) | LCCN 2021000117 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190069704 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190069735 (ebook other) |
ISBN 9780190069728 (epub) | ISBN 9780190069711 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Career development.
Classification: LCC HF5381 .O96 2021 (print) | LCC HF5381 (ebook) |
DDC 331.702—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000116
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000117
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America.
S H O RT CO N T E N T S
About the Editors vii
Contributors ix
Table of Contents xi
Chapters 1–370
Name Index 371
Subject Index 381

A B O U T T H E E D I TO R S
Peter J. Robertson is a qualified career adviser and a chartered psychologist. He

teaches career theory and policy to postgraduate students at Edinburgh Napier
University, and he is a Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education
and Counselling (NICEC) and an editor of the Institute’s Journal. His research
interests focus around the links between careers, health, and well-being; and
employment support services for disadvantaged groups.
Tristram Hooley is a researcher and writer specializing in career and career

guidance. He has published nine books and numerous articles and reports. He
is Professor of Career Education at the University of Derby, Professor II at the
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and Chief Research Officer at the
Institute of Student Employers. His work is focused on the inter-relationships
between career, politics, technology, and social justice.
Phil McCash is a qualified career development practitioner with experience of

working with young people and adults in a variety of contexts and settings. He
was elected a Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and
Counselling (NICEC) in 2008 and edits the NICEC journal. He currently
works as an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick’s Centre for
Lifelong Learning where he is Course Director for the Master’s in Career
Education, Information, and Guidance in Higher Education and Director of
Graduate Studies.
CO N T R I B U TO R S
Sajma Aravind Maria Eduarda Duarte

The Promise Foundation University of Lisbon
Bangalore, India Lisbon, Portugal
Gideon Arulmani Whitney Erby
The Promise Foundation Boston College
Bangalore, India Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
Anthony Barnes John Gough
National Institute for Career University of Warwick
Education and Counselling Coventry, UK
England, UK Hugh Gunz
Barbara Bassot University of Toronto
Canterbury Christ Church University Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canterbury, UK Ellen R. Gutowski
Jenny Bimrose Boston College
University of Warwick Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
Coventry, UK Sara Hammer
David L. Blustein University of Southern Queensland
Boston College Toowoomba, Queensland,
Chestnut Hill, MA, USA Australia
Tibor Bors Borbély-Pecze Michael Healy
John Wesley Theological College University of Southern Queensland
Budapest, Hungary Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Jason Brown Tristram Hooley
University of Southern Queensland University of Derby
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia Derby, UK
Paulo Miguel Cardoso Barrie A. Irving
University of Évora Edinburgh Napier University
Évora, Portugal Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Vanessa Dodd Elnaz Kashefpakdel
Nottingham Trent University Education and Employers
Nottingham, UK London, UK
Maureen E. Kenny Marcelo Afonso Ribeiro
Boston College University of São Paulo
Chestnut Hill, MA, USA São Paulo, Brazil
Sachin Kumar Peter J. Robertson
Government College of Teacher Edinburgh Napier University
Education Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Dharamshala, India Jérôme Rossier
Kate Mackenzie Davey University of Lausanne
Birkbeck College, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
London Sunita Shrestha
London, UK Antarang Psychosocial Research and
Wolfgang Mayrhofer Training Institute
Vienna University of Economics and Kathmandu, Nepal
Business Tom Staunton
Vienna, Austria University of Derby
John McCarthy Derby, UK
International Centre for Career Graham B. Stead
Development and Public Policy Cleveland State University
France Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Phil McCash Ronald G. Sultana
University of Warwick University of Malta
Coventry, UK Msida, Malta
Peter McIlveen Maribon Viray
University of Southern Queensland Martin Luther Christian
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia University
Siobhan Neary Meghalaya, India
University of Derby Tony Watts
Derby, UK National Institute for
Christian Percy Career Education and
University of Derby Counselling,
Derby, UK England, UK
Harsha N. Perera Susan C. Whiston
University of Nevada Indiana University
Las Vegas, USA Indiana, USA
Ashley E. Poklar Julia Yates
Cleveland State University City, University of London
Cleveland, Ohio, USA London, UK
x Contributors
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Preface xiii
Tony Watts
1. Introduction: Rethinking Career Development 1

Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, and Peter J. Robertson
Section 1 • Contexts
2. The Decline of Decent Work in the Twenty-First Century:
Implications for Career Development 23
Ellen R. Gutowski, David L. Blustein, Maureen E. Kenny, and
Whitney Erby
3. The Economic Outcomes of Career Development Programmes 35
Christian Percy and Vanessa Dodd
4. Career Development and Human Capital Theory: Preaching the
“Education Gospel” 49
Tristram Hooley
5. Linking Educators and Employers: Taxonomies, Rationales, and
Barriers 65
Christian Percy and Elnaz Kashefpakdel
6. Authentic Education for Meaningful Work: Beyond “Career
Management Skills” 79
Ronald G. Sultana
7. Career Guidance: Living on the Edge of Public Policy 95
John McCarthy and Tibor Bors Borbély-Pecze
8. The Aims of Career Development Policy: Towards a Comprehensive
Framework 113
Peter J. Robertson
Section 2 • Theory
9. Career Development Theory: An Integrated Analysis 131
Julia Yates
10. Organizational Career Development Theory: Weaving Individuals, Organizations,
and Social Structures 143
Kate Mackenzie Davey
11. Organisational and Managerial Careers: A Coevolutionary View 155
Hugh Gunz and Wolfgang Mayrhofer
12. The Narrative Turn in Career Development Theories: An Integrative Perspective 169
Jérôme Rossier, Paulo Miguel Cardoso, and Maria Eduarda Duarte
13. The Positioning of Social Justice: Critical Challenges for Career Development 181
Barrie A. Irving
14. Cultural Learning Theory and Career Development 193
Phil McCash
15. The Cultural Preparedness Perspective of Career Development 213
Gideon Arulmani, Sachin Kumar, Sunita Shrestha, Maribon Viray, and
Sajma Aravind
16. Career Development Theories from the Global South 225
Marcelo Afonso Ribeiro
17. Cross-Cultural Career Psychology from a Critical Psychology Perspective 239
Graham B. Stead and Ashley E. Poklar
Section 3 • Practice
18. The Career Development Profession: Professionalisation, Professionalism, and
Professional Identity 257
John Gough and Siobhan Neary
19. Transformative Career Education in Schools and Colleges 269
Anthony Barnes
20. Labour Market Information for Career Development: Pivotal or Peripheral? 283
Jenny Bimrose
21. The Role of Digital Technology in Career Development 297
Tristram Hooley and Tom Staunton
22. Career Assessment 313
Peter McIlveen, Harsha N. Perera, Jason Brown, Michael Healy, and Sara Hammer
23. Client-Centred Career Development Practice: A Critical Review 325
Barbara Bassot
24. Career Counselling Effectiveness and Contributing Factors 337
Susan C. Whiston
25. Evidence-Based Practice for Career Development 353
Peter J. Robertson
Name Index 371

Subject Index 381
xii Table of Contents

PREFACE
Tony Watts, Founder and Life Fellow, National Institute for Career Education and
Counselling, UK.
Career development matters. It matters to individuals, because it significantly determines

their sense of identity, the fulfilment and wellbeing they derive from their learning and
work, and the contributions they make to the societies of which they are part. It matters
to learning and work organisations, because it significantly determines the extent to which
they harness and foster the talents and motivations of their students and workers. It mat-
ters to societies, because it significantly determines the extent to which they optimise the
human resources of their citizens and their sense of social justice.
Career development is complex. It operates at the interface between individuals and social
structures. It is concerned with transitions between learning and work, and across organisa-
tional boundaries. For these reasons, it is at risk of marginalisation. Yet it is precisely for these
same reasons that it is such a crucial lubricant of social structures and of people’s lives.
It was these considerations that inspired me and my NICEC colleagues to write Rethinking
Careers Education and Guidance: Theory, Policy and Practice, published in 1996. The five of
us had worked closely together for several years, and so were able to produce a book in
which our individual voices were audible but within a strong common framework. Parts
of the 1996 book are still of value, but much is out-of-date. Moreover, it was clearly fo-
cused on the UK, which was a strength in terms of its coherence, but a limitation in terms
of its scope and impact.
This is why I warmly welcome this new book. It draws together many threads from recent
research, which have greatly deepened our understanding of what career development
comprises and how it works. It also has several advantages over the 1996 volume: it is more
strongly inter-disciplinary, draws from a wider range of cultural perspectives, and is more
socially critical.
For all these reasons, I strongly recommend this book to all who recognise how important
career development is, and who want to enhance their understanding of it and engage
more effectively with it, whether as practitioners, as policy-makers or as researchers.
Introduction: Rethinking Career
C H A PT E R
1 Development
Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, and Peter J. Robertson
Abstract
This chapter introduces readers to The Oxford Handbook of Career Development and
to the field of career development. The origins of the field are discussed in relation to
vocational guidance, differential psychology, interactionist sociology, and life course devel-
opment. The selection of the term career development for this volume is explained with
regard to three interlocking themes: the broader contexts of career development, including
government policy; the wide range of theory concerned with career-related experiences,
phenomena, and behaviour; and the broad spectrum of career helping practices, including
one-to-one work and group work. The inspiration and aims for the volume are set out,
and the challenges associated with terminology in the field are acknowledged. The editors
seek to provide a state-of-the-art reference point for the field of career development, and
engender a transdisciplinary and international dialogue that explores key current ideas,
debates, and controversies. The volume is divided into three sections. The first explores
the economic, educational, and public policy contexts for practice. The second section
focuses on concepts and explores the rich theoretical landscape of the field. The third
section turns to practice, and the translation of ideas into action to support individuals and
groups with their career development.
Keywords: career, career development, career theory, transdisciplinarity, vocational

guidance
Origins of the Career Development Field

The field of career development has multiple roots. It has different origins in different na-
tions, and indeed there is a need for further exploration of its history outside the
Anglophone world and Western Europe. Its academic roots lie primarily in psychology
and sociology and in the dialogue between these disciplines. The origins of its policy and
practice lie in the drive to respond to major societal and economic challenges.
Throughout history, individuals have experienced the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of
life, supported each other through them, and reflected on this process. This process has
generally taken place within specific family, educational, religious, work, and community
contexts, and it has played a key role in the preservation and evolution of societies. For
example, the ancient universities in India provided students with guidance and pastoral
support for post-university life (Sharma & Sharma, 2004). There is also an extensive
classical literature that appears to connect with career-related themes. For example, Plato’s
Republic, a Socratic dialogue from ancient Greece, proposes a threefold division of labour
based on guardians, auxiliaries, and producers (Plato, 1974). It also contains the evocative
‘Myth of Er,’ which tells of the allocation of souls and life patterns. To take a further ex-
ample, the Tao Te Ching, an anthology of wise sayings dating from 4th century bc China,
advocates a quiet life of action through inaction, contemplation, and discernment (Lao
Tzu, 1963). There are countless other examples in ancient literature. Many of the great
religious and philosophical traditions contain teachings that address career-related topics,
such as right living, service, and calling.
In addition, there are novels, plays, poems, and art with rich connected themes. For
example, the novels of Miguel de Cervantes, George Eliot, Leo Tolstoy, and Henry James
are saturated with career-relevant topics, such as situation, relations, vocation, culture,
social impact, and the passage of time. And, as Sultana (2014) pointed out, the limitations
and possibilities of career development were exercising the young Karl Marx in his 1835
essay ‘Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession’.
Whilst such cultural practices and written texts brim with what we can now see as rich
career-related themes, it would be anachronistic to claim them for the field of career
development. It is in the context of changing societal beliefs and practices taking place in
the last 150 years that the modern, formal evolution of the career development field can
be traced in detail. In this section, we identify four important early strands to that
process: vocational guidance, differential psychology, interactionist sociology, and life
course development.
Vocational Guidance
The origins of the vocational guidance movement can be found in the late 19th century
and early years of the 20th century. Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, and the emer-
gence of state education systems presented formidable social challenges. Occupational
choice had become more complex, and the transition from school to employment raised
novel problems. Individuals had to navigate the new forms of social organisation that
emerged around the growing industries and cities. Modernity had also questioned the
formerly comforting religious, political, and psychological verities of earlier times.
Vocational guidance emerged from the pragmatic and intellectual responses to these chal-
lenges. Its pioneers were social reformers and innovators.
In the United States, Frank Parsons started a vocational guidance centre in Boston and
wrote a landmark text on the topic: Choosing a Vocation (Parsons, 1909). The book
advocated a threefold matching process of occupational choice: understanding yourself,
understanding the requirements of different lines of work, and ‘true reasoning’ on the re-
lationship between them. The influence of this text on the vocational guidance movement
in America is well documented (Savickas, 2009). It is evident that Parsons’ work was
motivated by a passion for social activism on behalf of disadvantaged groups (Mann, 1950;
2 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

