Brown S.D., Lent R. (Editors). Career development and counseling: putting theory and research to work
Подождите немного. Документ загружается.
246 I
NFORMATIVE
R
ESEARCH
reported that African American managers experienced same-race relationships to
be more supportive than their cross-racial relationships at work.
Although job satisfaction has been a central variable in the history of research
on career development, there is still a great deal of work to be done concerning
the satisfaction of people of color in the workplace. Whereas the majority of re-
search has addressed African Americans, there are rich opportunities to address
job satisfaction with other groups as well.
SUMMARY
People of color represent an ever-increasing proportion of the U.S. population and
labor force. Although people of color were historically neglected in the career
de
velopment literature, a substantial amount of new research has been produced
within a relatively short time period, reflecting broader trends toward multicul-
turalism in career counseling and vocational psychology. More often than not,
traditional career theories have been found to be valid for people of color (at least
in the published literature), yet a number of substantial and pernicious problems
exist that limit both research and application. In addition, however, research has
demonstrated that there are clear differences between people of color and Whites
on a host of important career development variables. Although a number of racial-
ethnic group-specific theories of career development have appeared in the litera-
ture (e.g., Cheatham, 1990; Fouad & Bingham, 1996; Leong & Hartung, 1997), very
little research has been produced on these models. Furthermore, it is readily ap-
parent from data arising from a variety of sources that education, employment,
and income disparities have been produced and maintained across time by com-
plexly interacting factors at both micro- and macrolevels of U.S. society. Indeed,
although career counselors typically work with clients individually and in small
groups, the career development of persons of color is influenced more broadly
and substantially by larger historical, cultural, and systemic factors that are
often beyond the reach of counseling interventions that target individuals.
REFERENCES
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, &
Na
tional Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and psy-
chological testing. Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychological Association. (2002). Guidelines on multicultural education, training,
research, practice, and organizational change for psychologists. Ava ilable from American
Psychological Association web site, www.apa.org.
Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological testing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Arbona, C. (1990). Career counseling research and Hispanics: A review of the literature.
Counseling Psychologist, 18, 300–323.
Arbona, C. (1995). Theory and research on racial and ethnic minorities: Hispanic Ameri-
cans. In F. T. L. Leong (Ed.), Career development and vocational behavior of racial ethnic mi-
norities (pp. 37–66). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Arbona, C. (2000). Practice and research in career counseling and development—1999.
Career Development Quarterly, 49, 98–134.
Arbona, C., & Novy, D. M. (1990). Noncognitive dimensions as predictors of college suc-
cess among Black, Mexican-American, and White students. Journal of College Student
Development, 31, 415–422.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 246
Career Development in Context: Research with People of Color 247
Armstrong, P. I., Hubert, L., & Rounds, J. (2003). Circular unidimensional scaling: A new
look at group differences in interest structure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50,
297–308.
Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2003). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha
and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. Manuscript in preparation.
Available from http://economics.uchicago.edu/download/_DISCRIMINATION.pdf.
Bingham, R. P., & Ward, C. M. (1994). Career counseling with ethnic minority women. In
W. B. Walsh & S. H. Osipow (Eds.), Career counseling for women: Contemporary topics in
vocational psychology (pp. 165–195). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Blustein, D. L., & Ellis, M. V. (2000). The cultural context of career assessment. Journal of
Career Assessment, 8, 379–390.
Bores-Rangel, E., Church, A. T., Szendre, D., & Reeves, C. (1990). Self-efficacy in relation
to occupational consideration and academic performance in high school equivalency
students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 407–418.
Brown, D. (2000). Theory and the school-to-work transition: Are the recommendations
suitable for cultural minorities? Career Development Quarterly, 48, 370–375.
Brown, M. T. (1995). The career development of African Americans: Theoretical and em-
pirical issues. In F. T. L. Leong (Ed.), Career development and vocational behavior of racial
ethnic minorities (pp. 7–36). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2003). Labor force statistics from the current population survey.
Available from Bureau of Labor Statistics web site: http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm.
Burlew, A. K., & Johnson, J. L. (1992). Role conflict and career advancement among
African American women in nontraditional professions. Career Development Quarterly,
40, 302–312.
Byars, A. M., & McCubbin, L. D. (2001). Trends in career development research with
racial/ethnic minorities. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexan-
der (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 633–654). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Carter, R. T., & Constantine, M. G. (2000). Career maturity, life role salience, and
racial/ethnic identity among Black and Asian American college students. Journal of
Career Assessment, 8, 173–187.
