GLOBAL CAREER MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

Global Career Management and Development



Table of Contents

Global Career Management and Development2

Introduction2

Discussion5

Theories of Career Development5

Historical Roots: The Psychoanalytical Approaches5

Erikson's Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development6

Identity Formation and Career Development10

Stage Theories of Careers14

Super's Linear Career Stage Model14

Levinson's Life Stage Model15

Conclusion17

Global Career Management and Development

Introduction

Careers are embedded in the social landscape of a particular place and time. The intent of the early developmental career theories, as detailed in this chapter, was to describe the work life of the typical post-World War II professional. At that time, the average employee was a man who worked for one or two organizations until retirement, while his wife was at home caring for their children. These linear stage models, typified by the theories of Donald Super (1957) and Daniel Levinson (1978), were rooted in theories of psychological life development, such as those delineated by Freud (Solnit, 1992) and Erikson (1968).

Despite recent environmental changes and academic criticisms questioning the validity of these models (Baruch, 2004), the traditional linear career stage models still dominate much of the empirical research on careers (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996; Feldman, 1989; Sullivan, 1999). In a review of 58 articles in five journals, Arthur and Rousseau (1996) discovered that 74% of the articles on careers assumed environmental stability, 76% had an intrafirm aim, and 81% had hierarchical assumptions. Similarly, Arthur, Khapova, and Wilderom's (2002) 11-year review of the career success research reported that few of the 80 articles examined, conceptualized, or operationalized success in ways meaningful to understanding non-traditional careers. For instance, only one third of the articles recognized any two-way interdependence between objective and subjective career success, with few acknowledging the influence of either career mobility or extra organizational support on career success (Super, 1992, pp: 44).

As times changed, organizational types in most Western countries evolved from tall andmultilayer to flat and lean as firms downsized to become more flexible in response to rapid technological advancements and increased global competition. In the 1970s and 1980s, managers, older workers, and the more educated—those previously less affected by downsizing—experienced the highest job decrease rates (Cappelli et al., 1997). Newer career models arose, such as Michael Driver's (1979, 1982) spiral and transitory career patterns, which described nonlinear career paths. Established models also evolved and began to recognize nonlinear patterns, such as Super's addition of the recycling process whereby individuals revisited concerns of earlier career stages (Super, Zelkowitz, & Thompson, 1981).

The purpose of this research is to trace the history of these fundamental theories in order to provide a greater understanding of how the study of careers has evolved—and continues to evolve—as workplace realities have changed. We hope this chapter provides not only a review of these theories but also suggests avenues for future research into the changing nature of careers and the context in which they happen (Savickas, 2002, pp: 151).

Discussion

Theories of Career Development

There have been a large number of conceptual and empirical articles as well as publications on the theories of career ...