Adult Career Changers: A Developmental Context

✍ Scribed by MARGARETHA S. LUCAS

• Book ID: 102292907
• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 247 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-0787
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.1999.tb01013.x

✦ Synopsis

Adults requesting career guidance a t a counseling center completed a problemchecklist and the Identity, Information, and Barriers scales of the My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger. & Power, 1980) inventory. Respondents indicated a need for information on careers: lack of clarity regarding interests, talents. and goals: and worries about self-confidence, independence, and assertiveness. Suggestions are given regarding appropriate interventions. Erikson (1963) theorized that young adults have resolved the crisis of ego identity versus role diffusion. In the area of career development, this suggests that one can expect adults to know themselves and their career interests and capabilities. Furthermore, the real world experiences of adults in employment can be assumed to have helped them clanfy goals, interests, and talents. It seems, however, that many of the career problems young adults face remain related and parallel to confused self-images (Spokane & Hawks, 1990).

The current study was undertaken to explore what kinds of problems working adults present when they seek career counseling. The study was designed to assess not only the participants' level of career identity development (i.e., their clarity of careergoals), but also which concrete career or personal problems they were facing. It was assumed that this combination of theoretical and practical information would provide career counselors with suggestions regarding interventions.

METHOD

Setting and Participants