Carter, R. T., & Cook, D. A. (1992). A culturally relevant perspective for understanding
the career paths of visible racial/ethnic group people. In H. D. Lea & Z. B. Leibowitz
(Eds.), Adult career development (pp. 192–217). Alexandria, VA: National Career Devel-
opment Association.
Catsambis, S. (1994). The path to math: Gender and racial-ethnic differences in mathe-
matics participation from middle school to high school. Sociology of Education, 67,
199–215.
Cheatham, H. E. (1990). Africentricity and career development of African Americans.
Ca
reer Development Quarterly, 38, 334–346.
Chung, Y. B. (2002). Career decision-making self-efficacy and career commitment: Gen-
der and ethnic differences among college students. Journal of Career Development, 28(4),
277–284.
Chung, Y. B., Baskin, M. L., & Case, A. B. (1999). Career development of black males: Case
studies. Journal of Career Development, 25, 161–171.
Chung, Y. B., Loeb, J. W., & Gonzo, S. T. (1996). Factors predicting the educational and
ca
reer aspirations of black college freshman. Journal of Career Development, 23, 127–136.
Cook, E. P., Heppner, M. J., & O’Brien, K. M. (2002). Career development of women of
color and white women: Assumptions, conceptualizations, and interventions from an
ecological perspective. Career Development Quarterly, 50, 291–304.
Cushman, P. (1995). Constructing the self, constructing America. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Dawis, R. V., & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapo-
lis: University of Minnesota Press.
Day, S. X., & Rounds, J. (1998). Universality of vocational interest structure among racial
and ethnic minorities. American Psychologist, 53, 728–736.
Day, S. X., Rounds, J., & Swaney, K. (1998). The structure of vocational interests for di-
verse racial-ethnic groups. Psychological Science, 9, 40–44.
DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 350 (1974).
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 247
248 I
NFORMATIVE
R
ESEARCH
Evans, K. M., & Herr, E. L. (1994). The influence of racial identity and the perception of
discrimination on the career aspirations of African American men and women. Journal
of Vocational Behavior, 44, 173–184.
Fisher, T. A., & Padmawidjaja, I. (1999). Parental influences on career development per-
ceived by African American and Mexican American college students. Journal of Multi-
cultural Counseling and Development, 27, 136–152.
Flores, L. Y., & O’Brien, K. M. (2002). The career development of Mexican American ado-
lescent women: A test of social cognitive career theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology,
49, 14–27.
Fouad, N. A. (1993). Cross-cultural vocational assessment. Career Development Quarterly,
42, 4–13.
Fouad, N. A. (2002). Cross-cultural differences in vocational interests: Between-groups dif-
ferences on the Strong Interest Inventory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 283–289.
Fouad, N. A., & Bingham, R. P. (1995). Career counseling with racial ethnic minorities. In
W. B. Walsh & S. H. Osipow (Eds.), Handbook of vocational psychology: Theory, research,
and practice (2nd ed., pp. 331–365). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fouad, N. A., & Dancer, L. S. (1992). Cross-cultural structure of interests: Mexico and the
United States. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 40, 129–143.
Fouad, N. A., Harmon, L. W., & Borgen, F. H. (1997). Structure of interests in employed
male and female members of U.S. racial-ethnic minority and nonminority groups.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 44, 339–345.
Fouad, N. A., & Keeley, T. J. (1992). The relationship between attitudinal and behavioral
aspects of career maturity. Career Development Quarterly, 40, 257–271.
Fouad, N. A., & Spreda, S. L. (1995). Use of interest inventories with special populations:
Women and minority groups. Journal of Career Assessment, 3, 453–468.
Gainor, K. A. (2001). Vocational assessment with culturally diverse populations. In L. A.
Suzuki, J. G. Ponterotto, & P. J. Meller (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural assessment (2nd
ed., pp. 169–189). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gainor, K. A., & Lent, R. W. (1998). Social cognitive expectations and racial identity atti-
tudes in predicting the math choice intentions of black college students. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 45, 403–413.
Gloria, A. M., & Hird, J. S. (1999). Influences of ethnic and nonethnic variables on the ca-
reer decision-making self-efficacy of college students. Career Development Quarterly, 48,
157–174.
Gloria, A. M., & Ho, T. A. (2003). Environmental, social, and psychological experiences of
Asian American undergraduates: Examining issues of academic persistence. Journal of
Counseling and Development, 81, 93–105.