O’Brien, 2001). Many of Parsons’ concerns, such as the assessment of individuals, use of
occupational information, and the promotion of social justice, continue to be central
themes in current writing and practice in the field. For some, the role of Parsons as the
‘father of vocational guidance’ represents a satisfactory origin myth. The story is, of course,
more complicated, and the vocational guidance movement has multiple origins, with
independent contemporaneous roots in different countries.
Some of the earliest attempts at public policymaking in vocational guidance were made
in the United Kingdom. In 1904, Maria Ogilvie Gordon made a proposal for local educa-
tion authorities and school boards across Britain to set up Educational Information
and Employment Bureaux to support school leavers in finding suitable work
(Heginbotham, 1951). She published A Handbook of Employments Specially Prepared for
the Use of Boys and Girls on Entering the Trades, Industries, and Professions (Ogilvie
Gordon, 1908). Around this time the U.K. government created a public employment
service, bringing job seekers and employers together, but its network of ‘labour exchanges’
failed to adequately meet the needs of young people. So subsequent legislation, notably
The Education (Choice of Employment) Act (1910), sought to implement Ogilvie
Gordon’s vision. This began a long dialogue between employment and educational policy
and the involvement of both national and local government in providing specialist
employment support services for youth. In time, career services would emerge from these
roots with a distinct and separate identity from the public employment service.
Worldwide developments are less well documented in the English-language literature
but are equally important to acknowledge. These developments took place largely inde-
pendently and can be illustrated with the following examples. In Norway, vocational guid-
ance bureaus were opened in 1897 (Kjærgård, 2020). In Austria, over 30 child guidance
clinics were established between 1898 and 1934; they drew from the psychoanalytic theo-
ries of Alfred Adler (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). In Germany, a vocational counselling
department was opened in 1908, making support for information seekers available to
schools (Savickas, 2008). In India, the first vocational guidance laboratory was opened in
1915 at the University of Calcutta (Sharma & Sharma, 2004). Finally, vocational guidance
functions were also introduced in Japan between 1910 and 1915 (Watanabe & Herr, 1983).
Differential Psychology
The growing influence of differential psychology provided a scientific perspective on voca-
tional guidance. The technology of psychometrics emerged from intelligence testing by
educational psychologists, and it was underpinned by developments in statistics.
Psychometricians applied their methods to questions of occupational choice at an early
stage. There were pioneers of this scientific rationalist approach to vocational guidance in
the United Kingdom (notably Burt, 1924), where the creation of the National Institute
for Industrial Psychology by C. S. Myers in 1921 became a focus for the work (Peck, 2004).
In the United States, the scientific approach combined with and complemented Parsons’
Introduction: Rethinking career development 3

approach. At Harvard, the German applied psychologist Hugo Münsterberg addressed
issues of occupational choice, and in 1910 he developed an early theory of vocation that
incorporated thought, feeling, and behaviour (Porfeli, 2009). The technology of psycho-
metrics was further developed through its use in military recruitment during World War I
(and later during World War II). In addition, the University of Minnesota engaged
in large-scale testing and placement of jobseekers in the 1920s and 1930s, using tests of
arithmetic, practical judgement, dexterity, and vocational interests (Moore, Gunz, &
Hall, 2008).
Interactionist Sociology
Arguably, the formal study of career began in earnest in the 1920s and 1930s in the pio-
neering Sociology Department at the University of Chicago. Clifford Shaw’s The Jack-
Roller: A Delinquent Boy’s Own Story (1930/1966) and The Natural History of a Delinquent
Career (1931) were perhaps the first academic texts to use the term career in an organised
and intentional way. Shaw expanded the popular meaning of career, as a middle-class job,
to include the nonwork roles of individuals at the margins of straight society. Shaw fo-
cused not on paid, middle-class work but on the social phenomenon of what was then
called delinquency. His research also featured the rich and extensive use of life history.
This enabled the unfolding process of career to be seen through the interpretive lens of the
occupant.
Furthermore, Everett C. Hughes, in two articles entitled Personality Types and the
Division of Labour (Hughes, 1928) and Institutional Office and the Person (Hughes, 1937),
developed the first explicit career theory, that is, a conceptual grammar for the critical in-
terpretation of career development. This technical vocabulary included collective life, cul-
ture, ecology, group, interaction, contingencies, call/mission, patterns, roles, meaning,
rituals, offices, stages, status, and forms. In the latter article, Hughes (1937, pp. 64–67)
provided one of the first systematic definitions of career, asserting that career is made up
of the work and nonwork activities (‘vocations’ and ‘avocations’) of both men and women
of all social classes. He referred to career as the ‘the moving perspective’ in which persons
orient themselves with reference to other people, institutional forms, and social structures
and interpret the meaning of their lives. He further argued that the study of career could
help with understanding the nature and ‘working constitution’ of society.
Shaw and Hughes were influenced by their fellow Chicago sociologists Robert Park,
Ernest Burgess, George Herbert Mead, and Herbert Blumer (Blumer, 1969; Mead,
1934/1967; Park, 1915; Park & Burgess, 1921; see also Barley, 1989). They also drew
(particularly via Park) on the interpretivist approach of the German sociologist Georg
Simmel, whose influence can be seen in their view of career as a continual process of social
interaction involving themes of otherness and marginality, and in their use of career theory
to construct an interpretive grammar of social life. They also gained from the work of
scholars linked to the School of Social Service Administration at the university, such as

Jane Addams, Florence Kelly, and Edith Abbott, who were pioneers in social work,
methodology, knowledge of the city, and the integration of theory and practice (Shaw,
2010). Their influence can be detected in Shaw’s and Hughes’ use of the case history,
concern for social welfare, and contact with people at the margins of society.
The significance of Shaw’s and Hughes’ work for the career development field is three-
fold. First, career was reimagined in egalitarian terms as the moving perspective through
which all individuals interpret the meaning of their lives. Second, the scope of career was
extended from microsociology to the constitution of society, thereby considerably expand-
ing its organisational and political reach. Third, another wave of Chicago scholars built on
their work and mobilised career as a key interactionist term that crossed conventional
boundaries of subjective/objective, individual/society, private/public, success/failure,
work/nonwork, and familiar/strange (see Becker, 1966; Goffman, 1961/1968). The in-
novative scholarship of ‘Chicago School Sociology’ has occasionally suffered from neglect
but is now acknowledged as one of the central traditions within career theory (see
Barley, 1989; Gunz & Mayrhofer, 2018; Hodkinson, 2009; Law, 2009; McCash, 2018;
Moore et al., 2008; Roberts, 1980; Savickas, 1996; Super, 1980).
Life Course Development

The study of the life course has preoccupied philosophers, playwrights, and artists since
earliest times. It first became formalised by psychologists and sociologists in the early part
of the 20th century. This section focuses on four contributions of particular relevance to
the origins of the career development field. The first relates to the German psychologist
Charlotte Bühler, who pioneered a whole-of-life approach to psychology in reaction to
what she saw as the reductive approaches then prevalent in psychology. In an article enti-
tled ‘The Curve of Life as Studied in Biographies’, Bühler (1935) systematically analysed
hundreds of biographies featuring a wide range of individuals from business owners to
factory workers. She postulated different stages in the life span, from an expansionist
preparation phase, to a stable specification phase, a results-testing phase, and finally, a re-
linquishing phase where activities and positions were given up. She saw career in holistic,
life-span terms and argued that these ideas could enhance the support of career develop-
ment. The second example relates to one of the first career pattern studies. In Occupational
Mobility in an American Community, the sociologists Percy E. Davidson and H. Dewey
Anderson (1937) reported on a study of people living in San Jose, California. They devel-
oped a visual and theoretical representation of career patterns as contrasting patterns of
participation in family, education, and work—, that is, temporal pathways through family
environment, elementary school, senior school, college, first job, and more regular job.
Third, in their book Industrial Sociology, Delbert Miller and William Form (1951) devel-
oped a more extensive approach to career patterns. They identified alternating phases of
trial and stability, as well as four main types of career pattern: stable, conventional,
unstable, and multiple trial. Finally, all the above mentioned psychological and sociological

approaches were synthesised by the social psychologist Donald Super, who designed a
further, even larger, career pattern study. He developed the first comprehensive theory of
career development and linked it to the practice of vocational guidance (Super, 1954, 1957).
The significance of these studies lies in their emphasis on the temporal, lifelong nature
of career development. They distinguished between the experience of multiple individual
jobs versus an overall career. This career was interpreted in relation to contrasting patterns
of family experiences, educational participation, and job roles. These studies broadened
the scope of vocational guidance practice from matching clients with jobs, to helping cli-
ents learn to prepare for, and engage with, an overall career consisting of multiple roles,
situations, experiences, and life themes.
Summary
This brief review of the literature locates the origins of the career development field in four
contrasting strands: vocational guidance, differential psychology, interactionist sociology,
and life course development. Understandably, perhaps, some of the literature in the field
focuses on only one strand, or even one element thereof, and this has led to questions
about whether it really is a field at all. The extent of fragmentation and isolation can, how-
ever, be overstated. There are a number of important integrative texts dating from both the
early era (see Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1951; Super, 1957) and the con-
temporary era (see Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989; Gunz & Mayrhofer, 2018; Patton &
McMahon, 1998) that seek to synthesise the various strands in the field. This volume is
intended as a further contribution to that process of integration.
What Is Career Development?

In this volume, the term career development is used as a key organising concept. This ter-
minology, like all terminology, is imperfect and requires further discussion and explana-
tion. Career development is seen as a transdisciplinary field that draws originally from the
disciplines of sociology and psychology. It has developed significant links with education
and organisational studies, and it also connects with aspects of economics, literary studies,
cultural studies, history, geography, philosophy, and a number of other disciplines. Strictly
speaking, career development is neither a discipline in its own right nor a subsection of
another discipline. Rather, it is a transdisciplinary field within which a range of different
traditions, topics, theories, epistemologies, and ontologies intersect. In different countries,
different disciplines and traditions hold sway. One of the aims of this volume is to increase
the amount of transdisciplinary dialogue and to bring the varied discussions within the
field together.
The term career development has been selected because it allows for discussion of three
interlocking themes: the wider contexts of career development, including government
policy; the wide range of theory concerned with career-related experiences, phenomena,
and behaviour; and the broad spectrum of career helping practices, including one-to-one

work and group work. In this section, the field is briefly discussed in relation to those three
themes: contexts, theory, and practice.
Contexts
Career development is seen in context rather than viewed in individualistic terms. All
individuals are regarded as part of an extensive career development system. This wider
context includes geography, political decisions, labour markets, socioeconomic status,
education, and the media. For example, career is not just about choosing what we want
from an unlimited occupational and lifestyle menu. Our careers are also shaped by the
place and communities in which we live. Geographical and family ties define the opportu-
nities that are open to us, and influence our behaviours and expectations. We make career
decisions, but we do not make them entirely within circumstances of our own choosing.
Opportunity structures are shaped by the political economy. Career development is not just
an individual series of choices, it is where the individual interacts with society. It is where
our psychology intertwines with the social, and it relates to how we interact with social
institutions, such as the education system, businesses, organisations, and the state.
Career Development Theory

Career development theory attempts to interpret the wide range of career-related experi-
ences, phenomena, and behaviours, including negative experiences, such as bullying, pre-
carity, or racism. It also relates to positive experiences, such as helping others, receiving
respect, and personal achievements. Career theory seeks to link the wider context with the
felt experience of career development. While the word development may have a problem-
atically normative association with improvement and enhancement, it can also mean, as
in photography, to emerge or to come into being. So, while individuals do not necessarily
see their careers steadily and progressively improving, they do undoubtedly see them
developing in the sense of emerging and coming into being. Not everyone encounters the
same experiences or moves through stages in the same order, but we are born and ulti-
mately die, and, in between, most of us will grow up and grow older, experience setbacks,
and find new opportunities.
Our careers are the pathway that we take through life; therefore, the concept of time is
critical to career. Our careers operate on at least two temporal dimensions. We have career
choices to make every day. Should I stay at the office later or go home to my family?
Should I finish my coursework or go to the pub? Should I stay in bed or get up and go to
work? These are all cross-sectional career decisions, where we play off one activity against
another. But, the concept of career also adds in another set of decisions: in addition to
cross-sectional decisions, we have longitudinal career decisions to make. Working harder
now might open more opportunities in the future. On the other hand, suspending our
capacity to earn, whilst studying may ultimately increase our long-term earning power and
capacity to control our lives. Enacting our career is a conversation between the present and

the future, and our pasts frame the way in which this conversation can happen. In this
volume, we discuss a wide range of career development theories reflecting the contrasting
traditions within the literature. We also ask authors to integrate existing ideas into new
approaches that help advance the field.
Practice
Purposeful helping interventions, including one-to-one work and group work, form a rich
and important literature in the career development field. In other texts, such interventions
are variously described as career counselling, career coaching, and career guidance.
However, throughout most of this book, we avoid using this terminology because it is
sometimes associated with one-to-one interventions, rather than work with groups. We
use terms like career development services to encompass work with individuals and groups.
This wrangling with nomenclature raises a wider issue for anyone seeking to access career
development support. Citizens seeking help with their career will encounter a bewildering
array of terms, such as career counsellor, career coach, career adviser, career guidance ad-
viser, career teacher, career development professional, guidance worker, counsellor, coach,
life coach, work coach, psychologist, and so on. One report, drawing on U.K. job specifi-
cations, found more than a 100 job titles in use for career development workers (Neary,
Marriott, & Hooley, 2014). This complexity is further increased by the fact that career
development services are also provided by individuals in a wide range of additional occu-
pations, including managers, trainers, learning and development professionals, teachers,
and lecturers, to name but a few. In addition, career development support is provided on
an informal basis as part of ordinary life. Because career is so central to all our lives, we
inevitably speak to our friends, family, colleagues, and passing acquaintances about it, and
they, despite their ‘lack’ of professional qualification or formal role, offer us information,
advice, and ideas that form a kind of career development help.
In this volume, we have encouraged using terminology as inclusively as possible in the
hope that each chapter speaks to any individual engaged in career development support,
regardless of their job title or role. As indicated, the contributors to this volume have been
encouraged to use terms like career development support and career development service(s)
when referring to purposeful helping interventions. In some cases, contributors have
opted to use alternative terms (for example, career enactment, career counselling, career guid-
ance, or career education); in these cases, they have been encouraged to explain their termi-
nology and to reflect on why their terminology is appropriate.
Why We Created This Handbook

Career is not a single moment of decision when we choose one job over another. It is
deeply woven into the ongoing fabric of our lives. Our careers are conducted continuously,
and they develop in social and political contexts that provide contrasting opportunities
and limitations. Career is all around us and there is no escape from it, because it describes

the coming together of our life, our learning, and our work. Career is important to the
lives of individuals across the world and to the societies in which they live. As the editors
of, and contributors to, The Oxford Handbook of Career Development, we are no different.
We are researchers, writers, and thinkers who are interested in career development, and we
experience our own careers alongside the theories, research, and models found in this
book. Since everyone has a career, and it matters for both individuals and societies, it is
critical that we understand how careers work and that we consider how we can usefully
intervene. This is one reason why we are so glad to be able to present this volume.
The decision to edit this volume emerged from the belief that career development is
central to our understanding of social experience. Career acts as a framework for interpret-
ing social realities and the place of individuals within them. It also acts as a framework for
more specific action—i.e., practical interventions to help individuals. Career development
work is an active practice informed by research and scholarship. This volume therefore
aims both to deepen our understanding of career development, and to provide insights
and inspiration to drive forward career development interventions.
The volume has been conceived and put together amidst our teaching, research, confer-
ence travel, and all the other aspects of our personal and professional lives. It is therefore
related to our own personal journeys, statuses, and career aims. It is also a social act under-
taken as part of our interaction with both the learned society of which we are all fellows,
the National Institute of Career Education and Counselling (NICEC), and the wider field
of career development (see Watts, 2014, for a history of NICEC). The handbook is in-
tended as an intervention and a continuation of a bigger conversation about the past,
present, and future of career development.
In this section, we describe the inspiration for this volume in relation to existing schol-
arship. We then proceed to discuss our central underpinning assumptions in relation to
career development. These assumptions relate to inclusivity, the centrality of learning, in-
ternationalism, engagement with contemporary debates, transdisciplinarity, and pluralism.
Inspiration
The inspiration for this volume emerged out of a conference organised by NICEC in
2016. All the editors of the volume, and many of the contributors, attended the confer-
ence, where we challenged ourselves to ‘rethink career development for a globalised
world’. The conference commemorated Rethinking Careers Education and Guidance:
Theory, Policy and Practice (Watts, Law, Killeen, Kidd, & Hawthorn, 1996), which for
many of us had long served as a touchstone for the field. The current volume began as an
attempt to update Rethinking and to build on the discussions that had taken place at the
NICEC conference. But it quickly became something more, as we recognised the need to
make The Oxford Handbook of Career Development more international and more transdis-
ciplinary, as well as to recognise the multiple traditions and perspectives that now char-
acterise the field.

