Values, Work, and Career: An Exploration of Cultural Influences | Lecture notes Psychology

Notes on Brown Ch. 2 (pp. 37-41)

I. A Values-Based Theory of Occupational Choice

A. Brown built on the work of Rokeach (1973), Super (1980), Beck (1976) and others to

formulate a holistic model of career and life-role choice making.

The theory was aimed primarily at people with traditional Eurocentric values,

including individualism, future time orientation, moderate need for self-

control, emphasis on activity, and a core belief that humans should dominate

nature.

B. Variables that Influence Career Choice and Satisfaction

Values: Beliefs that are experienced by the individual as standards regarding

how he or she should function. They are cognitive structures, but they have

behavioral and affective dimensions.

oValues develop so that individuals can meet their needs in socially

acceptable ways and thus the behavioral aspect of values is shaped by

the cultural context in which they develop.

oAn individual’s values are the basis for his or her self-evaluation and

the evaluation of others, and they play a major role in the

establishment of personal goals.

oWork values are the values that individuals believe should be satisfied

as a result of their participation in the work role.

oValues develop through enculturation. Enculturation is the process by

which individuals incorporate the beliefs and values of their cultural

group and form a values system.

oWhen values are crystallized individuals can label them and apply

them to their own behaviors.

oValues are relatively stable but may change throughout the lifespan as

a result of conflict or contemplation.

oThe result of enculturation for most individuals is monoculturalism—

that is, they incorporate the values and beliefs of one culture.

oBienculturation and/or multienculturation occurs when the beliefs of

two or more cultures are internalized. However, these are unlikely

because often the values of multiple cultures conflict.

oAcculturation may or may not influence the cultural values that

individuals incorporate into their value systems. Acculturation

involves the enculturation of beliefs from a culture different from

one’s own. It may also involve adopting the language, customs, and

traditions of the other culture.

oIndividuals who are in contact with another culture often receive

“messages” that conflict with their own beliefs. The result is

acculturative stress.

oAcculturation is not necessarily a one-way process: it is reversible

oAcculturation is a process that may affect individuals from all cultural

groups, including members of the dominant culture who interact with

cultural groups with different values.

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Notes on Brown Ch. 2 (pp. 37-41) I. A Values-Based Theory of Occupational Choice A. Brown built on the work of Rokeach (1973), Super (1980), Beck (1976) and others to formulate a holistic model of career and life-role choice making.  The theory was aimed primarily at people with traditional Eurocentric values, including individualism, future time orientation, moderate need for self- control, emphasis on activity, and a core belief that humans should dominate nature. B. Variables that Influence Career Choice and Satisfaction  Values: Beliefs that are experienced by the individual as standards regarding how he or she should function. They are cognitive structures, but they have behavioral and affective dimensions. o Values develop so that individuals can meet their needs in socially acceptable ways and thus the behavioral aspect of values is shaped by the cultural context in which they develop. o An individual’s values are the basis for his or her self-evaluation and the evaluation of others, and they play a major role in the establishment of personal goals. o Work values are the values that individuals believe should be satisfied as a result of their participation in the work role. o Values develop through enculturation. Enculturation is the process by which individuals incorporate the beliefs and values of their cultural group and form a values system. o When values are crystallized individuals can label them and apply them to their own behaviors. o Values are relatively stable but may change throughout the lifespan as a result of conflict or contemplation. o The result of enculturation for most individuals is monoculturalism— that is, they incorporate the values and beliefs of one culture. o Bienculturation and/or multienculturation occurs when the beliefs of two or more cultures are internalized. However, these are unlikely because often the values of multiple cultures conflict. o Acculturation may or may not influence the cultural values that individuals incorporate into their value systems. Acculturation involves the enculturation of beliefs from a culture different from one’s own. It may also involve adopting the language, customs, and traditions of the other culture. o Individuals who are in contact with another culture often receive “messages” that conflict with their own beliefs. The result is acculturative stress. o Acculturation is not necessarily a one-way process: it is reversible o Acculturation is a process that may affect individuals from all cultural groups, including members of the dominant culture who interact with cultural groups with different values.

