Fred W. Vondracek

The Influence of the Family on Vocational Development

In accord with the growing interest in work and the family, this paper critically examines the issue of the family of orientations impact on vocational development. First, limitations of the literature on vocational development and the family are discussed, specifically the failure to consider (a) vocational development, (b) the family as a functioning whole, and (c) familial and vocational changes over time. Second, the literature is viewed according to the impact of the familys (a) location in the broader social context, (b) structural features, and (c) process-oriented features, on vocational development. Various gaps in the literature are identified. In conclusion, conceptual issues are considered, and a framework with which to view the family as a context for vocational development is offered.

Vocational Identity Development: Its Relationship to Other Identity Domains and to Overall Identity Development

This article examines age-related trends in general ideological identity status and identity in the domains of vocation, religion, lifestyle, and politics during early adolescence and relationships between adolescent vocational identity and identities in the other domains. A cross-sectional study of 1,099 high school students in Grades 7 through 12 revealed a developmental progression in adolescent vocational identity characterized by an increase in the proportion of students classified as identity achieved and moratorium and a decrease in the proportion of students classified as identity diffused and foreclosed. Statuses in the general ideological, religious, lifestyle, and political identity domains appeared to be related to, but clearly lagged behind, identity status development in the domain of vocation. No sex differences were found in the age-related trends in vocational identity status and its relationships with the other identity domains. The results are interpreted as indicative of the leading role of vocational development in adolescent identity formation. Applicability of the construct of vocational identity status to career assessment is discussed.

The concept of development in vocational theory and intervention

Abstract One of the major problems in the vocational literature is the absence of theoretical formulations which deal with development in more than a superficial manner. Specific problems are that (1) key constructs are adapted from developmental theory without proper attention to the conceptual, empirical, and methodological problems involved; (2) little recognition has been accorded to significant changes in developmental theory during the past 15 years, changes which stress the multidimensional, plastic, contextual, and life-span features of development; (3) there is a paucity of adequately designed, contextually sensitive, longitudinal research; and (4) well-established empirical findings of developmental research have been misrepresented or ignored by vocational researchers. It is proposed that a theory of life-span vocational role development must meet the conceptual and methodological requirements of a developmental approach, that it must contain a contextual perspective, and that it must be relational in the sense that it provides for the examination of the “goodness of fit” between individual and contextual developments. The consequences of this viewpoint for vocational intervention are described as a more pronounced focus on events, processes, and life periods which are identified as antecedents of major vocational decisions. Finally, it is observed that vocational intervention should be viewed as a succession of procedures designed to assist the individual, throughout his/her life, to adapt vocational functioning to changing personal situations as well as to changing economic and contextual circumstances.

The factor structure of the Career Decision Scale: Similarities across selected studies☆☆☆

Abstract The factor structure of the Career Decision Scale (CDS) was examined by comparing the findings of seven previous factor analytic studies. Inconsistent findings regarding the factor structure of the CDS could generally be accounted for by the diversity of factoring techniques and method for communality estimation and by the fact that all previous studies relied on Varimax (orthogonal) rotational procedures. In comparing coefficients of congruence between previous studies based on Varimax solutions with those based on Promax (oblique) solutions (which were recalculated), it was found that the Promax-based coefficients portrayed less complexity and more similarity in factors across studies. A new factor analytic study of the CDS was conducted (N = 698) that was designed to avoid the methodological problems of previous studies. Results suggested that a “Simple” model of the CDS factor structure could be derived in which each CDS item loaded saliently on only one factor. Implications of these findings for the demonstration of factorial validity, factorial invariance, and the possible construction of CDS subscales are discussed.