Rethinking was a landmark text in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, and it gave voice
to over 20 years of thinking, research, and activism that had been conducted by the
scholars involved in NICEC. It was a powerful attempt to resituate career development
work beyond the subdiscipline of counselling psychology. Rethinking drew on education,
organisational studies, economics, management, sociology, and political economy. It also
found a central role for learning at the core of career development work and developed
new career learning theory to underpin this (Law, 1996a).
In Rethinking, it was recognised that career development is unavoidably political and
that individuals act in ways that are framed by their environment and by social and public
policy systems (Killeen, 1996a; Watts, 1996a, 1996b). Furthermore, in drawing together
a variety of different disciplinary traditions, Rethinking also recognised the lifelong and
multicontext nature of career development. Career development activities are always situ-
ated; for example, they take place in schools (Law, 1996b), colleges (Hawthorn, 1996),
universities (Watts, 1996c), businesses (Kidd, 1996), and career and public employment
services (Killeen & Kidd, 1996). In each of these contexts, career development work is
fighting for time, resources, and priority against a range of other functions. Yet, in each
place, it also offers individuals and society huge benefits if its potential can be realised
(Killeen, 1996b). Rethinking made a unique contribution to the field when it was pub-
lished, because it was able to simultaneously summarise the state of play in the field and
point the way forward. This is exactly the kind of contribution that we hope the current
volume will make.
At the same time, we also acknowledge the huge contributions made by the many other
multi-author volumes on career development. There have been various impressive at-
tempts to draw together the field both before Rethinking (for example, Arthur et al., 1989;
Brown & Brooks, 1990; Watts, Super, & Kidd, 1981) and after it (for example, Arthur &
McMahon, 2019; Arulmani, Bakshi, Leong, & Watts, 2014; Athanasou & Perera, 2019;
Collin & Young, 2000; Gunz & Peiperl, 2008; Lent & Brown, 2013; Maree, 2019). We
have drawn on all these volumes, and many more, as we have planned and written The
Oxford Handbook of Career Development. There are also important texts focusing on dis-
crete issues, such as social justice (Hooley, Sultana, & Thomsen, 2018a, 2019), and key
geographies (Cohen-Scali, Nota, & Rossier, 2017; Sultana, 2017). The current volume
seeks to build on all this work by bringing together a variety of scholars and by summaris-
ing the state of the art in career development as we enter the third decade of the 21st
century.
Within the Oxford Handbooks series itself, there are also a number of important and
relevant contributions that intersect with the current volume and the field of career
development, including volumes focusing on meaningful work (Yeoman, Bailey,
Madden, & Thompson, 2019), participation in organisations (Wilkinson, Gollan,
Marchington, & Lewin, 2010), personnel psychology (Cartwright & Cooper, 2009),

skills and training (Warhurst, Mayhew, Finegold, & Buchanan, 2017), the psychology
of working (Blustein, 2013), and lifelong learning (London, 2011). The existence of
these authoritative Oxford Handbooks in related thematic areas creates the ideal context
for the current volume. Oxford Handbooks assemble a series of specially commissioned
essays from leading figures in the discipline, critically examine key concepts, and shape
the future of the relevant field. This volume seeks to do this in the field of career devel-
opment, examining both how individuals develop and enact their careers in context and
the kind of interventions that may be used to support them.
Career Development as an Inclusive Term

Career development is an inclusive term that relates to all individuals regardless of class,
gender, sexuality, ability, location, or ethnicity. Career development does not relate only to
individuals preparing for middle-class, volitional, paid work and advancing within it.
Career, as Watts (2015, p. 31) once noted, is ‘richly ambiguous’. It is a concept not limited
to hierarchical progression within an organisation or occupation. It encompasses a very
wide range of activities, including formal or informal paid work, study, housework, caring
work, voluntary or community work, political activism, and so on. It also includes reli-
gious practices, leisure interests, health maintenance, family time, and relaxing. Career
development is a key concept because it draws together and integrates all these important
activities. In our sense, individuals have only one career, within which they engage in a
wide range of activities, situations, and roles throughout their lives.
The Centrality of Learning

Learning is central to career development both in theory and in practice. Learning helps
us to understand career experiences both good and bad. It also helps us to see career devel-
opment work, in all its forms, as a broadly educational enterprise within which the career
learning of participants is a core concern (Hooley, Sultana, & Thomsen; 2018b;
Krumboltz, 2009; Law, 1996a; Patton & McMahon, 1998). This provides a unifying vo-
cabulary for understanding and framing the spectrum of helping activities, including one-
to-one work and group work.
International Perspectives
We have adopted an avowedly internationalist perspective throughout the volume. For
example, we have aimed to avoid what Ribeiro and Fonçatti (2018) described as top-down
‘globalised localisms’ (i.e., taking a local practice from one context, such as North American
career counselling, and imposing it without adaptation globally). We have drawn authors
from 14 countries across the world, and we have asked them to write for an international
audience, to acknowledge an international context, and to recognise the situated nature of
career development.

Engaging with Key Debates and Controversies
In the current volume, we seek to acknowledge and engage in current debates and
controversies, such as discussions about the nature of career development (Arulmani, 2014;
Blustein, 2013; Gunz & Mayrhofer, 2018), the future of work and career (Hooley, 2019),
the variety of competing theoretical traditions that inform the field (Hooley et al., 2018b;
Juntunen, Motl, & Rozzi, 2019; Leung, 2008), the evidence on the efficacy of different
interventions and approaches (Hooley, 2017; Kashefpakdel, & Percy, 2017; Whiston,
Mitts, & Li, 2019), and the intense political debate around the level of public policy com-
mitment to the field (Inter-Agency Working Group on Work-based Learning (WBL), 2020;
International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy, 2019).
Transdisciplinarity
This volume falls within the psychology subject area in the Oxford Handbook series. We
seek to fully recognise the psychological nature of career development, but we do so in the
context of a transdisciplinary approach, because psychology is just one of the disciplines
that contribute to our understanding, along with sociology, organisational studies, educa-
tion, and other disciplines. We therefore encouraged authors to approach career develop-
ment from any relevant discipline and to acknowledge other disciplinary influences.
Furthermore, whilst some similar volumes present a list of distinct theories and approaches,
we have asked authors to be integrative and to engage with a range of disciplines, ideas,
and traditions.
Pluralism
Whilst The Oxford Handbook of Career Development hopes to drive the field forward, it
does not aim to resolve every debate and issue. Partly, this arises from our own experiences
as editors. We recognise shared aims and objectives for this volume, but we also have our
own distinctive agendas, traditions, epistemologies, preoccupations, and so on. Broadening
this out, we felt it was appropriate for the volume to recognise a diversity of positions and
viewpoints. We therefore took a consciously pluralist perspective that recognised and re-
spected different theoretical, national, and cultural traditions. However, we have at-
tempted to bring the different perspectives into robust dialogue with each other. We have
asked authors to weigh in on crucial debates, to advocate specific opinions, and to con-
struct new arguments.
The Structure of the Book

This volume is divided into three sections: contexts, concepts, and practice. Contexts refers
to the way in which careers are shaped by interaction with the environments they inhabit.
Concepts refers to the rich theoretical landscape of this field. Practice refers to activities to
support individuals and groups with their career development. Here we provide an over-
view of each section in turn.

Contexts
Context is important in any study of career development. Career experiences are not
universal; rather, they are shaped and constrained by their environments. Here we are
primarily concerned with economic, sociopolitical, and institutional contexts.
Careers can be understood as a key point at which the activity of an individual intersects
with the economy. Accordingly, the first chapter (Gutowski et al., this volume) highlights
concerns about the growth of economic inequality and the decline of decent work. It is
argued these concerns are international preoccupations and that they pervade all parts
of the world. Gutowski et al. draw a direct line from concern about the quality of paid
employment opportunities to concepts that can be used in understanding career develop-
ment. Percy and Dodd (this volume) explore the contribution that career development
interventions make to the economic life of a country. They lay out the challenges and
evidence for this way of thinking.
An important political dimension of career development is its position in relation to
public policy. In developed nations, many career interventions are undertaken directly or
indirectly by the state. Yet, ensuring sufficient citizen access to career development ser-
vices remains a challenge in all countries, despite the widespread belief that supporting
the careers of individuals is a ‘public good’ with wider societal benefits. McCarthy and
Borbély-Pecze (this volume) chart the evolution of public policy for career development
services. In spite of its promotion by influential international bodies, they find that
public policy specifically targeted on career development support remains marginal—an
adjunct to the main thrust of policymaking. Robertson (this volume) focuses more
closely on the goals for public policy. Most studies have found that government interven-
tion in careers is intended to promote the effective functions of the labour market, to
support the operation of the education system (and its links to employment), and to
promote social equity. Robertson suggests a broad framework of potential socially desir-
able goals for public policy and highlights the potential of well-being, criminal justice,
and environmental goals.
Careers are enacted within and between institutions, and institutions mediate the
influence of government policy. Three chapters explore the importance of the education
system and its links to employment for career development. Hooley (this volume) ques-
tions the way in which the education system embeds career development work as part of
a highly political human capital development project that makes the individual’s career
primarily an economic contribution to society. Sultana (this volume) picks up similar
themes and asks how career development learning engages with the current political
economy and what possibilities might exist for more critical and authentic forms of
career development education. Percy and Kashefpakdel (this volume) situate the discus-
sion of career education by exploring in detail the variety of ways in which employers
interface with educational institutions and cooperate to promote career development
learning.

Concepts
The second section of the book explores the concepts and theories that underpin the career
development field. For those entering the field, the range of theory now available can
appear bewildering. Yates (this volume) provides a sound starting point by offering a
survey of around 40 theoretical approaches to career development. Rather than undertak-
ing a traditional chronological account, she identifies four key recurring concepts: iden-
tity, environment, career learning, and psychological career resources.
One of the strongest streams of career theory focuses on career experiences of profes-
sionals and managers within (and beyond) organisations. Mackenzie Davey (this volume)
explains the evolution of this literature from its origins in the work of psychologists in
business schools and provides a critique of its limitations. Organisational career theory
continues to evolve and to be a fertile source of ideas. Gunz and Mayrhofer (this volume)
provide one example of a direction for this tradition and offer a social chronology frame-
work that seeks to integrate the spatial, temporal, and ontic dimensions of career.
Much career development theory wrestles with a recognition of change and complexity
within the individual, in the labour market, and in wider society. But, whilst this starting
point is widely shared, it can lead theorists in a variety of directions. Rossier, Cardoso, and
Duarte (this volume) present one of the most currently influential approaches to individual
career development—the application of narrative counselling—with strong roots in the
work of Mark Savickas, Jean Guichard, and wider narrative theory. This approach is
intended to enable individuals to reimagine their careers and to adapt to change. In contrast,
Irving (this volume) takes an explicitly political approach to critical social justice in
response to workplace inequality and instability. For Irving, the required response is a form
of critical education that empowers individuals to challenge the limitations in their context.
In the last decade, one of the most striking developments in career thinking has been a
growing sensitisation to culture. For this reason, we feature this emerging area strongly.
Many authors from different parts of the world see career as a fundamentally cultural phe-
nomenon, and one that looks very different depending on where you are standing. Stead
and Poklar (this volume) critique the use of Western frameworks of thought in studying
careers across cultures. Ribeiro (this volume) makes a case for the value of career theories
emerging from the ‘Global South’ to add to, rather than replace, existing dominant theo-
ries. Arulmani, Kumar, Shrestha, Viray, and Aravind (this volume) apply the cultural pre-
paredness perspective to understand the experiences of traditional craft workers in India
adapting to a globalised economy. McCash (this volume) takes an integrative approach to
career and education studies and argues for a cultural learning theory of career develop-
ment. He links this to innovative practice in the form of a cultural learning alliance.
Practice
Although it is informed by contextual understanding and a theoretical underpinning, the
practice of career development requires its own focus. Perhaps we should speak of practices