 Cultural group membership versus internalized culture. o Cultural group membership, which is a demographic designation, has typically been used in lieu of internalized culture. o Internalized culture consists of the beliefs and values of the individual.  Factors that Retard Motivation to Act on Values o Values are the major force in the goal-setting process. o However, five factors may lead individuals to lower their expectations of success if they act on their values: 1.) mental health problems 2.) history of personal/cultural group discrimination 3.) lack of information 4.) poverty 5.) self-efficacy o These variables are incorporated into the propositions that follow. C. Propositions of Brown’s Values-Based Theory 1.) Highly prioritized work values are the most important determinants of career choice for people who value individualism. 1.a. Factors that limit the number of occupational options considered for people who value individualism include low SES, minority status, mental health problems, physical disabilities, gender, low scholastic aptitude, perception that they will be discriminated against, etc. 1.b. Self-efficacy becomes a constraining factor in the occupational decision- making process of individuals who value individualism when the options being considered require widely divergent skills and abilities. 2.) Individuals who hold collective social values an come from families and/or groups who hold the same social values either defer to the wishes of the group or family members or are heavily influenced by them in the occupational decision- making process. The result is that the occupations chosen correlate less with the individual’s work values than is the case with individuals who value individualism and make their own occupational choices. 2.a. Gender is a major factor in the occupations entered by individuals who value collectivism. 3.) When taken individually, cultural values regarding activity do not constrain the occupational decision making process. People who value individualism and have both a future/past-future value and a doing/activity value are more likely to make decisions at important transition points, such as graduation from high school, and to act on those choices than people who value either collectivism or individualism and being or being-in-becoming. 4.) Because of differing values systems, males and females and people from different cultural groups enter occupations at varying rates. 5.) The process of choosing an occupation value involves a series of “estimates.” 6.) Occupational success is related to job-related skills acquired in formal and informal educational settings, job-related aptitudes and skills, SES, participation in the work role, and the extent to which discrimination is experienced regardless of which social relationship value is held.

6.) Follow-up to revisit the goal, scale it, and develop a plan to move toward problem resolution 7.) Second order questioning if needed.

“What would happen if the career problem is not addressed?” (Develop insight into pros and cons of action and inaction as they relate to the presenting problem.)
“Tell me about how you arrived at the conclusion that you are not able to handle work-related stressors?” (Examine thoughts and reflect on how they developed as well as their implications.) II. Socioeconomic Theories A. Status Attainment Theory - SAT (Hotchkiss and Borow)  Socioeconomic status of one’s family influences education, which in turn affects the occupation entered.  Variables such as mental ability and social-psychological processes are added to this process.  Basic assumption is that family status and cognitive variables combine through social-psychological processes to influence educational attainment, which in turn impacts occupational attainment and earnings. B. Dual Labor Market Theory  Two types of businesses: core and peripheral.  Core firms have internal labor markets and rather well-developed career paths that offer opportunities for upward mobility (Cisco). These firms have dominant roles in the markets in which they compete.  Peripheral firms make no long-standing commitment to their employees. Instead, employees are paid b the job and furloughed when no longer needed. Little chance of upward mobility. C. Race, Gender, and Career  Race and gender have a significant impact on occupational attainment and earnings. III. Theories of Decision Making A. Jepsen and Dilley (1974)  Prescriptive versus descriptive models of decision making. B. Mitchell (1975)  Four elements of preferences held by the decision maker (absolute constraints, negative characteristics, positive characteristics, and neutral characteristics) C. Janis and Mann (1977)  Assume that conflict is caused whenever a person is faced with making a decision. 1.) Are risks involved if I do not change? 2.) Are the risks serious if I do not change? 3.) Can I hope to find a viable solution to the problem? 4.) Is there sufficient time to search for viable alternatives?

Notes on Brown Ch. 5 I. A Values-Based, Multicultural Approach to Career Counseling and Advocacy A. Based largely on Brown’s (2002) values-based theory of occupational choice. B. Provides a detailed, comprehensive approach to career counseling that does not rule out borrowing ideas from other theories. C. In a diverse culture, all counselors, regardless of race, ethnicity, or worldview, need a multicultural approach to career counseling. D. Three aspects of culture: 1.) Universal dimension: Similarities among groups 2.) General cultural dimension: Characteristics of a particular group and typically refers to ethnicity, the group’s common history, values, languages, customs, religion, and politics. 3.) Personal dimensions: Reflected in the individual’s worldview and based on the extent to which the general cultural values and worldview have been adopted by the individual (cultural generalizations must be avoided) E. Counseling should proceed according to the client’s worldview(not the counselor’s), which is based on client’s cultural values unless those values collide with the laws of the dominant culture. F. An approach to multicultural career counseling should provide the basis for the following components: 1.) The assessment of cultural variables 2.) A culturally appropriate relationship 3.) The facilitation of the decision-making process 4.) The identification of career issues (assessment) o Pattern Identification o Achievement Profiling o Lifeline 5.) The establishment of culturally appropriate goals 6.) The selection of culturally appropriate interventions 7.) The implementation and evaluation of the interventions used 8.) Advocacy Notes on Brown Ch. 6 I. Clients with Special Needs A. Eight groups addressed: 1.) Disabled individuals, including those with physical and mental disabilities. 2.) Women who wish to enter or who are now in the workforce. 3.) Workers who have been displaced because of economic conditions or other factors. 4.) Economically disadvantaged workers. 5.) Delayed entrants to the workforce, including retirees who return to work, military personnel transitioning to the civilian workforce, and ex-offenders.