Gloria, A. M., & Robinson Kurpius, S. E. (2001). Influences of self-beliefs, social support,
and comfort in the university environment on the academic nonpersistence decisions
of American Indian undergraduates. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology,
7, 88–102.
Gloria, A. M., Robinson Kurpius, S. E., Hamilton, K. D., & Willson, M. S. (1999). African
American students’ persistence at a predominantly white university: Influence of so-
cial support, university comfort, and self-beliefs. Journal of College Student Development,
40, 257–268.
Gottfredson, L. S. (1996). Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise. In
D. Brown, L. Brooks, & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (3rd ed.,
pp. 179–232). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Gratz v. Bollinger et al., 539 U.S. 516 (2003).
Greenhaus, J. H., Parasuraman, S., & Wormley, W. M. (1990). Effects of race on organiza-
tional experiences, job performance evaluations, and career outcomes. Academy of
Management Journal, 33, 64–86.
Grutter v. Bollinger et al., 539 U.S. 241 (2003).
Hackett, G., & Betz, N. E. (1981). A self-efficacy approach to the career development of
women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 18, 326–339.
Hackett, G., Betz, N. E., Casas, J. M., & Rocha-Singh, I. A. (1992). Gender, ethnicity, and
social cognitive factors predicting the academic achievement of students in engineer-
ing. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39, 527–538.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 248
Career Development in Context: Research with People of Color 249
Hannah, J. S., & Kahn, S. E. (1989). The relationship of SES and gender to the occupa-
tional choices of grade 12 students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 34, 161–178.
Hansen, J. C., Scullard, M. G., & Haviland, M. G. (2000). The interest structures of Native
American college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 8, 159–172.
Hartung, P. J., Vandiver, B. J., Leong, F. T., Pope, M., Niles, S. G., & Farrow, B. (1998). Ap-
praising cultural identity in career development assessment and counseling. Career
Development Quarterly, 46, 276–293.
Haverkamp, B. E., Collins, R. C., & Hansen, J. C. (1994). Structure of interest of Asian-
American college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41, 256–264.
Helms, J. E., & Piper, R. E. (1994). Implications of racial identity theory for vocational
psychology. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 124–138.
Holder, J. C., & Vaux, A. (1998). African American professionals: Coping with occupa-
tional stress in predominantly white work environments. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
53, 315–333.
Holland, J. L. (1959). A theory of vocational choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6, 35–45.
Hotchkiss, L., & Borow, H. (1990). Sociological perspectives on career choice and attain-
ment. In D. Brown, L. Brooks & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (2nd
ed., pp. 137–168). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ibarra, H. (1995). Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial net-
works. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 673–703.
Jackson, C. C., & Neville, H. A. (1998). Influence of racial identity attitudes on African
American college students’ vocational identity and hope. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
53, 97–113.
Jackson, G. C., & Healy, C. C. (1996). Career development profiles and interventions for
underrepresented college students. Career Development Quarterly, 44, 258–269.
Jackson, M. A., & Nutini, C. D. (2002). Hidden resources and barriers in career learning
assessment with adolescents vulnerable to discrimination. Career Development Quar-
terly, 51(1), 56–77.
Juntunen, C. L., Barraclough, D. J., Broneck, C. L., Seibel, G. A., Winrow, S. A., & Morin,
P. M. (2001). American Indian perspectives on the career journey. Journal of Counseling
Psychology, 48, 274–285.
Kenny, M. E., Blustein, D. L., Chaves, A., Grossman, J. M., & Gallagher, L. A. (2003). The
role of perceived barriers and relational support in the educational and vocational
lives of urban high school students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 142–155.
Kim, H., Rendon, L., & Valadez, J. (1998). Student characteristics, school characteristics,
and educational aspirations of six Asian American ethnic groups. Journal of Multicul-
tural Counseling & Development, 26, 166–176.
King, M. M., & Multon, K. D. (1996). The effects of television role models on the career as-
pirations of African American junior high school students. Journal of Career Develop-
ment, 23, 111–126.
Krumboltz, J. D. (1979). A social learning theory of career decision making. In A. M.
Mitchell, G. B. Jones, & J. D. Krumboltz (Eds.), Social learning and career decision making.
Cranston, RI: Carroll Press.
Lattimore, R. R., & Borgen, F. H. (1999). Validity of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory with
racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 46, 185–195.