in the plural—because career development interventions can come from a wide variety of
professional contexts, including organisational development, human resources, counsel-
ling, education, employment support, and social and youth work. Indeed, the notion of
‘professional’ needs to be examined. Gough and Neary (this volume) look at the challenges
facing career development practitioners as they seek to define themselves collectively as a
profession and to establish the kind of relationship with the state that underpins this
identity.
Bimrose (this volume) addresses a key issue for career development practitioners as
knowledge professionals and focuses on the role of labour market information. She argues
that many of the generic helping skills used by career development professionals are shared
by many professions, and so it is the skills used for handling knowledge of the labour
market that represent the distinctive contribution that career development practitioners
can bring to the table.
Much career development practice operates within a counselling paradigm. For this
group of practitioners, Rogerian approaches to the relationship between service user and
helper have been highly influential. Bassot (this volume) examines the tradition of ‘client-
centredness’ and provides a critique of it informed by culturally and contextually sensitive
theories. McIlveen, Perera, Brown, Healy, and Hammer (this volume) look at another key
aspect of career development practice, the process of assessing individuals to understand
their career development needs. They argue that career assessment needs to be understood
as a skilled and integral element of career development practice, but also one that can be
approached in a variety of ways.
Another important strand to career development practice lies in educational
approaches. Barnes (this volume) focuses on career education in schools and colleges by
drawing on the links between career development theory and transformative learning
theory. He explores the potential to achieve radical and progressive outcomes from
more ambitious programmes of career education, and he describes effective pedagogi-
cal approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment that can assist learners in trans-
forming their self-understanding, their relation to others, their potential to act, and
their world view.
Increasingly, the contact between career development service providers and their service
users, irrespective of whether it is conceptualised as counselling or education, is mediated
by digital technology. Hooley and Staunton (this volume) provide a review of the different
metaphors through which the role and potential of technology is understood in this field.
They analyse three contrasting pedagogical positions that guide the choices of practitio-
ners in their use of new technology.
Of course, all these diverse approaches to career development practice have value only
if they are effective. Questions of efficacy are essential both for the choice and the design of
approaches and for negotiations with policymakers and funders about the provision of career
development services. Whiston (this volume) examines the evidence on the effectiveness

of individual career counselling. She discusses the evidence from meta-analysis, which she
argues offers a compelling synthesis of research in the field. Robertson (this volume) pro-
vides a broader overview of approaches to evaluating career development interventions
and the formidable conceptual, definitional, and methodological challenges to be over-
come. He presents an approach to evidence-based practice that seeks to integrate research
evidence with local, contextual, and pragmatic practitioner understandings.
Final Words
Career development policy, theory, and practice are dynamic and in a process of continual
change. In this volume, we have tried to capture the state of the art as we enter the third
decade of the 21st century. Our aim has been to provide a stronger, more integrative plat-
form for future discussion and debates. We hope that we have achieved this by bringing
together an international array of scholars and writers. Career development certainly mat-
ters to us, and, wherever you are, we hope that this volume helps you to move forward in
your life and to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
References
Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R. (Eds.). (1956). The individual psychology of Alfred Adler: A systematic
presentation in selections from his writings. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Arthur, M. B., Hall, D. T., & Lawrence, B. S. (Eds.) (1989). Handbook of career theory. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Arthur, N., & McMahon, M. (Eds.) (2019). Contemporary theories of career development: International
perspectives. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Arulmani, G. (2014). The cultural preparation process model and career development. In G. Arulmani,
A. J. Bakshi, F. T. L. Leong, & A. G. Watts (Eds.), Handbook of career development: International perspectives
(pp. 81–103). New York, NY: Springer.
Arulmani, G., Bakshi, A. J., Leong, F. T., & Watts, A. G. (Eds.) (2014). Handbook of career development.
International perspectives. New York, NY: Springer.
Athanasou, J. A., & Perera, H. N. (Eds.) (2019). International handbook of career guidance. Cham, Switzerland:
Springer.
Barley, S. R. (1989). Careers, identities, and institutions: The legacy of the Chicago School of Sociology. In
M. B. Arthur, D. T. Hall, & B. S. Lawrence (Eds.), Handbook of career theory (pp. 41–65). Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Becker, H. S. (1966). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York, NY: Free Press.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Blustein, D. L. (Ed.) (2013). The Oxford handbook of the psychology of working. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
Brown, D., & Brooks, L. (Eds.). (1990). Career choice and development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Bühler, C. (1935). The curve of life as studied in biographies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 19, 405–409.
Burt, C. (1924). Principles of vocational guidance. British Journal of Psychology, 14, 336–352.
Cartwright, S., & Cooper, C. L. (Eds.). (2009). The Oxford handbook of personnel psychology. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press.
Cohen-Scali, V., Nota, L., & Rossier, J. (2017). New perspectives on career counselling and guidance in Europe.
Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Collin, A., & Young, R. A. (Eds.). (2000). The future of career. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Davidson, P. E., & Anderson, H. D. (1937). Occupational mobility in an American community. Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
Ginzberg, E., Ginsburg, S. S., Axelrad, S., & Herma, J. L. (1951). Occupational choice: An approach to a general
theory. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Goffman, E. (1968). Asylums. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin. (Original work published 1961)
Gunz, H., & Mayrhofer, W. (2018). Rethinking career studies: Facilitating conversation across boundaries with the
social chronology framework. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gunz, H., & Peiperl, M. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of career studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hawthorn, R. (1996). Careers work in further and adult education. In A.G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen,
J. M. Kidd, & R. Hawthorn (Eds.), Rethinking careers education and guidance: Theory, policy and practice
(pp. 112–126). London, UK: Routledge.
Heginbotham, H. (1951). The youth employment service. London, UK: Methuen.
Hodkinson, P. (2009). Understanding career decision-making and progression: Careership revisited. Career
Research and Development: The NICEC Journal, 21, 4–17.
Hooley, T. (2017). Moving beyond ‘what works’: Using the evidence base in lifelong guidance to inform policy
making. In K. Schroder & J. Langer (Eds.), Wirksamkeit der beratung in bildung, beruf und beschäftigung [The
effectiveness of counselling in education and employment] (pp. 23–34). Bielefeld, Germany: WBV.
Hooley, T. (2019). Career guidance and the changing world of work: Contesting responsibilising notions of
the future. In M. A. Peters, P. Jandrić, & A. J. Means (Eds.), Education and technological unemployment
(pp. 175–191). Singapore: Springer.
Hooley, T., Sultana, R., & Thomsen, R. (Eds.). (2018a). Career guidance for social justice: Contesting neoliberalism.
London, UK: Routledge.
Hooley, T., Sultana, R., & Thomsen, R. (2018b). The neoliberal challenge to career guidance: Mobilising
research, policy and practice around social justice. In T. Hooley, R. G. Sultana, & R. Thomsen (Eds.), Career
guidance for social justice: Contesting neoliberalism (pp. 1–28). London, UK: Routledge.
Hooley, T., Sultana, R., & Thomsen, R. (Eds.). (2019). Career guidance for emancipation: Reclaiming justice for
the multitude. London, UK: Routledge.
Hughes, E. C. (1928). Personality types and the division of labour. American Journal of Sociology, 33, 754–768.
www.jstor.org/stable/2765829
Hughes, E. C. (1937). Institutional office and the person. American Journal of Sociology, 43, 404–413.
doi:10.1086/217711
Inter-Agency Working Group on Work-based Learning (WBL). (2020). Investing in career guidance. Retrieved
from https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/2227_en.pdf
International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP). (2019). Communiqué 2019:
Leading career development services into an uncertain future: Ensuring access, integration and innovation. Oslo,
Norway: Skills Norway.
Juntunen, C. L., Motl, T. C., & Rozzi, M. (2019). Major career theories: International and developmental
perspectives. In J. Athanasou & H. Perera (Eds.), International handbook of career guidance (pp. 45–72).
Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Kashefpakdel, E. T., & Percy, C. (2017). Career education that works: An economic analysis using the British
Cohort Study. Journal of Education and Work, 30, 217–234. doi:10.1080/13639080.2016.1177636
Kidd, J. M. (1996). Career planning within work organisations. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd,
& R. Hawthorn (Eds.), Rethinking careers education and guidance: Theory, policy and practice (pp. 142–154).
Killeen, J. (1996a). The social context of guidance. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, & R. Hawthorn
(Eds.), Rethinking careers education and guidance: Theory, policy and practice (pp. 3–22). London, UK:
Routledge.
Killeen, J. (1996b). The learning and economic outcomes of guidance. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen,
J. M. Kidd, & R. Hawthorn (Eds.), Rethinking careers education and guidance: Theory, policy and practice
(pp. 72–91). London, UK: Routledge.
Killeen, J., & Kidd, J. M. (1996). The careers service. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, &
R. Hawthorn (Eds.), Rethinking careers education and guidance: Theory, policy and practice (pp. 155–172).
Kjærgård, R. (2020). Career guidance and the production of subjectivity. In E. H. Haug, T. Hooley, J. Kettunen,
& R. Thomsen (Eds.), Career and career guidance in the Nordic countries. Leiden, The Netherlands:
Koninklijke Brill NV.
Krumboltz, J. D. (2009). The happenstance learning theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 135–154.
doi:10.1177/1069072708328861
Lao Tzu. (1963). Tao te ching (D. C. Lau, Trans.). London, UK: Penguin.

Law, B. (1996a). A career-learning theory. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, & R. Hawthorn
Routledge.
Law, B. (1996b). Careers work in schools. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, & R. Hawthorn
Routledge.
Law, B. (2009). Building on what we know: Community-interaction and its importance for contemporary careers-
work. Retrieved from http://www.hihohiho.com/memory/cafcit.pdf
Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (Eds.). (2013). Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to
work (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Leung, S. A. (2008). The big five career theories. In J. A. Athanasou & R. Van Esbroeck (Eds.), International
handbook of career guidance (pp. 115–132). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
London, M. (Ed.). (2011). The Oxford handbook of lifelong learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Mann, A. (1950). Frank Parsons: The professor as crusader. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 37, 471–490.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1893322
Maree, J. G. (2019). Handbook of innovative career counselling. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
McCash, P. (2018). Career development at depth: A critical evaluation of career development theory from the
perspective of analytical psychology (Doctoral dissertation). University of Essex.
Mead, G. H. (1967). Mind, self and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago Press. (Original work published 1934)
Miller, D. C., & Form, W. H. (1951). Industrial sociology: An introduction to the sociology of work relations. New
York, NY: Harper.
Moore, C., Gunz, H., & Hall, D. T. (2008). Tracing the historical roots of career theory in management and
organization studies. In H. Gunz & M. Peiperl (Eds.). Handbook of career studies (pp. 13–38). Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Neary, S., Marriott, J., & Hooley, T. (2014). Understanding a ‘career in careers’: Learning from an analysis of
current job and person specifications. Derby, UK: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of
Derby.
O’Brien, K. (2001). The legacy of Parsons: Career counsellors and vocational psychologists as agents of social
change. Career Development Quarterly, 50, 66–76.
Ogilvie Gordon, M. M. (1908). A handbook of employments specially prepared for the use of boys and girls on
entering the trades, industries, and professions. Aberdeen, UK: Rosemont Press.
Park, R. E. (1915). The city: Suggestions for the investigation of human behavior in the city environment.
American Journal of Sociology, 20, 577–612.
Park, R. E., & Burgess, E. W. (1921). Introduction to the science of sociology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago
Press.
Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Patton, W., & McMahon, M. (1998). Career development and systems theory: A new relationship. Pacific Grove,
CA: Brooks/Cole.
Peck, D. (2004). Career services: History, policy and practice in the United Kingdom. London, UK: Routledge
Falmer.
Plato. (1974). The republic (D. Lee, Trans., 2nd ed.). Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
Porfeli, E. J. (2009). Hugo Münsterberg and the origins of vocational guidance. Career Development Quarterly,
57, 225–236.
Ribeiro, M. A., & Fonçatti, G. D. O. S. (2018). The gap between theory and context as a generator of social
injustice: Seeking to confront social inequality in Brazil through career guidance. In T. Hooley, R. G. Sultana,
& R. Thomsen (Eds.), Career guidance for social justice: Contesting neoliberalism (pp. 193–208). London, UK:
Routledge.
Roberts, R. J. (1980). An alternative justification for careers education: A radical response to Roberts and Daws.
British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 8, 158–174. doi:10.1080/03069888008258185
Savickas, M. L. (1996). A framework for linking career theory and practice. In M. L. Savickas & W. B. Walsh
(Eds.), Handbook of career counseling theory and practice (pp. 191–208). Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.
Savickas, M. L. (2008). Helping people choose jobs: A history of the guidance profession. In J. A. Athanasou
& R. Van Esbroeck (Eds.), International handbook of career guidance. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Savickas, M. L. (2009). Introduction to the special section: Pioneers of the vocational guidance movement: A
centennial celebration. Career Development Quarterly, 57, 194–198.
Sharma, R. N., & Sharma, R. (2004). Guidance and counselling in India. New Delhi, India: Atlantic.
Shaw, C. R. (1931). The natural history of a delinquent career. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Shaw, C. R. (1966). The jack-roller: A delinquent boy’s own story. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
(Original work published 1930)
Shaw, I. (2010). Sociology and social work: An unresolved legacy of the Chicago school. In C. Hart (Ed.), The
legacy of the Chicago school of sociology: A collection of original essays in honour of the Chicago school during the
first half of the 20th century (pp. 44–64). Poynton, UK: Midrash.
Sultana, R. (2014). Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will? Troubling the relationship between career
guidance and social justice. International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance, 14, 5–19.
doi:10.1007/s10775-013-9262-y
Sultana, R. (2017). Career guidance and livelihood planning across the Mediterranean. Rotterdam, The
Netherlands: Sense.
Super, D. E. (1954). Career patterns as a basis for vocational counselling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1,
12–20.
Super, D. E. (1957). The psychology of careers: An introduction to vocational development. New York, NY: Harper.
Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16,
282–298.
Warhurst, C., Mayhew, K., Finegold, D., & Buchanan, J. (Eds.). (2017). The Oxford handbook of skills and
training. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Watanabe, A., & Herr, E. L. (1983). Guidance and counselling in Japan. The Personnel and Guidance Journal,
61, 462–465.
Watts, A. G. (1996a). Socio-political ideologies in guidance. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, &
Watts, A. G. (1996b). Career guidance and public policy. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, &
Watts, A. G. (1996c). Careers work in higher education. In A. G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J. M. Kidd, &
Watts, A. G. (2014). The evolution of NICEC: A historical review. Journal of the National Institute for Career
Education and Counselling, 33, 4–14.
Watts, A. G. (2015). Reshaping career development for the 21st century. In T. Hooley & L. Barham (Eds.),
Career development policy and practice (pp. 29–42). Stafford, UK: Highflyers.
Watts, A. G., Law, B., Killeen, J., Kidd, J. M., & Hawthorn, R. (1996). Rethinking careers education and
guidance: Theory, policy and practice. London, UK: Routledge.
Watts, A. G., Super, D. E., & Kidd, J. M. (Eds.). (1981). Career development in Britain. Cambridge, UK:
CRAC/Hobsons.
Whiston, S. C., Mitts, N. G., & Li, Y. (2019). Evaluation of career guidance programs. In J. A. Athanasou &
H. N. Perera (Eds.), International handbook of career guidance (pp. 815–834). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Wilkinson, A., Gollan, P. J., Marchington, M., & Lewin, D. (Eds.). (2010). The Oxford handbook of participation
in organisations. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Yeoman, R., Bailey, C., Madden, A., & Thompson, M. (Eds.) (2019). The Oxford handbook of meaningful work.
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