Childhood and adolescent predictors of early adult career pathways

Abstract Individual and contextual factors in childhood and adolescence that were hypothesized to contribute to career pathways were examined in a prospective study. Four career pathway groups were distinguished in a sample of 202 at-risk men (23–24 years of age); namely, young men with long-term unemployment, short-term unemployment, full employment, or a college education. Measures of educational attainment, family and peer characteristics, and personal adjustment during childhood and adolescence were used to determine if they would predict early adult career pathways. Findings indicated that the long-term unemployed young men, overall, showed the poorest levels of educational attainment, family and peer characteristics, and personal adjustment during childhood and adolescence.The most important predictors of differing career pathways were educational attainment, arrests, and mental health problems. Implications of the findings for conceptualizing the school-to-work transition within an integrative framework are discussed.

Vocational Preferences of Early Adolescents Their Development in Social Context

The timing of early vocational preferences was compared in a sample of young adolescents from former East Germany and from West Germany. Because of German unification in 1990, and the attendant massive sociocultural changes, such a sample offers a unique opportunity to examine the joint influence of development and context on key transitions and on the accomplishment of developmental tasks. Results suggested that, as the memory of the restrictive Communist system fades and as younger adolescents have had less exposure to it in the first place, differences between East and West tend to disappear. Separately, the present findings, obtained through the use of survival analysis, indicated that the formation of early vocational preferences among the 10- to 13-year-old respondents appeared to be associated with more advanced identity development. Moreover, these young adolescents appeared to be remarkably “tuned in” to the world of occupations, suggesting greater realism than might be predicted on the basis of conventional career development theory.

Factorial invariance of career indecision dimensions across junior high and high school males and females

Abstract Confirmatory factor analytic strategies were utilized to test for factorial invariance of factors derived from the Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1976) across groups of adolescents. A four-factor model derived from a previous exploratory factor analysis of the present total sample ( N = 698) was tested (via LISREL) on four grade level (junior high versus high school) by gender subgroups. It was found that a model depicting equivalent factor loadings and factor variances and covariances across all four groups provided the most acceptable fit to the data, indicating that factorial invariance was obtained across the four groups. In addition, it was found that these results held for two different loading patterns (one reflecting the complexity of the CDS items, and one reflecting a simple structure). Results are discussed in terms of both the continuities of career indecision dimensions across gender and grade levels during adolescence, as well as the equivalent measurement properties of the CDS.

Timing of School-to-Work Transitions: A Developmental-Contextual Perspective

The critical role of the timing of person-context interactions, a central notion of developmental contextualism, is recognised as important in the conceptualisation of the school-to-work transition. As a result, an expanded framework for understanding this transition is employed in the present study. A stratified sample of young adults from former East and from West Germany participated in a 1991 national survey of youth. Retrospective data concerning life events during childhood and adolescence, and progress through school and occupational training, as well as extensive current information regarding attitudes, values, and occupational status, were analysed through the use of survival analyses. Findings revealed important differences in how individual differences and contextual factors contributed to the school-to-work transition in the contrasting environments of former East and West Germany.

A comparison between American and Japanese students' work values

Abstract A total of 724 American students completed the Work Aspects Preference Scale; 1212 Japanese students completed a Japanese translation of the same scale. All subjects were junior and senior high-school students. A full-factorial 2 × 2 × 2 multivariate analysis with main effects of country, gender, and grade level and the 13 subscales of the WAPS as dependent variables resulted in significant F values for all main and interaction effects, except the Country × Grade interaction. Subscale analyses revealed that American students had significantly higher scores (i.e., they rated the value as more important) than Japanese students on all subscales except Creativity; there were grade level differences on only 4 scales, but gender differences were found on 9 of the 13 subscales. Country × Gender interactions were interpreted with reference to sex-role stereotypes and recent findings on the mediating role of sex-role typing.

Self-Disclosure and Interpersonal Trust: An Exploratory Study

The Rotter Interpersonal Trust Scale and a Self-disclosure Questionnaire developed by the junior author were administered to two samples of college students. In the first sample (N = 54) self-disclosure to a specific target person was related to Interpersonal Trust; in the second sample (N = 52) it was attempted to tap a more generalized concept of revealingness and to relate it to Interpersonal Trust. Failure to demonstrate the hypothesized relationships is discussed with reference to unsatisfactory conceptualization of the major concepts and their relation to one another, and possible weaknesses in the measurement procedures.