Audrey Collin

New Directions for Theories of Career

This paper re-examines career theories and notes a number of their shortcomings which derive from a lack of rigor in approach and from certain epistemological and methodological considerations. The way forward suggested for this field of study represents a shift in the root hypothesis from organicism and mechanism to contextualism. The ecological, the biographical, and the hermeneutical approaches are proposed as a means of reconceptualizing this area of study.

The death and transfiguration of career–and of career guidance?

Abstract The predominant understanding of career in the industrial era has focused on progression within hierarchical work organisations. With the move into a post-industrial era, the possibility of such careers is rapidly receding. The concept of career, however, has always been broader than this, and other aspects of it are now claiming increased attention. They focus more upon individual experiences in terms of development in learning and work throughout life. The role of career guidance in relation to such experiences is potentially of much greater social significance. A number of implications for career guidance provision and practice are discussed.

New challenges in the study of career

To address the implications for career of today’s changes in the organisation of work and labour markets, managers and counsellors need appropriate concepts, theories and methodologies. Career scholars may no longer be well placed to help. The paper notes how the range of perspectives they bring to their understanding of career fragments the field of study. Moreover, the dominant assumptions and approaches in the field are inappropriate to deal with what is taking place in it, and are being challenged by developments in the “new sciences”. The paper suggests that, to respond to these challenges, career scholars of all kinds need to engage in dialogue as they examine their assumptions and conceptualisations, and develop new research approaches. Practitioners must engage with these changes as researchers, exploring new qualitative methods, and individuals need support from their managers as they construct new identities.

Conceptualising the family-friendly career: the contribution of career theories and a systems approach

ABSTRACT Mainstream theories of career have been charged with a lack of ‘critical, multidisciplinary, gendered, and contextualised work’. This suggests that they would not readily be able to encompass the notion of the family-friendly career. This paper contextualises their shortcomings, notes some responses to them over time, and identifies some recent theorising that seems more likely to be able to contribute to ‘joined-up thinking’ on career and family-friendly issues. It then proposes the value of a systems approach and soft systems thinking to conceptualising a (family-friendly) career, and introduces the concept of a ‘family career’.

Re-thinking the Relationship between Theory and Practice: Practitioners as Map-Readers, Map-Makers--or Jazz Players?.

Abstract Theory is a major element in professional knowledge. Doubts about its value reported by practitioners raise questions at a critical juncture in the careers field about the relevance of prevailing theories and how they are approached. The topic of the relationship between theory and practice is a sensitive one in the debate on competencies and an illuminating one in that on post-modernism. As recent studies demonstrate, problems in integrating theory and practice arise in training and may persist, but experienced practitioners achieve ‘fusion’ between them and become ‘practical theorists’. Practice is improvisatory, and is refined by frameworks provided by theory, critical thinking and ‘reflective practice’. However, theories are often tardy or irrelevant, and practitioners also need to be able to carry out their own research, including action research. This has implications for initial and in-service training, supervision and policy, and for the relationships between researchers, theorists and pr...

Organizations and the end of the individual

Identifies the traditional western assumptions made about the individual and, from a social constructionist perspective, notes how they derive from their historical and social context. Argues that work organizations have played a significant role in both the western conceptualization and the very formation of the individual. Notes some of the changes now taking place in organizations, and speculates whether they could modify this conceptualization and formation significantly, and, if so, what the implications of the new individual could be for organizations and society.