SECTION
1
Contexts
C H A PT E R
The Decline of Decent Work in the
2 Twenty-First Century: Implications
for Career Development
Ellen R. Gutowski, David L. Blustein, Maureen E. Kenny, and Whitney Erby
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is twofold: (1) to provide an overview of the consequences of
the decline in available, quality jobs throughout the world for the individual, community,
and society; and (2) to discuss the implications of the changing world of work for career
development, with a focus on the psychology of working theory. First, this chapter
summarizes existing research and points to the necessity of decent work for well-being.
It also reviews the rise in precarious work, resulting in work instability and poverty
for a growing number of workers throughout the world. The chapter then discusses
consequences of the changing labour market for community and society, articulating why
the decline of decent work is a social justice issue. Specifically, the chapter highlights how
access to decent work has historically been and continues to be disproportionately out of
reach for those who face social and economic marginalization. Finally, the psychology of
working theory is presented as a particularly enlightening theoretical contribution for career
development work in the twenty-first century. The psychology of working theory asserts
the important role of marginalization and economic constraints in hindering access to
decent work. This theory also offers several implications for how scholars and practitioners
might act to mitigate such deleterious social forces that contribute to poverty and inequality.
Keywords: decent work, precarious work, work instability, poverty, economic con-
straints, marginalization, psychology of working theory
Introduction
The twenty-first century has witnessed unprecedented transformations in the world of
work, which have aversively affected the modern worker in multiple ways. For the past
several years, the global labour force has expanded at a faster rate than that of job creation,
and the number of unemployed is anticipated to continue to rise worldwide (International
Labour Organization [ILO], 2018). Growth in automation coupled with the rise of neo-
liberal policies have created a perfect storm resulting in the loss of work in some sectors and
in considerable uncertainty about the stability of the employment landscape (Blustein, 2019;
Hooley, Sultana, . . . Thomsen, 2018). Furthermore, vulnerable employment, or precarious
work, which is characterized by restricted access to social protections and consistent income,
has surged throughout the world (ILO, 2014a; 2017; 2018; Kalleberg . . .Vallas, 2017;
Standing, 2014). For example, the ILO estimates that approximately 1.4 billion people—
that is, 42 percent of the world’s population—are in vulnerable forms of employment, a
statistic that is expected to continue to rise by 17 million per year for the next several years
(ILO, 2018). In this chapter, we argue that these dramatic shifts, which have had serious
consequences for the world’s most vulnerable, necessitate a relevant response from the field
of career development. We first provide an overview of the causes and consequences of the
decline in available, good quality jobs for the individual, community, and society. Next,
we discuss the implications of the changing world of work for career development, with a
focus on perspectives that can enrich and advance career development in the twenty-first
century.
Causes of the Decline in Decent Work

Decent work is defined as encompassing the following: (1) adequate compensation and
health care, (2) safe and secure working conditions, (3) hours that allow for free time and
rest, and (4) organisational values that complement family and social values (Duffy et al.,
2017; ILO, 2008). Moreover, decent work is recognized as a fundamental human right
(ILO, 2008; United Nations, 1948) and as central to human well-being (Blustein, Kenny,
Di Fabio, . . . Guichard, 2019; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, . . . Autin, 2016).
The causes of the decline in decent work are complex and are often attributed primarily
to automation and robotic replacement of jobs. However, a critical perspective on trends
in the labour market reveals that neoliberal policies have diminished power for worker
organisations (e.g., unions) and reduced worker protections (Hooley, 2018). Since the late
1970s, neoliberal world leaders have asserted that trade should be free of state intervention
and governed only by market demands and that any threats to free markets are equivalent
to not only a violation of market competition but also a violation of individual freedoms
(Harvey, 2005). These policies have encouraged the commodification of labour, leading to
an erosion of both social and employment security (Standing, 2011). As a result, workers
have faced excessive pressures to become temporary instead of permanent employees
(Standing, 2011). These policies have resulted in the marginalization of stable and decent
work for many people throughout the world (Harvey, 2005).
Consequences of the Decline in Decent Work

Consequences for the Individual
The integral role of decent work for well-being is apparent in research documenting the
mental health impacts of unemployment and precarious work. A substantial body of
literature supports the finding that unemployment is linked to a multitude of mental
health issues, including increases in suicidal behaviour, drug and alcohol usage, risk-
taking, and psychopathology such as depression and anxiety, as well as lower life satis-
faction (Frasquilho et al., 2015; Paul . . . Moser, 2009). One meta-analytic investigation
comparing unemployed and employed adults across samples from 26 countries indi-
cated that the prevalence of psychological issues (i.e., depression, anxiety, lowered sub-
jective well-being, and lowered self-esteem) among the unemployed was more than
24 Ellen R. Gutowski, et al
double that of those who were employed (Paul . . . Moser, 2009). Moreover, the results
from this study made a convincing argument for a causal effect of unemployment on
decreased well-being. Specifically, the authors analysed a subset of 27 longitudinal stud-
ies focusing on individuals who had undergone mass layoffs. Those who had been laid
off suffered from an escalation in distress after becoming unemployed for 6 months or
longer.
Beyond the impacts of unemployment, research suggests a relationship between job
quality and mental health, indicating that the rise in precarious forms of employment may
cause psychological harm (Clarke, Lewchuk, de Wolff, . . . King, 2007; Frasquilho et al.,
2015; Vives et al., 2013). One mixed-methods investigation involving 3,244 surveys with
working-age Canadian adults and 82 interviews with a subset of survey respondents who
were precariously employed revealed that the majority of precarious participants expressed
substantial levels of stress and uncertainty about the future, as well as impairments to their
physical and mental health (Clarke et al., 2007). Corroborating this research, an interna-
tional systematic review indicated that individuals in unstable forms of employment
during economic recession experience high levels of mental distress, depression, and anxi-
ety (Frasquilho et al., 2015). Furthermore, studies using continuous measures of precari-
ousness have shown that higher levels of precariousness are associated with diminished
mental health (Vives et al., 2013). Taken together, although more research on the psycho-
logical consequences of precarious work is needed, existing analyses illuminate the impor-
tance of decent work for individual well-being and the profound psychological difficulties
associated with its absence.
Consequences for Community and Society

While the importance of work for individual well-being is clear, the availability of decent
work also has a significant impact at a societal level. Existing research suggests that limited
opportunities for decent work may produce community-wide hardship. Wilson’s (1996)
classic investigation of Chicago neighbourhoods offers an illustrative case study that shows
how community instability can follow the loss of accessible and stable jobs in US cities.
Consistent with this US-based research, analyses by the ILO and the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveal that areas of the world that
experience high levels of unemployment are often the same areas that experience high
levels of social and civil unrest, crime, and conflict (ILO, 2016; OECD, 2015).
Furthermore, global economic development studies document how the generation of
work opportunities and alleviation of poverty can foster societal stability and security
(Bhawuk, Carr, Gloss, . . . Thompson, 2014; McWha-Hermann, Maynard, . . . O’Neill Berry,
2016). Although these analyses do not establish causal patterns, the relationship is likely
to be complex such that lack of work breeds individual and community instability, which
undermines the ability of individuals and communities to work together in ways that
develop and expand decent work (McWha-Hermann et al., 2016).
Implications for career development 25

When discussing the growth in precarious work, it is critical to acknowledge that
some workers have always been in precarious positions. Indeed, in many areas throughout
the world, women, people of colour, immigrants, and others without access to social and
economic capital have a history of being exploited in the world of work and of experienc-
ing limited opportunities for security and stability. Although racism, sexism, and other
social barriers continue to disproportionately limit access to the opportunity structure for
historically marginalized groups, in recent years, problems of unemployment, underem-
ployment, and work instability are also increasingly common for those from higher ends
of the socioeconomic ladder (Sharone, 2014).
A key aspect of the current shifting work context is loss of personal control, height-
ened insecurity, fear, and helplessness as stable jobs disappear (Blustein, Olle, Connors-
Kellgren, . . . Diamonti, 2016) and are replaced by either short-term employment or no
work at all (Kalleberg, 2009; Sharone, 2014). Declines in the availability of stable work
have been accompanied by increased financial and social inequality, a growing sense of
competition for the stable jobs that do exist, and a rise in the expression of intergroup
prejudice and hostility (Stiglitz, 2015). Thus, the neoliberal workplace may compound
difficulties for workers who have faced a history of xenophobia, racism, sexism, or other
forms of social marginalisation. Indeed, some research suggests that sexual harassment
may be particularly pervasive within precarious work settings (LaMontagne et al., 2009),
and more research is needed on the relation between employment precarity and workplace
abuse and violence. At a global level, the reduction in the availability of decent work has
generated an upsurge in migration as many search for economic and social opportunity
(ILO, 2017). Migrants have been victims of exploitation and human rights violations in
their host countries (ILO, 2014a) and have been met with the misperception that they are
the cause of work scarcity, income inequality, and a decline in the standard of living
(ILO, 2014b).
Taken together, the decline in decent work is a social justice issue: lessening access to
well-being for a growing portion of the population and creating social divisions
(Blustein, 2019). The rising scarcity of quality jobs has disproportionately harmed the
world’s most vulnerable. Those living at the margins are finding fewer pathways to oppor-
tunities that promise stability and security and may be subjected to victimization and
exploitation. With such transformations in the world of work, it is imperative that career
development scholars and practitioners respond. However, career development theorists,
particularly in the latter part of the twentieth century, focused primarily on individuals
with some degree of career choice privilege, overlooking the lives of those at the margins
with limited volition (Blustein, 2017). Indeed, important theoretical contributions, such
as those of Donald Super, Anne Roe, and John Holland, were shaped by this prior era’s
growing opportunities for upward mobility, particularly for those in the middle class
(Blustein, 2017). For example, the pioneering work of Super brought a developmental
orientation to the study of career choice and expanded understandings of career choice by
incorporating multiple life roles throughout the life span. Yet, as Richardson (1993) makes
clear, conceptualizing career as a developmental progression over time possesses an inher-
ent middle-class bias, leaving out those without access to occupational opportunities that
enable progressive advancement. Initiatives from throughout the world have countered
this trend, which has been particularly prevalent in North America, by focusing on the
working lives of people of colour, women, and others who have experienced forms of eco-
nomic and social marginalization (Betz . . . Fitzgerald, 1987; Blustein, 2006; Richardson,
1993; Roberts, 1995; Smith, 1983; Sultana, 2014). The sections that follow review some
of the critiques of traditional career choice and development theory and practice, with a
focus on insights from educational sociologists as well as scholars who study race and
gender. This review is followed by a presentation of one illuminative theoretical paradigm,
the psychology of working theory (Blustein, Kenny, Di Fabio, et al., 2019; Duffy et al.,
2016), which we believe has particular relevance for confronting the multifaceted chal-
lenges within the shifting work context.
Critiques of Traditional Theories

Early career development services and research focused on the working class, immigrants
(Parsons, 1909), and school leavers (Roberts, 1968). In the latter half of the twentieth
century, however, the field of career development witnessed a digression from its roots of
serving marginalized groups and a steady movement toward emphasising career choice
and development for the middle class (Blustein, 2017). This heightened attention to the
working lives of people who had a relative degree of volition shaped career development
scholarship in many areas of the world, although this movement was particularly prevalent
in North America.
Despite a growing trend to develop theories and practice models to serve those with
relative volition, some scholars from varied disciplines and regions throughout the world
pushed back against this prevailing discourse. Important contributions highlighted the
roles of socioeconomic status (Hodkinson, Sparkes, . . . Hodkinson, 1996; Richardson,
1993; Roberts, 1968, 1977; Willis, 1977), race (Helms . . . Cook, 1999; Smith, 1983), and
gender (Betz . . . Fitzgerald, 1987) in career development experiences and critiqued the era’s
focus on the working lives of the White middle class. Offering a sociological perspective,
Roberts (1968, 1977), presented opportunity structure theory, which highlighted that
occupational prospects are available to school leavers based not on personal ambition or
choice but, rather, on social factors. Drawing from cross-national research, Roberts high-
lighted the importance of elements such as personal networks, local labour markets, family
background, and sociocultural capital in opening or inhibiting opportunities within the
world of work (for an overview of Roberts’ work, see Bimrose, 2019). Subsequent socio-
logical scholarship has built upon Roberts’ propositions by demonstrating how social class
determines the occupational roles assumed (Willis, 1977), as well as the importance of
community interactions in shaping working lives (Law, 1981). Watts translated existing

theoretical developments into practice and policy recommendations, advocating for an
expansion of career development services (Watts, 1996) and for the importance of devis-
ing interventions that are applicable to the lived experiences of young people at risk of
being socially excluded from the workforce (Watts, 2001). An integrated analysis of career
development theory is provided by Yates (this volume), and an account of the develop-
ment of public policy in the field is given by McCarthy . . . Borbély-Pecze (this volume).
Further critiques addressed the inadequate attention to people of colour and women
within career scholarship. For example, Elsie Smith (1983) and Janet Helms (Helms . . .
Cook, 1999) articulated the limitations of Western, White assumptions in the career de-
velopment discourse of the time. In their volume devoted to the working lives of women,
Betz and Fitzgerald (1987) provided a feminist critique of prevailing theories, affirming
the importance of work in women’s lives. These early critiques paved the way for more
recent efforts from throughout the world that continue to push for a critical consideration
of sociocultural influences on career development (Arulmani, Kumar, Shreskenntha,
Viray, . . . Aravind, this volume; Hooley et al., 2018; Irving, this volume; Ribeiro, this
volume).
Implications for Career Development: The Psychology of

