WEEK 6 - MODERN: SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER MODEL - LENT, BROWN, HACKETT

Week 6 - February 23^rd

Cognitive Theories

Crites (1969) identified three broad overlapping eras to describe the evolution of career and development theory building which are:  Observational, Empirical, and Theoretical.

Theoretical Era can be subdivided into two categories labeled modern and postmodern.  Modern theories began in the 1950s with postmodern emerging in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Name of Theory:  Social Learning/Cognitive Career Theories (SLT)

Dates:  Modern Theory--appeared in the 1950s - sometime in the 1980s

Theorist:  Robert Lent, Steven Brown, & Gail Hackett

Main Concept/Ideas:

Social Cognitive Learning Theory (SLT) by Robert W. Lent, S.D. Brown, and G. Hackett

Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (SLTCDM) by John Krumboltz and Learning theory of Career Choice and Counseling (LTCC)

·         Derived from the general learning theory of Albert Bandura

·         Assumes that people’s personalities and behavioral repertoires can be explained most usefully on the basis of their unique learning experiences while still acknowledging the roles played by innate and developmental processes

SLT:  Self-Efficacy

Efficacy Expectancy (Self-Efficacy beliefs)

·         Self judgements about whether “I am capable of doing what is necessary to achieve an outcome”

Outcome Expectations

·         Personal beliefs that behaviors will lead to certain outcomes: If I do this then this will happen.”

·         “We tend to do things that we believe we can be successful at and will lead to desired outcomes.”

SLT:  2 major types of learning experiences

·         Instrumental Learning experiences

·         Involves reward and punishment

·         Reward-increases likelihood of repeating the behavior

·         Punishment-decreases likelihood of repeating the behavior

·         Associate Learning experiences

·         Consists of neutral experience paired with a positive/negative stimulus or consequence

·         Vicarious Experiences – observation of others engaged in activities

·         Social Persuasion/Conditioning – dis/encouragement through social messages

 

Social Learning Theories

·         Individuals are strongly influenced by instrumental and associative learning experiences to determine career options.

Krumboltz’s Theory:  Intro

·         Has evolved over time to include 3 unique parts:

·         Part 1:  Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (1979)

·         Explains what career counselors can do about many career related problems

·         Part 2:  Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Counseling

·         Explains what career counselors can do about many career related problems

·         Part 3:  Planned Happenstance Theory (1999; 2009)

·         Recognizes influence of chance events on career path and our ability to increase likelihood of those

Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Decision Making (SLTCDM)

·         Designed to address, the WHY behind decisions to enter, change, or express interest in career paths

·         Four factors that influence career path

·         Genetic endowment and special abilities

·         Environmental conditions and events

·         Learning Experiences

·         Task Approach skills

1.       Genetic endowments are innate abilities, talents, as well as physical self (race, gender, appearance, etc.)

2.      Environmental conditions and events are factors being one’s control, such as forces of nature, technological advances, or changes in society, economy, or culture

3.      Learning Experiences are instrumental and associative learning

4.      Task Approach skills are how an individual approaches completing tasks (emotional responses, work habits, personal standards of performance)

Krumboltz’s (SLTCDM)

·         As a result of the interaction of the four factors people develop

·         Self-observation generalizations

·         Evaluation (covert and overt) of one’s own performance or assessing one’s own interest and values

·         World-view generalizations

·         Observations about environment (Nature and functioning of world) which is used to predict what will occur in the future and other environments

·         As a result of learning experiences and the generalizations and skills that develop from them, individuals engage in various behaviors that lead to entry into a career

Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Counseling

·         Overall Goal of the Theory: “is to facilitate the learning skills, interests, beliefs, values, work habits and personal qualities that enable each client to create a satisfying life within a constantly changing work environment”

·         Counselors use LTCC to help clients:

·         Acquire more accurate self-observations generalizations

·         Acquire more accurate worldview generalizations

·         Learn new task approach skills

·         Take appropriate career-related actions

·         Designed to help career counselors know what to do to help

·         Four fundamental trends

·         People to expand their capabilities and interest, not base decisions on existing characteristics only

·         People need to prepare for changing work tasks, not assume that occupations will remain stable

·         People need to be empowered to take action not merely to be given a diagnosis

·         Career counselors need to play a major role in dealing with all career problems, not just occupational selection

·         Intervention Components of the Theory

 

·         Developmental and preventive

·         Career education programs

·         School-to-work initiatives

·         Job clubs

·         Study materials

·         Simulations; observations; job shadowing; internships, etc.

·         Target and remedial

·         Goal clarification

·         Cognitive restricting

·         Cognitive rehearsal

·         Narrative analysis

·         Paradoxical intention

Assessment

·         When interpreting interest inventories, ask questions to spark conversation, such as:

·         “What happened to discourage your interest in these areas?”

·         “If you wanted to develop an interest in this area, how would you go about it?”

·         Rather than merely reporting results, engage in dialogue about results that encourages exploration of options

Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz)

The five heading describe categories of beliefs:

·         My Current Career Situation

·         What Seems Necessary for My Happiness

·         Factors that Influence My Decisions

·         Changes I Am Willing to Make

·         Effort I Am Willing to Initiate

*Designed to help identify self-limiting thoughts about career options and begin to recognize and address self-defeating behavior

Planned Happenstance Theory (Mitchell, Levin, & Krumboltz 1999)

·         Happenstance is describing chance factors or unexpected life events

·         2/3 believe their careers are significantly influenced by “serendipitous” or chance events (Betsworth and Hansen, 1996)

·         Directly contrasts with rational planning or matching strategies of career counseling

·         Key to Planned happenstance theory is that we can prepare for and even create opportunities for unexpected events

·         Career counselors assist clients in developing five skills:

·         Curiosity

·         Persistence

·         Flexibility

·         Optimism

·         Risk taking

Two important concepts underlie planned happenstance theory:

1.      Exploration of options, interests, and abilities generate chance opportunities for improving quality of life, and

2.      Developing necessary skills allow people to seize opportunities when they arise

Krumboltz Theory:  Summary

·         Planned Happenstance and flexibility

·         Indecision vs. Open-mindedness

·         The restrictiveness of congruence

·         Evaluating effectiveness

·         Has the client engaged in new learning activities?

·         Has the client made efforts to create a more satisfying life?

·         Evaluating Krumboltz’s Theory

·         How does it compare to other theories?

·         Address multicultural issues?

Links to Articles or Videos: 

https://elearn.etsu.edu/d2l/le/content/6249282/viewContent/38591104/View

https://elearn.etsu.edu/d2l/le/content/6249282/viewContent/38399266/View