Lauver, P. J., & Jones, R. M. (1991). Factors associated with perceived career options in
American Indian, white, and Hispanic rural high school students. Journal of Counseling
Psychology, 38, 159–166.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory
of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
45, 79–122.
Lent, R. W., & Worthington, R. L. (2000). On school-to-work transition, career develop-
ment theories, and cultural validity. Career Development Quarterly, 48, 376–384.
Leong, F. T. (1995). Career development and vocational behavior of racial and ethnic minorities.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Leong, F. T., & Brown, M. T. (1995). Theoretical issues in cross-cultural career develop-
ment: Cultural validity and cultural specificity. In W. B. Walsh & S. H. Osipow (Eds.),
Handbook of vocational psychology (2nd, pp. 391–426). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 249
250 I
NFORMATIVE
R
ESEARCH
Leong, F. T., & Chou, E. L. (1994). The role of ethnic identity and acculturation in the vo-
cational behavior of Asian Americans. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 155–172.
Leong, F. T., & Hartung, P. J. (1997). Cross-cultural career assessment: Review and
prospects for the new millennium. Journal of Career Assessment, 8, 391–401.
Leong, F. T., & Serafica, F. C. (1995). Career development of Asian Americans: A research
area in need of a good theory. In F. T. L. Leong (Ed.), Career development and vocational
behavior of racial ethnic minorities (pp. 67–102). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Leung, S. A. (1995). Career development and counseling: A multicultural perspective. In
J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multi-
cultural counseling (pp. 549–566). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Leung, S. A. (1996). Vocational assessment across cultures. In L. A. Susuki, P. J. Meller, &
J. G. Ponterotto (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural assessment (pp. 475–508). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Leung, S. A., Ivey, D., & Suzuki, L. (1994). Factors affecting the career aspirations of
Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling and Development, 72, 404–410.
Lundberg, D. J., Osborne, W. L., & Miner, C. U. (1997). Career maturity and personality
preferences of Mexican-American and Anglo-American adolescents. Journal of Career
Development, 23, 203–213.
Luzzo, D. A. (1993). Ethnic differences in college students’ perceptions of barriers to
ca
reer development. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 21, 227–236.
Luzzo, D. A. (1994). An analysis of gender and ethnic differences in college students’
commitment to work. Journal of Employment Counseling, 31, 38–45.
Luzzo, D. A., & McWhirter, E. H. (2001). Sex and ethnic differences in the perception of
educational and career-related barriers and levels of coping efficacy. Journal of Counsel-
ing and Development, 79, 61–67.
Marsella, A. J., & Leong, F. T. (1995). Cross-cultural issues in personality and career as-
sessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 3, 202–218.
Martin, W. E. (1991). Career development and American Indians living on reservations:
Cross cultural factors to consider. Career Development Quarterly, 39, 273–383.
Mau, W. C. (2003). Factors that influence persistence in science and engineering career
aspirations. Career Development Quarterly, 51, 234–243.
McWhirter, E. H. (1997). Perceived barriers to education and career: Ethnic and gender
differences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 124–140.
McWhirter, E. H., Hackett, G., & Bandalos, D. L. (1998). A causal model of the educational
plans and career expectations of Mexican American high school girls. Journal of Coun-
seling Psychology, 45, 166–181.
Neville, H. A., Worthington, R. L., & Spanierman, L. B. (2001). Race, power, and multicul-
tural counseling psychology: Understanding white privilege and color-blind racial atti-
tudes. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook
of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 257–288). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Osipow, S. H., & Littlejohn, E. M. (1995). Toward a multicultural theory of career devel-
opment: Prospects and dilemmas. In F. T. Leong (Ed.), Career development and vocational
behavior of racial and ethnic minorities (pp. 251–261). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Park, S. E., & Harrison, A. A. (1995). Career-related interests and values, perceived con-
trol, and acculturation of Asian-American and Caucasian-American college students.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1184–1203.
Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Pedersen, P. B. (1991). Multiculturalism as a generic approach to counseling. Journal of
Counseling and Development, 70, 6–12.
Pinderhughes, E. (1989). Understanding race, ethnicity, and power. New York: Free Press.
Plunkett, S. W., & Bamaca-Gomez, M. Y. (2003). The relationship between parenting, ac-
culturation, and adolescent academics in Mexican-origin immigrant families in Los
Angeles. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25, 222–239.