Working Theory
Theoretical Development and Overview
Building on the emerging concerns that traditional career development discourse privi-
leged those with a relative degree of choice in their work lives, Blustein (2006) developed
a theory that sought to attend to all those who work and who are striving to work and
provided a critically framed perspective for understanding and intervening in the work
lives of people. The psychology of working theory (PWT; Blustein, 2006, 2013) articu-
lated a rationale for an inclusive vision for career development by highlighting a number
of features and ideas that sought to embrace the needs of people and communities that
were not being served by traditional career choice and development theories.
A central assumption of the PWT is the notion that working optimally has the capac-
ity to fulfil human needs for (1) power and survival, (2) social relationships, and (3) self-
determination. The need for power and survival entails the biological needs for food,
shelter, and safety, as well as the need for access to the opportunity structure. The need for
social relationships pertains to the basic human need for connection, belonging, and social
contribution. Self-determination involves the need for authentic engagement in life via
autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Blustein (2006, 2013) also described the sub-
stantial obstacles that exist in many communities and nations, including sexism, racism,
heterosexism, ageism, and other forms of marginalization, which function to reduce access
to meaningful and decent work. In addition, the PWT articulated a broad array of factors
to be considered in both individual and systemic career development work.
The first decade of research and practice emerging from the PWT has led to several
theoretical innovations, including the relational theory of working (Blustein, 2011) and
the development of a testable research model for the PWT (Duffy et al., 2016). These
advances are characterized by their interdisciplinary vantage point, integrating ideas from
contemporary psychoanalytic theory, sociology, and economics. When considered collec-
tively, the PWT and its offshoots have adopted overtly systemic perspectives that seek to
frame individual behaviour in context and clearly show how social, economic, political,
and historical forces shape opportunities and behaviour.
Implications for Intervention

The PWT has served as the basis for numerous individual, group, and systemic interven-
tions, addressing the needs of a diverse array of populations (Blustein, Kozan, Connors-
Kellgren, . . . Rand, 2015; Kenny, Blustein, . . . Meerkins, 2018). A fundamental component
of career development work using a psychology of working perspective is the consider-
ation of the role of contextual influences in clients’ lives. Blustein advocates applying an
emancipatory communitarian approach (Prilleltensky, 1997) to career development ser-
vices (Blustein et al., 2015). An emancipatory communitarian perspective stresses the im-
portance of refraining from overemphasising the role of individual responsibility when
understanding barriers that clients face, which may lead to inadvertent victim-blaming
(Blustein et al., 2015). Based on this understanding, the PWT also advocates for systemic
change to reduce economic and social marginalization, in addition to enhancing the ca-
pacity of individuals and groups to navigate existing constraints. Furthermore, the PWT
promotes inclusive psychological practice in individual career development work, which
involves the integration of career development work and mental health interventions. This
approach acknowledges that many clients experience multiple systemic barriers simultane-
ously, and it aims to holistically address client needs (for a case study, see Blustein, Duffy,
Kenny, Gutowski, . . . Diamonti, 2019).
Individual and Group Intervention

A consideration of the sociocultural nature of career development has led some to assert the
limitations of psychological interventions (Roberts, 1968). However, we maintain that
although the impact of individual career development services is inevitably limited unless

accompanied by systemic change, career development services that bolster individual

resources can be beneficial. The PWT asserts that two psychological characteristics—work
volition and career adaptability—are important in facilitating access to decent work but may
be negatively impacted by unfavourable, macro-level conditions. Work volition is an indi-
vidual’s perception of choice in decision-making despite constraints (Duffy, Diemer, Perry,
Laurenzi, . . . Torrey, 2012). Career adaptability is the ability to complete tasks and cope with
challenges associated with career planning and implementation (Savickas . . . Porfeli, 2012).

Individual and group career development services might aim to target these characteristics
alongside systemic interventions.
The PWT identifies additional, malleable factors that can mitigate the negative
influence of oppressive, systemic barriers on obtaining decent work. For example, an
extensive body of research has documented the contributions of social support to positive
psychological, academic, and vocational outcomes across the life span (Gutowski, White,
Liang, Diamonti, . . . Berado, 2017; Kenny . . . Medvide, 2013). The impact of social sup-
port on vocational outcomes can likely be explained in part by the concept of social
capital, which refers to an individual’s social network (i.e., who they know) and the pro-
pensities that arise from these networks to do things for one another (Putnam, 2000).
Social support may be bolstered to aid clients in the search for meaningful and decent
work by, for example, incorporating mentoring into career development services. Indeed,
relational support across the varied context of people’s lives is an integral resource that
assists individuals in coping with challenges accompanying the decline of decent work
(Kenny, Blustein, . . . Meerkins, 2018).
Critical consciousness represents another malleable factor in the PWT model that
can decrease self-blame, enhance self-esteem, increase agency (Blustein, Duffy, et al.,
2019), and be targeted through a range of career development services (Kenny, Blustein,
Gutowski, . . . Meerkins, 2018; Kenny, Blustein, Liang, Klein, . . . Etchie, 2019). Critical
consciousness is defined as a critical analysis of social inequities, the motivation to en-
gender social change, and action taken to reduce such inequities (Watts, Diemer, . . .
Voight, 2011). Research has found higher levels of critical consciousness to be positively
associated with numerous beneficial vocational outcomes among marginalized youth
(Diemer . . . Blustein, 2006; McWhirter . . . McWhiter, 2016) and survivors of domestic
violence (Chronister . . . McWhirter, 2006). For example, in one experimental study of
73 female survivors of domestic violence, participants were assigned to one of two career
intervention groups. Both intervention groups received career interventions; however,
one group received an additional career intervention designed to enhance critical con-
sciousness. Those who received the additional critical consciousness intervention evi-
denced greater levels of self-efficacy in their career searches at post-test, and at 5-week
follow-up, these participants had made more progress toward their career goals. This
research has led career development scholars to argue for the integration of critical con-
sciousness enhancement activities in career interventions and broader public policy
efforts (Kenny et al., 2018). Importantly, the advancement of social justice is facilitated
when all persons examine their role in oppression. Thus, in addition to potential bene-
fits for those who have been marginalized by society, critical consciousness can serve to
enhance awareness of the systemic roots of injustice, decrease discrimination, and foster
a commitment to social justice among dominant groups (Blustein, Kenny, Di Fabio, et al.,
2019).
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
runojen syy kaikki tyyni. Lue jotakin muuta minulle, jotain vähän
iloisempaa."
Minä otin Lermontovin jälleen käsiini ja aloin sukkelaan selata

lehtiä edes takaisin. Mutta aina sain näkyviin sellaisia kappaleita,
jotka olisivat saattaneet uudestaan liikuttaa sairaan mieltä. Viimein
luin minä "Terekin lahjat".
"Kaunopuheista helyä!" sanoi sairas ystäväni koulumestarin

äänellä, "mutta on siinä sentään monta kaunistakin paikkaa. Minä
olen itse viime aikoina koettanut kirjoitella runomitalla ja alotin
runoelman, jolle aioin panna nimeksi 'Elämän kalkki', mutta ei siitä
tullut mitään. Me, ystäväni, saatamme tuntea samaan tapaan
runoilijain kanssa, mutta emme itse runoella. Vaan nyt minä olen
vähän väsyksissä ja koetan hiukan nukkua; etkö luule, että se olisi
hyvä? Onpa se kuitenkin ihana asia, se uni ja sitte unennäöt. Koko
meidän elämämme on pelkkää unta ja paras osa elämästä on uni ja
unennäöt."
"Entä runous sitte?" kysyin minä.
"Runous on itse uni, mutta paratiisillinen unennäkö."
Pasinkov sulki silmänsä.
Minä seisoin hetkisen hänen vuoteensa vieressä. En luullut hänen

nukkuvan niin pian, mutta vähitellen muuttuivat henkäykset yhtä
pitemmiksi ja tasaisemmiksi. Hiljaa poistuin minä huoneesta, menin
omaan huoneeseni ja heittäydyin pitkäkseni sohvalle.
Kauan pyöri ajatuksissani se, mitä nyt olin Pasinkovilta kuullut.

Koko joukko vanhoja muistoja palasi mieleeni ja kummastutti nyt
minua, mutta viimein minäkin nukuin.
Äkisti tunsin minä jonkun nykivän minua käsivarresta. Minä nousin

istumaan. Se oli Jelisei.
"Olkaa hyvä, tulkaa herran luo!" sanoi hän hätäisesti.
"Kuinka hän voi?"
"Hän hourailee."
"Houraileeko? Eikö hän ole ennen houraillut?"
"Ei, viime yönä ensi kerran, mutta nyt paljon kamalammin kuin
silloin."
Minä riensin Pasinkovin huoneesen. Hän ei maannut, vaan istui

vuoteellaan kumarruksissa eteen päin, leikitteli käsillään peitteen
päällä, hymyili ja puhui, puhui lakkaamatta niin heikolla ja
kaiuttomalla äänellä kuin tuulen suhina kaislikossa. Silmät hapuilivat
ympäri huonetta. Yölampun heikko valo, jota lattialla varjosti pystyyn
asetettu kirja, teki kattoon liikkumattoman valopaikan. Sairaan kasvot
näyttivät puolipimeässä vielä kalpeammilta kuin ennen.
Minä menin vuoteen viereen, puhuttelin häntä nimeltään, mutta en

saanut mitään vastausta. Minä kuuntelin tarkkaan hänen sekavaa
puhettansa. Hän haaveksi Siperiasta ja sen metsistä. Välistä tuli
järkevääkin ajatusta puheesen.
"Millaiset puut!" kuiskasi hän, "ylös taivaasen saakka!… Miten

paljo härmää niiden oksilla!… Hopea… Lunta… Tuossa on pikku
jälkiä… Tuo on jänis ja tuo valkoinen kärppä… Ei, isä se oli, joka
karkasi minun paperieni kanssa… Kas tuossa hän on… Ei, hän on
tuolla… Minun täytyy juosta jäljestä… Kuu paistaa niin, kirkkaasti…
Minun täytyy lähteä ja saada pois paperini… Ah, katsos pieni
kukka… Purppuran punainen pikku kukka… Tuollahan seisoo
Sofia… Kuules pikku kellojen helinää, pakanen se niin helisee… Ah,
ei, ne on noita tyhmiä tilhiä, jotka hyppivät ja visertelevät
pensaissa… Katsos vain kultakerttuja… Huh, miten on kylmä!…
Katsos, tuollahan on Asanov. Ai, hän onkin kanuuna, vaskinen
kanuuna, mutta lava on vihreä. Sentähden häntä juuri niin suuresti
suositaan… Oliko se lentotähti? Ei, se oli lentävä nuoli… Voi se
sattui minulle ihan kohti sydämmeen… Kuka sen ampui? Sinäkö,
pikku Sonja?"
Hän kumarsi päänsä alemmaksi ja alkoi mutista epäselviä sanoja.

Minä katsoin Jeliseitä. Hän seisoi, kädet seljän takana, ja katsoi
hyvin osanottavasti herraansa.
"Kuinka on, veli, onko sinusta tullut käytöllinen mies?" kysyi sairas
äkisti ja katsoi minuun niin selvästi ja ajattelevasti, että minä
tahtomattani säpsähdin ja yritin vastaamaan hänelle, mutta hän
jatkoi heti: "Minä, ystäväni, en ole tullut käytölliseksi mieheksi…
Minkäpä sille voi? Minä olen syntynyt haaveksijaksi…
Haaveksiminen, mielikuvitus… Mitä on mielikuvitus? Sohakevitsin
talonpoika [eräs henkilö Gogolin romaanissa: 'Kuolleet sielut'], se on
mielikuvitus… Voi voi!"
Pasinkov houraili lähelle aamua. Viimein hän rauhoittui, laski

päänsä tyynylle ja nukkui.
Minä palasin huoneeseni, kävin vuoteelle ja väsyneenä yön

valvonnasta ja levottomuudesta vaivuin minä heti raskaasen uneen.
Mutta taaskin minut herätti Jelisei.

"Voi, pikku isä", sanoi hän vapisevalla äänellä, "näyttää siltä, kuin
Jakov Ivanits olisi juuri kuolemaisillaan."
Minä juoksin Pasinkovin luo.
Hän makasi ihan hiljaa ja liikahtamatta. Aamun harmaassa

hämärässä näytti hän jo nyt kuolleelta. Hän katsoi minuun ja tunsi
minut.
"Jää hyvästi!" kuiskasi hän, "minä tunnen kuolevani! Kerro

terveisiä
Sofialle!"
"Jakov!" huudahdin minä, "ei, Jakov, sinun pitää elää!"
"Ei, minä kuolen… Kas tässä, ota tämä muistoksi minulta."
Hän osoitti rintaansa.
"Mitä tämä on?" virkahti hän äkisti kovemmalla äänellä.

