Week 3

      I first want to touch on the case study that we discussed in class.  I think that the case study wanted to make it seem like she was “R” realistic from Holland’s theory, but I think that she is also “C” conventional and “A” artistic.  I think that she needs direction from a counselor of other options in her field of interest.  I think through this exploration then she will better understand if college should be discussed.  Her interests, skills, and family influence affect her career choice.  This is a good link to see how this case study links to Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory (Brown, 2012, p.60).
            

          Krumboltz identified four factors that influence career decision making such as, genetic endowment and special abilities, environmental conditions and events, learning experiences, and task approach skills (Brown, 2012, p. 60).  I think that Krumboltz’s theory is interesting because he set forth factors that may influence career decision making.  I think that genetic endowment and special abilities play a role in career decisions because as we look at our own genograms we can probably find a link between our family or emotional connections that have led us to our current career path and how we got to this point in our lives.  Environmental conditions and events influence many people in their career decisions and can often provide them with support in making career decisions or offer no assistance or encouragement in career choices or decisions.  I think that it is unfortunate that often time’s individuals who live in poverty or inner cities influenced by criminal activity do not get the same opportunities as those who do not live in the same circumstances.  Environmental conditions and events influence career decisions because some individuals may come to think and learn that their environment in the only one that they know and can be a part of and they do not realize that there are other career and environments out in the world.  There is a saying that “you are a product of your environment”.  Learning experiences and task approach skills also influence career decisions in my opinion because career decisions are often made of what we know already, what skills we have, what we have seen and experienced, and what we like and are good at.

       Lastly I want to touch on the Duffy (2006) article on spirituality and religion influence on career development.  I thought that the article was interesting and it is unfortunate that there is not a lot of research in the area; however I can see how research can be difficult because spirituality and religion are more subjective rather than objective.  It was interesting that spirituality and religiousness each serve as significant positive predictors or career decision self-efficacy (Duffy, 2006, p. 55) and this links to self-efficacy of other postmodern theories.  I liked that the article also differentiated between a job, a career, and a calling and how each has different meaning and satisfaction in an individual’s life.

References

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development

(10^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Duffy, R. D. (2006). Spirituality, religion, and career development: Current status

            and future directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 55-63.