Vocational Maturity and Occupational Realism Among Inner-city Disadvantaged College Bound High School Students

CINDERELLA BOYD, Fordham University

Abstract

Vocational development has received considerable attention in both theory and research. An assum ption of vocational development theory, held by m ost research ers, is that vocational decision-m aking is an on-going process which develops over a number of years. As an individual m atures vocationally, he proceeds through a serie s of developmental life stages, with each stage affording him opportunities to deal with specific tasks (Ginzberg et a l ., 1951; Super, 1953; Tiedeman, 1961; Tiedeman and O’H ara, 1963). Vocational development is the process by which people learn about the world of work and how they relate to it. Borow (1964) says, "Vocational development is a life-long process which coexists with and interacts with other developmental pro cesses" (p. 192). According to m ost theories of vocational development, youngsters in early and late childhood go through a fantasy stage of occupational choice, characterized by adventurous, perhaps unrealistic occupational aspirations. In early adolescence they enter the exploratory stage and begin to use choice factors, such as interests and abilities, in c aree r planning. In late adolescence they use m ore choice factors, including personality needs, values, educational opportunities.

Subject Area

School counseling

Recommended Citation

BOYD, CINDERELLA, "Vocational Maturity and Occupational Realism Among Inner-city Disadvantaged College Bound High School Students" (1975). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI7518905.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI7518905

Share

COinS