"Katsokaahan… meri… kultainen meri, siniset saaret,
marmoritemppeli, palmuja, suitsutusta…"
Hän vaikeni, ojensihe suoraksi.
Puolen tunnin kuluttua hän oli kuollut. Jelisei heittäytyi itkien

maahan vuoteen viereen. Minä suljin kuolleen ystäväni silmät.
Pieni silkkikotelo riippui hänellä kaulassa mustasta nauhasta. Minä

otin sen.
Kolmen päivän kuluttua hänet haudattiin. Jaloin ihmissydän, kuin

minä koskaan olin tuntenut, oli siten ainiaaksi peitetty haudan
syvyyteen. Minä itse ensimmäiseksi heitin kourallisen multaa hänen
tomunsa päälle.
VII.
Kolme vuotta oli kulunut.
Tärkeät asiat pakottivat minua matkustamaan Moskovaan, ja

sinne saavuttuani asetuin erääsen kaupungin etevimpään
ravintolaan.
Eräänä päivänä asteessani porstuan poikki satuin katsahtamaan

mustaan tauluun, jossa matkustavaisten nimet olivat kirjoitettuna, ja
olinpa silloin vähällä huudahtaa. Kahdennentoista numeron vieressä
oli liidulla hyvin selvään kirjoitettuna Sofia Nikolajevna Asanov.
Viime aikoina olin minä sattumalta saanut kuulla koko joukon

ikäviä asioita hänen miehestään. Hän oli alkanut juoda ja pelata, oli
menettänyt kaiken omaisuutensa ja eli yleensä hyvin huonosti.
Hänen vaimostaan sitä vastoin puhuttiin suurella kunnioituksella.
Minä en voinut lukea tuota lyhyttä uutista taululta, tuntematta

liikutusta. Sydämmeni sykki kovasti ja ammoin sitte kylmenneet
tunteet alkoivat ikään kuin uudestaan herätä elämään. Minä palasin
huoneeseni ja päätin niin pian kuin mahdollista käydä tervehtimässä
Sofia Nikolajevnaa.
"Onhan siitä jo kauvan, kuin me erosimme", ajattelin, "luultavasti
hän jo on unhottanut kaikki, mitä silloin oli meidän välillämme."
Minä lähetin Jelisein, jonka olin Pasinkovin kuoleman jälkeen

ottanut omaan palvelukseeni, viemään hänelle nimikorttiani ja
kysymään, oliko hän kotona ja salliko hän minun tulla tervehtimään.
Muutaman silmänräpäyksen kuluttua palasi Jelisei ja ilmoitti Sofia

Nikolajevnan olevan kotona ja tahtovan ottaa vastaan minut.
Minä läksin heti.
Minun astuessani hänen huoneesensa seisoi hän keskellä lattiaa

ottamassa jäähyväisiä pitkäkasvuiselta, voimakasvartaloiselta
herralta.
"Kuten tahdotte", sanoi se herra karkealla ja kovalla äänellä,

"mutta hän ei suinkaan ole sellainen mies, joka ei tuottaisi mitään
vahinkoa. Hän on ihminen, joka ei ketään eikä mitään hyödytä, ja
hyvin järjestetyssä yhteiskunnassa on jokainen sellainen ihminen
vahingollinen, eittämättä vahingollinen olento."
Niin sanoen hän läksi.
Sofia Nikolajevna kääntyi minuun päin.
"Onpa siitä jo aikaa, kuin me viimeksi näimme toinen toisemme",

sanoi hän. "Olkaa hyvä, käykää istumaan."
Me istuuduimme.
Niinä parina minuuttina, jotka olivat kuluneet minun tulostani asti,

oli minulla ollut kylliksi tilaisuutta tarkemmin katsella Sofia
Nikolajevnaa. Nähdä pitkän ajan perästä kasvot, joiden joka piirre on
ollut niin rakas ja tuttu, tuntea ne piirteet eikä kuitenkaan oikein
tuntea niitä, ikään kuin entisen, vielä unhottumattoman kuvan sijaan
olisi tullut toinen, hyvin samankaltainen, mutta kuitenkin vieras kuva,
ja huomata silmänräpäyksessä kaikki nuo ajan hampaiden uudet
jäljet, eikö sellainen jälleen näkeminen herätä varsin suruisia
tunteita! Ja minä itse varmaankin olen yhtä paljon muuttunut,
ajattelee kukin itsekseen.
Muuten Sofia Nikolajevna ei suinkaan ollut vanhennut, mutta

silloin, kuin minä hänet viimeksi näin, hän oli äsken täyttänyt
kuusitoista vuotta ja siitä oli jo kulunut koko kymmenen vuotta.
Kasvojenpiirteet olivat tulleet säännöllisemmiksi ja ankarammiksi.
Kuten ennenkin näkyi niistä suoravaisuutta ja lujuutta, mutta entisen
levollisuuden sijassa oli nyt salaisen surun ja levottomuuden
merkkejä. Silmät olivat käyneet syvemmiksi ja mustemmiksi. Hän
alkoi olla äitinsä näköinen.
Sofia Nikolajevna alkoi puhelun.
"Me olemme molemmat paljon muuttuneet", sanoi hän. "Missä te

olette olleet koko tämän ajan?"
"Minä olen vaeltanut minkä missäkin, kaikkialla", vastasin minä.

"Ja oletteko te ainiaan oleskelleet maatilallanne?"
"Niin, enimmäkseen. Nytkin minä olen täällä ainoastaan

ohimatkalla."
"Entä vanhempanne?"
"Äitini on kuollut, mutta isäni elää yhä vielä Pietarissa. Veljelläni on
paikka virastossa, ja Vanja asuu heidän tykönänsä."
"Ja puolisonne?"
"Miehenikö?" vastasi hän äkisti. "Hän on nykyään Etelä-Venäjällä

markkinamatkoilla. Kuten tiedätte, rakasti hän aina hevosia, ja on nyt
perustanut tammakartanon. Siihen hän nyt matkustelee ostamassa
hevosia."
Juuri silloin aukeni äkisti ovi ja huoneesen astui

kahdeksanvuotinen tyttö, kasvot pienet, kapeat ja elävät, silmät
suuret, tummanharmaat ja tukka kammattu kiinalaisten tapaan.
Nähtyään minut hän hiukan niiasi ja juoksi sitte Sofia Nikolajevnan
luo.
"Tässä saan esitellä pikku tyttäreni", sanoi Sofia Nikolajevna,

ottaen häntä kiinni pienestä, pyöreästä leuasta. "Hän ei tahtonut
mitenkään jäädä kotiin, vaan kiusautui väkisin mukaan."
Tyttönen katsoi minua suurilla, vilkkailla silmillään, sulkien ne

välistä puoleksi, ikäänkuin voidakseen paremmin tarkastaa minua.
"Eikö ole reipas pikku tyttö minulla?" jatkoi Sofia Nikolajevna. "Hän
ei pelkää mitään, ja hyvin sukkela hän on lukemaan, saatan minä
sanoa hänen kiitokseksensa."
"Mikä on tämän herran nimi?" kysyi tyttö hiljaa, äitiinsä nojaten.
Sofia Nikolajevna sanoi minun nimeni. Tyttönen katsoi minuun

taas.
"Ja mikä on teidän nimenne?" kysyin minä vuorostani.

"Minun nimeni on Lydia", vastasi hän, katsoen minua suoraan
silmiin.
"Ja tietysti lellitellään hyvin pikku Lydiaa", sanoin minä leikillä.
"Kukapa minua lelliltelisi?" vastasi hän välinpitämättömästi.
"Kukako? arvattavasti kaikki, ensinnä vanhempanne."
Tyttönen katsoi vaiti äitiinsä.
"Minä arvelen", jatkoin minä, "että Konstantin Aleksandrits…"
"Tietysti", virkkoi Sofia Nikolajevna keskeyttäen ja hänen

tyttärensä yhä katsoi häneen tarkkaavasti, "mieheni tietysti rakastaa
suuresti lapsiansa."
Lydian pienet, järkevät kasvot värähtivät omituisesti vaikka hyvin

nopeasti. Hän käänsi katseensa alas päin ja hymy leikitteli hänen
pienillä huulillansa.
"Sanokaas", virkkoi Sofia Nikolajevna äkisti melkein yhteen

jatkoon edellisen puheensa kanssa, "oletteko täällä
asioimismatkalla?"
"Olen. Te ehkä olette myöskin?"
"Niin, olen minäkin. Mieheni poissa ollessa, arvaattehan, minun

tietysti täytyy hoitaa koko joukko asioita."
"Äiti!" virkkoi Lydia väliin.
"Mitä, lapseni?"
"Ei, ei mitään, minä sanon sitte perästä päin."
Sofia Nikolajevna hymyili ja nykäytti olkapäitänsä.
Me olimme molemmat vaiti ja Lydia pani kätensä hyvin arvokkaasti

ristiin ryntäilleen.
"Sanokaas", alkoi Sofia Nikolajevna uudestaan, "minä muistan,

että teillä oli ystävä, mikä hänen nimensä nyt taas olikaan? Hän
näytti niin hyvältä ja ystävälliseltä ja aina hän tahtoi lukea meille
runoutta. Hän oli hyvin haaveksivan näköinen."
"Tarkoitatteko kaiketi Pasinkovia?"
"Niin, häntä juuri, Pasinkovia. Missä hän nyt on?"
"Hän on kuollut."
"Kuollutko, joko kuollut!" toisteli Sofia Nikolajevna hiljaa. "Ah,

vahinko, vahinko miestä."
"Olenko minä nähnyt häntä, äiti?" kysyi pikku tyttö hiljaa kuiskaten.
"Ei, et ole, Lydia. Ah, mikä vahinko", kertoi Sofia Nikolajevna vielä
kerran.
"Te surkuttelette hänen kuolemaansa nyt", aloin minä kehitellä

keskustelua, "mutta mitäpäs olisitte sanoneet, jos olisitte tunteneet
häntä siten, kuin minä tunsin. Mutta sallikaa minun kysyä, kuinka
tulitte nyt puhumaan hänestä?"
"Niin, enpä tiedä oikein itsekään." Sofia Nikolajevnan katse kääntyi

alas päin. "Lydia", sanoi hän, "mene opettajatätisi luo!"
"Huudathan minua takaisin heti, kuin saan jälleen tulla?" pyysi
tyttö.
"Kyllä, kyllä minä huudan."
Tyttö meni. Sofia Nikolajevna käänsi katseensa kohti minua.
"Minä pyytäisin teitä kertomaan kaikki, mitä tiedätte Pasinkovista."
Minä aloin kertoa. Lyhyin piirtein kuvasin minä ystäväni koko

elämän, koettaen tehdä niin tarkan kuvan, kuin suinkin osasin,
hänen sisällisesti olemuksestaan ja kerroin lopuksi meidän viimeisen
yhtymisemme ja hänen kuolemansa.
"Niin, sellainen hän oli", lausuin viimeksi, "se mies, joka nyt on
mennyt pois ilman kiitosta, huomiota ja ihmisten hyväksymistä! Ja
ehkäpä ei maksa vaivaakaan valitella tuota puutetta. Sillä mitäpä
merkitsee ihmisten kiitos? Mutta minusta tuntuu tuskalliselta, jopa
loukkaavaltakin, että sellaisen miehen, jolla on sydän niin täynnä
rakkautta ja hellyyttä, piti kuolla, saamatta kertaakaan maistaa
vastarakkauden autuutta, voimatta herättää hellää myötätuntoisuutta
yhdenkään naisen sydämmessä, joka olisi ollut kyllin arvokas
hänelle. Olkoonpa niinkin, että mies sellainen, kuin me muut, ei
myöskään saa maistaa tätä autuutta, hän ei sitä ansaitsekaan, mutta
Pasinkov! Ja enkö minä ole elämässäni tavannut monta sataa
miestä, joita ei käy millään tavalla verrata häneen, mutta joita
kuitenkin nuoret, jalot naiset ovat rakastaneet! Täytyykö viimeinkin
uskoa, että muutamia vikoja, esimerkiksi itserakkautta tai
kevytmielisyyttä, täytyy välttämättä olla miehessä, ennenkuin nainen
voi kiinnittää sydämmensä häneen? Taikka pelkääkö rakkaus
täydellisyyttä, minä tarkoitan: inhimillistä, täällä maan päällä
mahdollista täydellisyyttä, katsooko se sitä vieraaksi ja
vaaralliseksi?"
Sofia Nikolajevna kuunteli minua loppuun asti, kääntämättä

ankaraa, tutkivaa katsettansa pois minusta. Hänen huulensa olivat
kovasti yhteen puristetut ja välistä rypisti hän hiukan kulmiansa.
"Minkä tähden oletatte", sanoi hän, oltuaan hetkisen vaiti, "ett'ei

kukaan nainen rakastanut, teidän ystäväänne?"
"Sentähden, että minä sen tiedän, että minä tiedän sen ihan
varmaan."
Sofia Nikolajevna aikoi sanoa jotakin, mutta pysyi vaiti. Hän näytti
taistelevan sisällistä taistelua itsensä kanssa.
"Ja kuitenkin olette siinä luulossanne väärässä", sanoi hän

viimein. "Minä tunnen nuoren naisen, joka sydämmestään rakasti
teidän ystävävainajatanne ja rakastaa häntä vieläkin, ja hänen
kuolemansa sanoma koskee häneen kovasti."
"Sallikaa minun kysyä, kuka se nainen on?"
"Se on minun sisareni, Varja."
"Varvara Nikolajevna!" ihmettelin minä.
"Hän juuri."
"Kuinka se on mahdollista? Varvara Nikolajevna, joka…"
"Minä sanon loppuun teidän ajatuksenne", jatkoi Sofia