Pope, M. (2000). A brief history of career counseling in the United States. Career Develop-
ment Quarterly, 48, 194–211.
Post, P., Stewart, M. A., & Smith, P. L. (1991). Self-efficacy, interest, and consideration of
math/science and non-math/science occupations among black freshmen. Journal of
Vo
cational Behavior, 38, 179–186.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 250
Career Development in Context: Research with People of Color 251
Post-Kammer, P., & Smith, P. L. (1986). Sex differences in math and science career
self-efficacy among disadvantaged students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 29,
89–101.
Qian, Z., & Blair, S. L. (1999). Racial/ethnic differences in educational aspirations of high
school seniors. Sociological Perspectives, 42, 605–625.
Reyes, O., Kobus, K., & Gillock, K. (1999). Career aspirations of urban, Mexican American
adolescent females. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21, 366–382.
Rojewski, J. W. (1994). Career indecision types for rural adolescents from disadvantaged
and nondisadvantaged backgrounds. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41, 356–363.
Ryan, J. M., Tracey, T. J., & Rounds, J. (1996). Generalizability of Holland’s structure of
vocational interests across ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 43, 330–337.
Solberg, V. S., O’Brien, K., Villareal, P., Kennel, R., & Davis, B. (1993). Self-efficacy and
Hispanic college students: Validation of the College Self-Efficacy Instrument. Hispanic
Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 15, 80–95.
Subich, L. M. (1996). Addressing diversity in the process of career assessment. In M. L.
Savickas & W. B. Walsh (Eds.), Handbook of career counseling theory and practice
(pp. 277–289). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sue, D., Bernier, J., Durran, A., Feinberg, L., Pedersen, P., Smith, E., et al. (1982). Position
paper: Cross cultural counseling competencies. Counseling Psychologist, 10, 45–52.
Sue, D. W., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural counseling competen-
cies and standards: A call to the profession. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70,
477–486.
Super, D. E. (1953). A theory of vocational development. American Psychologist, 8,
185–190.
Super, D. E., Savickas, M. L., & Super, C. M. (1996). The life-span, life-space approach to
careers. In D. Brown, L. Brooks & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (3rd
ed., pp. 121–178). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Swanson, J. L. (1992). The structure of vocational interests for African-American college
students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 40, 144–157.
Swanson, J. L., & Gore, P. A. (2000). Advances in vocational psychology: Theory and re-
search. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (3rd ed.,
pp. 233–269). New York: Wiley.
Tan, A., Fujioka, Y., Bautista, D., Maldonado, R., Tan, G., & Wright, L. (2000). Influence of
television use and parental communication on educational aspirations of Hispanic
children. Howard Journal of Communications, 11, 107–125.
Tang, M. (2002). A comparison of Asian American, Caucasian American, and Chinese col-
lege students: An initial report. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 30,
124–134.
Tang, M., Fouad, N. A., & Smith, P. L. (1999). Asian Americans’ career choices: A path
model to examine factors influencing their career choices. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
54, 142–157.
Three Rivers, A. (1991). Cultural etiquette. Indian Valley, VA: Market Wimmin.
Tomlinson-Clarke, S. (1994). A longitudinal study of the relationship between academic
comfort, occupational orientation, and persistence among African American, Hispanic,
and white college students. Journal of College Student Development, 35, 25–28.
Trusty, J. (2002). African American’s educational expectations: Longitudinal causal mod-
els for women and men. Journal of Counseling and Development, 80, 332–345.
Trusty, J., Ng, K., & Plata, M. (2000). Interaction effects of gender, SES and race-ethnicity
on postsecondary educational choices of U.S. students. Career Development Quarterly,
49, 45–59.
University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).
U.S. Census Bureau. (1990). Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics for the United
States: 1990. Available from U.S. Census Bureau web site: www.census.gov.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000a). Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics: National sum-
mary. Available from U.S. Census Bureau web site: www.census.gov.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000b). Statistical Abstracts of the United States. Available from U.S.
Census Bureau web site: www.census.gov.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 251
252 I
NFORMATIVE
R
ESEARCH
U.S. Census Bureau. (2003a). Historical income data. Available from U.S. Census Bureau
web site: www.census.gov.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2003b). Percent of people 25 years old and over who have completed high
school or college, by race, Hispanic origin and sex: Selected years 1940–2002. Available from
U.S. Census Bureau web site: www.census.gov.
