Career Assessment

Career assessment is inherent in the professional practices of career development. Career assessment has its scientific, technical, and aesthetic foundations in applied psychology and education. It takes the forms of objective or subjective observation of another—a student or client—or reflectively of self. Assessment enables the practitioner, researcher, client, and student to conceptualize behaviour essential to performing acts of career development, such as identifying vocational interests, decision-making, and making meaning in diverse contexts of education and work. Its utility in higher education is demonstrated by examples of qualitative and quantitative methods of career assessment focused on employability. Considerations are given to the future potential and limitations of career assessment.

Introduction: Rethinking Career Development

This chapter introduces readers to The Oxford Handbook of Career Development and to the field of career development. The origins of the field are discussed in relation to vocational guidance, differential psychology, interactionist sociology, and life course development. The selection of the term career development for this volume is explained with regard to three interlocking themes: the broader contexts of career development, including government policy; the wide range of theory concerned with career-related experiences, phenomena, and behaviour; and the broad spectrum of career helping practices, including one-to-one work and group work. The inspiration and aims for the volume are set out, and the challenges associated with terminology in the field are acknowledged. The editors seek to provide a state-of-the-art reference point for the field of career development, and engender a transdisciplinary and international dialogue that explores key current ideas, debates, and controversies. The volume is divided into three sections. The first explores the economic, educational, and public policy contexts for practice. The second section focuses on concepts and explores the rich theoretical landscape of the field. The third section turns to practice, and the translation of ideas into action to support individuals and groups with their career development.

Client-Centred Career Development Practice: A Critical Review

The purpose of this chapter is to question and critique the concept of client-centredness, which is often taken for granted in careers work. Client-centredness has been at the heart of ethical career development practice for many years, to the point that it has become accepted as a given by many professional practitioners. On the surface, questioning it seems unwise and even unthinkable, but at a deeper level it is important to consider its flaws, the limitations it can sometimes place on professional practice, and the ethical dilemmas that can then ensue. Some potential challenges in relation to client-centredness and professional codes of ethics aree highlighted. The chapter concludes with a theoretical model that seeks to reposition the concept of client-centredness in a way that recognises the culture of the client, the factors at play in clients’ lives, and the labour market context in which clients are making career decisions.

Cultural Learning Theory and Career Development

This chapter focuses on the theoretical basis for career development work. It sets out a case for an integrative cultural learning theory of career development. The distinctive basis of this theoretical perspective is explained, and the five facets of cultural learning theory are described, namely: learning relationships, learning contents, learning processes, learning contexts, and personal myth. In order to inform career development work, these facets are combined in the form of a cultural learning alliance. The formation and agreement of the alliance are described in detail in relation to the initial, middle, and end phases of interactions. Further practical innovations include seven techniques for supporting client learning, including a cultural influences collage, career management styles card sort, and golden threads activity. Implications for the training and development of practitioners are discussed in relation to reflexivity and assessment.

Career Development and Human Capital Theory: Preaching the “Education Gospel”

This chapter analyses the relationship between career development, education, and human capital theory. It argues that education lies at the heart of our understanding of how individuals develop their careers and how purposeful career development interventions can support them in this endeavour. Career development services are most evident and accessible in the education system. This relationship is not accidental but is rooted in both the historical development of the field and in the importance of human capital theory to the ideology of both education and career development. The chapter finishes by critiquing the dependence of policymakers and advocates for the field on human capital theory and by considering alternative relationships that could be built between education and career development.

The Career Development Profession: Professionalisation, Professionalism, and Professional Identity

This chapter examines the professionalisation of career development provision in countries across the world. ‘Professionalisation’ and ‘professionalism’ are explored through several concepts, including social closure, the professional project, and the regulatory bargain. The chapter argues that professionalism is a useful and important concept for the career development field but recognises the challenges that the field has had in achieving professional status. It recognises some of the critiques that exist of professionalism and explores how these relate to careers professionals. It then argues that increasing professionalism within the field needs to be understood as an ongoing process that has to be conducted on the personal, organizational, and professional level. The chapter concludes by outlining some key strategies that the field can use to advance the cause of professionalism in the future.

The Positioning of Social Justice: Critical Challenges for Career Development

Career development theory and practice have the potential to foster a sense of belonging and well-being by facilitating the construction of meaningful life-careers. Social justice issues are integral, because they are concerned with fairness and equity, (in)equality, cultural diversity, psychosocial well-being, and societal values. Career development theorists, researchers, and practitioners, therefore, need a deeper understanding of the multiple and complex influences on how ‘career’ is interpreted and ‘opportunities’ are presented. Such an understanding should provide critical insight into the effects of wider sociocultural and political concerns affecting what is deemed possible in the shaping and enactment of career. Yet the term social justice is often loosely deployed or inadequately defined in contemporary career literature and tends to be absent in discussions of practice. This chapter explores the contested nature of social justice, outlines competing definitions, and considers ways in which critical social justice contributes a transformative dimension to career development.

The Aims of Career Development Policy: Towards a Comprehensive Framework

This chapter explores and questions the aims of public policy for career development. In the early years of the 21st century, an international consensus emerged in the literature describing the intentions of governments when they seek to intervene in the careers of their citizens. A case is made for a broader conception of the socially desirable outcomes from career interventions. Drawing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a systematic framework of six types of policy goal for career development services is proposed: (i) labour market goals, (ii) educational goals, (iii) social equity goals, (iv) health and well-being goals, (v) environmental goals, and (vi) peace and justice goals. The latter three categories represent new or relatively neglected areas of focus. Cross-cutting themes of social justice, sustainability, and societal change are highlighted.

Evidence-Based Practice for Career Development

Evidence is essential to enable practitioners and services to best meet the needs of their service users. The concept of evidence-based practice has been imported to career development, but its implicit medical model is problematic to apply to the social nature of the field. Evaluating the effectiveness of career development interventions presents formidable methodological challenges, not least the conceptual and definitional issues raised by the selection of outcome measures. The use of research evidence in policy and practice requires the synthesis and communication of findings to practitioners and stakeholders. Both policymaking and practice are political processes and research evidence is necessary but not sufficient to influence decision-making. Knowledge generated from research can rarely be applied to career development practice without attention to multilevel contextual factors. To best inform practice, research evidence should be combined with local knowledge, practitioner experience, and input from service users. A simple integrated model of evidence-based practice for career development interventions is presented. This model is suitable for adoption by reflective practitioners.

Organisational and Managerial Careers: A Coevolutionary View

The field of organisational and managerial careers (OMC) covers a broad range of approaches, with roots in fields ranging from sociology to vocational and developmental psychology. This chapter draws on recent work that proposes a framework (the Social Chronology Framework, SCF) in which the study of careers, in particular OMC, is seen to involve the simultaneous application of three perspectives, to do with being, space, and time. Building on this, the SCF takes a view that emphasises the importance of a coevolutionary perspective. Within a bounded social and geographic space, career development happens based on configurations of individual and collective career actors who provide context for each other and coevolve together. The chapter illustrates this by showing how the SCF can suggest new approaches to studying established career development arrangements, such as mentorship.