ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education (ACVE) ARCHIVE

Career Development: Issues of Gender, Race, and Class

Information Series No. 371
by Wanda L. Stitt-Gohdes
Order No. IN 371, Price $8.00
Ordering Information

Career choice implies that an individual has options available. However, issues of gender, race, and class may constrain the occupational choices an individual makes. Dominant career development theories are being reexamined for their appropriateness to diverse groups. This paper reviews such theories as Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, and Herma’s; Holland’s Career Typology; Super’s Theory of Vocational Choice; Social Cognitive Career Theory; and recent work by Gottfredson and Bandura. The review shows how vocational choice is influenced by one’s self-concept and sextyping of occupations, as well as by environmental factors.

Specific issues and barriers are presented: for women, the effect of socialization on self-efficacy; for African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans, the influence of internal and external attitudes and factors, and for low-income groups, the effects of economic circumstances and social attitudes. Career counseling strategies that address issues of gender, race, and class are derived from career development theory. The importance of the role of the classroom teacher, who may be even more influential than the guidance counselor, is stressed.

Information on career development issues of gender, race, and class may be found in the ERIC system using the following descriptors: *Career Choice, *Career Development, Counseling Techniques, *Females, Low Income, *Minority Groups, *Occupational Aspiration, Self Efficacy, *Social Class, Social Cognition, Teacher Role, Theories. Asterisks indicated descriptors that are particularly relevant.