 Gender-aware approaches highlight the pervasive influence of early gender- role-socialization on expectations about work and careers, for both men and women.  For men, gender role socialization in childhood/adolescence encourages boys to restrict their emotional expressiveness and to strive for achievement and competition. Men’s expectations of the work world often include assumptions of a provider role, upward career progression, and acquisition of material possessions that reflect their success.  For women, gender role socialization includes messages that place limits on career aspirations and achievements and will be discussed more in depth later.  Gender-aware counseling acknowledges that male and female role expectations also enter into the counseling process. Women clients may assume a passive role in the counseling process, or men may become competitive with the counselor.  Another focus of gender-aware counseling is the gender-role socialization of the counselor and how it interacts with the gender-role socialization of the client. F. Feminist Counseling  Underlying belief of feminism is the social, political, and economic equality between women and men.  Chronister, McWhirter, and Forrest (2006) describe four tenets of feminist therapy, which they apply to career counseling: 1.) Sociocultural conditions are viewed as the primary source of women’s problems, and the presenting issues that they bring to counseling are conceptualized as originating from socially defined and oppressive sex roles. o An implication of this tenet is that symptoms women exhibit actually represent adaptive solutions to societal expectations rather than psychopathology or intrapsychic problems. 2.) Personal is political : Because all women in American society are oppressed, political understanding and solutions are necessary to address problems that individual women experience. 3.) Egalitarian relationship between counselor and client: The feminist counselor acknowledges her expertise but works to develop a relationship that is based on equal worth and is collaborative rather than hierarchical. 4.) Goals of feminist therapy: May be viewed as diametrically opposed to the goals of traditional therapy. Namely, feminist therapies reject social conformity and adjustment to unhealthy social conditions in favor of personal self-definition and self-determination. One fundamental belief is that women much achieve both psychological and economic independence. G. Gender Assessment  Four major sources of sex bias in testing: 1.) sex-biased items 2.) inappropriate norm groups

3.) sex-biased interpretation 4.) sex-biased constructs  Despite the sources being reduced substantially in recent years, counselors should continue to be concerned about the ways in which sex bias may enter into standardized assessment, particularly in terms of how the counselor interprets the results.  It is imperative that counselors understand the way in which a specific inventory is developed and normed so that they can interpret the results accurately for female and male clients. H. Gender and Theories of Career Development  Women’s careers may not be adequately explained by traditional theories of career development, at least in their original versions.  Betz (2005) offers eight recommendations for counseling women who are making career choices: 1.) Encourage high-quality and extensive education and training 2.) Encourage as much math coursework as possible, given its role as a “critical filter” in entry to many career fields. 3.) Stress decisions that keep as many options open as possible. 4.) Define the counselor’s role as “catalyst” for creation of new learning experiences for the client. 5.) Explore the clients outcome expectations about goals, as well as barriers and supports. 6.) Remember the crucial role that one supportive person can play in a client’s life. 7.) Assess the role of culture and ethnicity in the client’s decisions. 8.) Integrate career theories as appropriate.  APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Girls and Women:

Be aware of the effects of socialization and stereotyping.
Recognize and use information about oppression, privilege, and identity development.
Understand the impact of bias and discrimination on physical and mental health.
Use gender and culturally sensitive practices.
Recognize how their socialization, attitudes, and knowledge about gender may affect their practice.
Use interventions and approaches that have been found to be effective.
Foster therapeutic relationships and practices that promote initiative, empowerment, and expanded choices.
Provide appropriate, unbiased assessments and diagnosis.
Consider problems in their sociopolitical context.
Use relevant mental health, education, and community resources.
Understand and work to change institutional and systemic bias. Notes on S&F Ch. 5.

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