Nikolajevna, "hän teidän mielestänne kylmä, välinpitämätön, säveä
olento, hän rakasti teidän ystäväänne. Juuri sentähden hän ei ole
mennyt naimisiin eikä myöskään koskaan mene. Tähän hetkeen asti
ei ole kukaan muu kuin minä tiennyt hänen salaisuuttansa. Varja
ennemmin kuolisi kuin itse puhuisi sitä kellekään. Meidän
perheessämme osataan olla vaiti ja kärsiä."
Minä katsoin kauan ja tutkivasti Sofia Nikolajevnaa. Viimeisten

sanojensa katkeralla ääntämisellä oli hän itse tahtomattaan ilmaissut
tuskallisen salaisuuden.
"Teidän sananne kummastuttavat minua hyvin", sanoin minä

viimein, "mutta tietäkääs, Sofia Nikolajevna, jos en pelkäisi
johdattavani teille mieleen ikäviä muistoja, voisin minäkin vuorostani
saada teidät yhtä suuresti kummastumaan."
"Minä en käsitä teitä", vastasi hän hitaasti ja nähtävän

levottomasti.
"Ei, te ette voikaan käsittää minun puhettani", sanoin minä,

nousten ylös, "ja minä pyydän sen tähden saada suullisen selityksen
sijasta lähettää teille yhden ainoan pikku kotelon."
"Mutta mitä oikeastaan tarkoitatte?" kysyi hän.
"Älkää olko levoton, Sofia Nikolajevna, en minä itseäni tarkoita."
Minä kumarsin jäähyväisiksi ja palasin huoneeseni, otin käsille sen

pienen silkkikotelon, jonka olin ottanut Pasinkovilta hänen
kuolinvuoteellaan, ja lähetin sen Sofia Nikolajevnalle ynnä
seuraavan kirjeen:
"Tätä koteloa kantoi ystävävainajani lakkaamatta ja vasta

kuolinhetkenään pyysi hän minua ottamaan sitä haltuuni. Siinä on
pieni kirje teiltä hänelle, sisällykseltään aivan mitätön, kuten itse
huomaatte, jos viitsitte lukea sen. Hän kantoi sitä siitä syystä, että
hän rakasti teitä sydämmestänsä. Vasta kuolemansa edellisenä
iltana hän minulle ilmaisi elämänsä salaisuuden. Ja miksikä ette nyt,
kun hän on kuollut, tekin saattaisi saada tietää, että hänenkin
sydämmensä oli teidän omanne."
Hetkisen kuluttua toi Jelisei takaisin kotelon.
"Eikö hän käskenyt sinua mitään sanomaan minulle?" kysyin minä.
"Ei, ei mitään."
Minä olin vähän aikaa vaiti.
"Lukiko hän minun kirjeeni?"
"Kyllä kaiketi hän on lukenut. Kammarineitsyt otti sen minulta ja

antoi hänelle."
"Luopääsemätön!" ajattelin minä itsekseni ja samassa johtuivat

mieleeni
Pasinkovin viimeiset sanat hänestä.
"Vai niin, no, sitte ei ole muuta tällä kertaa; saat mennä nyt."
Mutta Jelisei ei mennyt, vaan seisoi paikoillaan ja hymyili erittäin

omituisella tavalla.
"Eräs tyttö on tullut tapaamaan teitä", alkoi hän.
"Mikä tyttö?"
Jelisei oli vaiti. Viimein hän sanoi:

"Eikö herra vainaja mitään puhunut teille eräästä tytöstä?"
"Ei, mitä sinä nyt lörpöttelet?"
"Kun herra vainaja oli Novgorodissa", jatkoi Jelisei, nojaten toisella

kädellään ovenpieleen, "tutustui hän, jos niin saan sanoa, erääsen
tyttöön. Se sama tyttö se nyt tahtoisi päästä teidän puheillenne.
Muutama päivä sitte tapasin minä hänet kadulla ja sanoin hänelle:
'Tule sinä vain; jos herra sallii, kyllä minä päästän sinut sisään'."
"Tietysti minä otan hänet vastaan, pyydä häntä tulemaan sisään.

Mutta, maltahan vielä, millainen tyttö se on?"
"Yksinkertainen, köyhä tyttö, käsityöläisen tytär, venäläinen

tietysti."
"Luuletko Jakov Ivanitsin olleen rakastuneen häneen millään

tavalla?"
"Kyllä hän piti hänestä aina. Ja tyttö, niin, kun hän sai tietää, että
herra oli kuollut, oli hän joutua surusta aivan mielettömäksi. Muuten
ei ole mitään sanottavaa hänestä. Hyvä ja kelpo tyttö hän on."
"Pyydä häntä sisään."
Jelisei meni ja palasi heti takaisin, seurassaan nuori tyttö, yllä

kirjava karttuunileninki ja suuri tummavärinen huivi, joka puoleksi
peitti hänen kasvonsa ja ulottui alas aina vyötäisiin asti. Nähtyään
minut kainostui hän ja yritti peräytymään.
"Kas niin, menkää sisään, älkää peljätkö!" sanoi Jelisei.
Minä menin vastaan ja otin häntä kädestä tervehdykseksi.

"Mikä teidän nimenne on?" kysyin minä.
"Maria", vastasi hän hiljaa ja katsoi minuun arasti.
Hän näytti olevan kahden- ja kolmen kolmatta välillä. Pienet,

pyöreät kasvot olivat varsin tavalliset, mutta hyvin miellyttävät, silmät
pienet, siniset ja iho terve. Pienet kädet olivat hyvin kauniit ja ihan
puhtaat ja koko puku siisti ja kelvollinen.
"Olitteko tuttu Jakov Ivanitsin kanssa?" kysyin minä.
"Olin", sanoi hän, näpelöittäen huivinsa nurkkia, ja silmät

kyyneltyivät.
Minä pyysin häntä istumaan.
Enempää käskettämättä istahti hän teeskentelemättä tuolin

laidalle.
Minun viittauksestani jätti Jelisei meidät kahden kesken.
"Novgorodissako te tulitte tutuiksi?" jatkoin minä kyselemistäni.
"Niin", sanoi hän ja pisti molemmat kätensä huivin nurkkien alle.

"Vasta minä toissa päivänä sain Jelisei Timofejitsilta kuulla, että hän
on kuollut. Siperiaan lähtiessään lupasi Jakov Ivanits kirjoittaa
minulle ja kahdesti hän kirjoittikin, mutta ei sitte enää. Minä olisin
tahtonut matkustaa hänen luoksensa Siperiaan, mutta hän ei
tahtonut."
"Onko teillä sukulaisia Novgorodissa?"
"On."
"Asuitteko heidän luonansa?"

"Minä asuin yhdessä äitini ja naidun sisareni kanssa. Mutta sitte
rupesi äitini minulle pahaksi ja sisarelleni alkoi asunto käydä
ahtaaksi, hänellä kun oli monta lasta: niinpä minun täytyi muuttaa
pois. Minä luotin, aina Jakov Pasinkoviin enkä toivonut mitään muuta
kuin saada katsella häntä. Hän oli aina niin hyvä ja ystävällinen
minua kohtaan. Kysykää Jelisei Timofejitsilta, hän kyllä tietää."
Tyttö oli hetkisen vaiti.
"Minulla on hänen kirjeensä kanssani", jatkoi hän, "niistä voitte

nähdä."
Hän otti muutamia kirjeitä taskustaan ja ojensi ne minulle.
"Olkaa hyvä, lukekaa."
Minä avasin yhden niistä ja tunsin heti Pasinkovin käsialan.
"Rakas pikku Maria!" oli siinä kirjoitettuna suurilla, selvillä

kirjaimilla. "Eilen nojasit pikku päätäsi minun päätäni vasten, ja kun
kysyin, miksi niin teit, vastasit sinä: minä tahdon kuulla, mitä te
ajattelette. Nyt minä sanon sinulle, mitä ajattelin. Minä ajattelin:
miten olisi hyvä, että Maria oppisi lukemaan ja kirjoittamaan! Silloin
sinä osaisit itse lukea tämänkin kirjeen."
Maria katsahti kirjettä.
"Sen hän kirjoitti minulle", sanoi hän "kun hän vielä oli
Novgorodissa ja ryhtyi opettamaan minua lukemaan ja kirjoittamaan.
Katsokaa toisiakin kirjeitä. On siellä niitä Siperiastakin. Olkaa hyvä ja
lukekaa ne."
Minä luin kaikki kirjeet. Ne olivat kaikki kirjoitetut hyvin
ystävällisesti, jopa hellästikin. Ensimmäisessä Siperiasta lähetetyssä
kirjeessä nimitti Pasinkov Mariaa paraaksi ystäväkseen, lupasi
lähettää hänelle rahaa Siperian matkaa varten ja lopussa olivat
seuraavat rivit:
"Minä suutelon sinun sieviä pikku käsiäsi. Täällä ei ole

ainoatakaan tyttöä, jolla olisi sellaiset kädet kuin sinulla. Eivätkä he
ole sinun kaltaisiasi päänsäkään, vielä vähemmin sydämmensä
puolesta. Lue niitä kirjoja, jotka minä annoin sinulle ja muistele
välistä minua. Minä en unhota sinua. Sinä olet ainoa, ihan ainoa,
joka vähän pidät minusta. Sen tähden minäkin olen yksistään sinun
omasi!"
"Kyliä näen, että hän oli hyvin rakastunut teihin", sanoin minä
antaessani tytölle kirjeet takaisin.
"Niin, kyllä hän piti paljon minusta", vastasi Maria kainosti ja kätki
kirjeet huolellisesti taskuunsa, kyynelien sill'aikaa hiljaa juostessa
pitkin hänen poskiansa. "Minä luotin aina häneen. Jos Jumala olisi
antanut hänen elää, hän ei suinkaan olisi hyljännyt minua. Antakoon
Jumala hänelle ijankaikkisen autuuden taivaan valtakunnassa."
Hän pyyhki huivinsa nurkalla kyyneleet pois kasvoiltansa.
"Missä te nyt asutte?" kysyin minä.
"Nykyään minä asun täällä Moskovassa. Minä tulin tänne

palvelijaksi eräälle leskirouvalle, mutta olen nyt paikan puutteessa.
Minä kävin Jakov Ivanitsin tädin luona, mutta hän on itsekin hyvin
köyhä eikä voinut auttaa minua. Jakov Ivanits puhui usein teistä",
sanoi hän nousten ja syvään niiaten, "hän rakasti teitä ja muisteli
teitä usein. Kun tässä eräänä päivänä lapasin Jelisei Timofejitsin,
ajattelin minä: Mahdollisesti te ehkä autatte minua koska minulla nyt
ei ole paikkaa eikä turvaa."
"Sen minä tietysti teenkin, Maria… Suokaa anteeksi, mikä te olette

isänne nimeltä?"
"Petrovna", vastasi tyttö, maahan katsoen.
"Minä teen, mitä suinkin voin teidän avuksenne, Maria Petrovna",

jatkoin minä, "ikävä vain että minä olen täällä matkalla enkä tunne
täällä montakaan hyvää perhettä."
Maria huokasi.
"Jospa minä vain saisin paikan, millaisen hyvänsä. Minä en osaa

leikata, mutta ommella minä osaan mitä hyvänsä; voisin minä ottaa
lapsiakin hoitaakseni."
"Jospa minä voisin antaa hänelle vähän rahaa", ajattelin minä

itsekseni, "mutta mitenkähän se kävisi päinsä?"
"Kuulkaas, Maria Petrovna", aloin minä vähän neuvottomasti,

"minä pyydän, älkää pahastuko, mutta tiedättehän Pasinkovin omista
sanoista, mitenkä hyvät ystävät me olimme. Antakaa minun sen
tähden tarjota teille vain pieni, mitätön summa, ensimmäisiksi
tarpeiksi, kunnes saatte paikan."
Maria katsoi minuun kummastellen.
"Mitä te tarkoitatte?" kysyi hän hiljaa.
"Ettekö tarvitse vähän rahaa?" selitin minä.

The Oxford Handbook of Career Development Peter J Robertson Full Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Oxford Handbook of Career Development Peter J Robertson Full Chapter

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Oxford Handbook of Career Development Peter J Robertson Full Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Oxford Handbook of Career

Development Peter J. Robertson

The Oxford Handbook

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

© Oxford University Press 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

You must not circulate this work in any other form

Library of Congress Cataloging-­in-­Publication Data

About the Editors vii

Name Index 371

Subject Index 381

Peter J. Robertson is a qualified career adviser and a chartered psychologist. He

Tristram Hooley is a researcher and writer specializing in career and career

Phil McCash is a qualified career development practitioner with experience of

Sajma Aravind Maria Eduarda Duarte

1. Introduction: Rethinking Career Development 1

Name Index 371

xii Table of Contents

Career development matters. It matters to individuals, because it significantly determines

Keywords: career, career development, career theory, transdisciplinarity, vocational

Origins of the Career Development Field

2 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 3

4 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Life Course Development

Introduction: Rethinking career development 5

What Is Career Development?

6 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Career Development Theory

Introduction: Rethinking career development 7

Why We Created This Handbook

8 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 9

10 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Career Development as an Inclusive Term

The Centrality of Learning

Introduction: Rethinking career development 11

The Structure of the Book

12 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 13

14 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 15

16 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 17

18 Phil McCash, Tristram Hooley, Peter J. Robertson

Introduction: Rethinking career development 19

Ellen R. Gutowski, David L. Blustein, Maureen E. Kenny, and Whitney Erby

Causes of the Decline in Decent Work

Consequences of the Decline in Decent Work

Consequences for Community and Society

Implications for career development 25

Critiques of Traditional Theories

Implications for career development 27

Implications for Career Development: The Psychology of

Implications for Intervention

Individual and Group Intervention

accompanied by systemic change, career development services that bolster individual

Implications for career development 29

Minä otin Lermontovin jälleen käsiini ja aloin sukkelaan selata

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data