The Viability of Career Maturity Theory: A Developmental—Contextual Perspective

✍ Scribed by Fred W. Vondracek; Matthias Reitzle

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 743 KB
• Volume: 47
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0889-4019
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-0045.1998.tb00724.x

✦ Synopsis

The critical role of the timing of person-context interactions is important in the conceptualization of the school-to-work transition. It is argued that career maturity, with its focus on the individual and its ties to stage models and notions of age-appropriateness, gives insufficient attention to the particular contexts of time and culture within which it may be observed. The use of recent advances in developmental theory is suggested as a viable alternative for understanding developmental transitions. Findings from the research literature and from a recent study of young adults from former East Germany and former West Germany are cited in support of this proposal. These findings highlight limitations of the construct of career maturity in showing how individual differences and contextual factors contribute to the school-to-work transition in contrasting environments of former East and West Germany.