Vacha-Haase, T., Walsh, B. D., Kapes, J. T., Dresden, J. H., Thomson, W. A., Ochoa-
Shargey, B., et al. (1994). Gender differences on the Values Scale for ethnic minority
students. Journal of Career Assessment, 2, 408–421.
Vondracek, F. W., Lerner, R. M., & Schulenberg, J. E. (1986). A life-span contextual approach
to career development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Walsh, W. B., & Betz, N. E. (2001). Te sts and assessment (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Walsh, W. B., Bingham, R. P., Brown, M. T., & Ward, C. M. (2001). Career counseling for
African Americans. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Warnath, C. F. (1975). Vocational theories: Direction to nowhere. Personnel and Guidance
Journal, 53, 422–428.
Weathers, P. L., Thompson, C. E., Robert, S., & Rodriguez, J., Jr. (1994). Black college
women’s career values: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Multicultural Counseling
and Development, 22, 96–105.
Westbrook, B. W., & Sanford, E. E. (1991). The validity of career maturity attitude mea-
sures among black and white high school students. Career Development Quarterly, 39,
199–208.
Wilson, F. D., Tienda, M., & Wu, L. (1995). Race and unemployment: Labor Market experi-
ences of black and white men, 1968–1988. Work and Occupations, 22, 245–270.
Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Yost, E. B., & Corbishley, M. A. (1987). Career counseling: A psychological approach. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Zinn, H. (1980). A people’s history of the United States. New York: HarperCollins.
c10.qxd 8/5/04 9:08 AM Page 252
253
CHAPTER 11
Women’s Career Development
Nancy E. Betz
A
LTHOUGH IT USED
to be assumed that women’s careers were not as impor-
tant as men’s because they occupied only short periods of the adult
woman’s life span, societal changes over the past 40 or 50 years have led to
work being a critically important part of most women’s lives and, thus, a criti-
cally important focus for career psychology and career counseling.
Women now constitute a significant portion of the labor force, and the vast ma-
jority of U.S. women work outside the home. In the year 2000, three-fifths of
women were employed. Of those ages 25 to 44, 75% were employed. Sixty percent
of women with children under the age of 12 months are employed. The odds that
a woman will work outside the home during her adult life are more than 90%
(U.S. Department of Labor, 2003). What this adds up to is that paid employment
(versus work inside the home) is now the rule, not the exception. There is no cate-
gory of women for whom the majority is not employed outside the home (Barnett
& Hyde, 2001).
Not surprisingly, the most common family lifestyle today is the “dual-earner”
family (Gilbert, 2002). As described by Gilbert and by Barnett and Hyde (2001),
we now have “work family role convergence” where both work and family are
considered important in the lives of both women and men and where many, if not
most, workers prefer the two roles equally. Thus, as career psychologists and
counselors, it is now essential to understand the issues facing women at work and
the reality that both work and family roles are salient in the lives of contemporary
women and men.
W HY CAREERS ARE IMPORTANT TO WOMEN
Women, like men, need a variety of major sources of satisfaction in their lives—
as once stated by Freud (according to Erikson, 1950), the psychologically well-
adjusted human being is able “to love and to work” effectively. Both women
and men need the satisfactions of interpersonal relationships, with family
and/or friends, but also the satisfaction of achievement in the outside world.
c11.qxd 8/5/04 9:07 AM Page 253
254 I
NFORMATIVE
R
ESEARCH
We now have research evidence that women, like men, need to use their talents
and abilities and that multiple roles are important for people’s psychological
well-being.
UTILIZATION OF ABILITIES
Research has shown that the fulfillment of individual potential for achievement
is vitally important. Although the roles of homemaker and mother are important
and often very satisfying, they do not allow most women to fulfill the develop-
ment of their unique abilities and talents. These, rather, must be fulfilled through
career pursuits or volunteer and avocational activities, just as they are in men.
This is not to discount the importance of childrearing but only its insufficiency as
a lifelong answer to the issue of self-realization. Even if a woman spends a num-
ber of years creatively rearing children, these children inevitably grow up and
begin their own lives, lives that must of necessity be increasingly independent
from the parental home.
The evidence is strong that homemakers who do not have other outlets for
achievement and productivity are highly susceptible to psychological distress,
particularly as children grow and leave home. For example, of the women in the
Terman studies of gifted children (Terman & Oden, 1959), when followed up in
their 60s (Sears & Barbie, 1977), those who reported the highest levels of life satis-
faction were the employed women. Least satisfied with their lives were those who
had been housewives all of their adult lives. The most psychologically distressed
women were those with exceptionally high IQs (above 170) who had not worked
outside the home. It seems fairly clear in the Terman study that women with
ge
nius-level IQs who had not pursued meaningful careers outside the home have
suffered psychological consequences.
There is strong evidence for the beneficial effects of working outside the home
on a woman’s psychological adjustment, regardless of her marital status. Early re-
search on the relationship between marital status and psychological health con-
cluded that the healthiest individuals were the married men and the single
women, whereas married women were at particularly high risk for psychological
distress (Bernard, 1971). However, it does not seem to be marriage per se that is
detrimental to women’s psychological adjustment, but rather the lack of mean-
ingful paid employment. In these studies, the women who were not employed ac-
counted for the more frequent occurrence of psychological distress among the
married women.
In a related vein, there is strong evidence that multiple roles, that is, those of
both worker and family member, are important to women’s mental and physical
health (Barnett & Hyde, 2001). Most research finds that even though multiple
roles are time consuming and can be stressful, they are protective against de-
pression (Crosby, 1991) and facilitative of positive mental health. There are sev-
eral hypotheses concerning why multiple roles are beneficial for women (Barnett
& Hyde, 2001). First, when more than one role is important in an individual’s
life, stress or disappointment in one domain can be buffered by success or satis-
faction in another role. Second, the added income of a second job/career can re-
duce the stress of being the sole breadwinner and can in fact provide an
economic lifeline when one spouse or partner becomes unemployed. In difficult
c11.qxd 8/5/04 9:07 AM Page 254
Women’s Career Development 255
economic times, characterized by high unemployment and corporate downsiz-
ing or collapse, two incomes can be virtually life saving. Third, jobs provide an
additional source of social support, which increases well-being (Barnett & Hyde,
2001). For example, Greenberger and O’Neil (1993) found that although men’s
well-being was related most significantly to social support from their wives,
women’s well-being was related to support from neighbors, supervisors, and
coworkers, as well as from husbands.
There is also evidence to contradict myths that women’s career commitment
will have a negative effect on her marriage and family. It seems that more equi-
table sharing of breadwinning may benefit marital satisfaction in both spouses,
but especially husbands (Wilke, Ferree, & Ratcliff, 1998). Also interesting is data
showing that the two roles are not contradictory but may in fact have a mutually
catalytic effect—studies of the relationship between work commitment and fam-
ily commitment show a positive correlation between the two (Marks & MacDer-
mid, 1996).
In considering women’s career development and multiple roles, it should also
be noted there are today many lifestyle alternatives. There are 12 million single
parents in this country, most of them women (Gilbert, 2002). There is also an in-
creasing number of people who choose to remain single, as well as an increasing
number of committed gay and lesbian couples, many of whom are now choosing
to have or adopt children. Thus, although the heterosexual dual-career marriage
will be the model lifestyle, the options of remaining single or in a committed
same-sex or nonmarital partnership should also be considered viable in life plan-
ning (see Farmer, 1997). It goes without saying that the issues of combining work
and parenthood are different for single people who usually carry sole responsi-
bility for home and parenting and for those in same-sex partnerships for whom
there is no obvious assignment of roles and responsibilities based on gender. But
regardless of the precise nature of the family unit, helping people to have and
manage multiple roles may be beneficial.
PROBLEMS IN WOMEN’S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
Although women now work in overwhelming numbers, their work continues to
be focused in traditionally female occupations and to be less well paid than that
of men. Even though women have made much progress in entering traditionally
male-dominated professions such as medicine and law, where half the entering
students are women, the occupational world still has many areas of extreme sex
segregation. For example, more than 90% of preschool and kindergarten teachers,
dental hygienists, secretaries, child-care workers, cleaners and servants, nurses,
occupational and speech therapists, and teachers’ aids are women (U.S. Depart-
ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003). Although men were 18% of ele-
mentary and middle school teachers in 1981, they are only 9% currently.
In contrast, women remain seriously underrepresented in scientific and tech-
nical careers and in high-level positions in business, government, education, and
the military. For example, women earn fewer than 20% of the bachelor’s degrees
in fields such as engineering and physics (National Science Foundation [NSF],
2000) and fewer than 10% of the graduate degrees in engineering (Kuh, 1998).
High technology is among the fastest growing and well-paid occupational fields,
c11.qxd 8/5/04 9:07 AM Page 255