SOCIAL FACTORS IN VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

As the guidance movement developed in its first three or four decades, its progress was marked by refinement of tests and other measuring devices. From the development of intelligence tests, it proceeded to interest inventories, dexterity tests, and a variety of devices purporting to measure various aptitudes and personality traits. While the counseling and guidance profession was emphasizing tests, sociologists and social psychologists had begun to discover the importance of social factors relevant to vocational development, such as the relationship between social class membership and attending college [8,14,15]. Some results of sociological studies are reflected in the theories of vocational choice or vocational development outlined by Ginzberg [7], Super [13], and Beilin [1]. The trend from “vocational guidance” to “counseling psychology” may also represent some implicit leaning toward a broader frame of reference which would give more consideration to social factors. It is the purpose of this paper to (1) bring together some of the published sociological information most relevant for counseling psychology, (2) suggest additional inferences from social factors, and (3) outline specific kinds of social information which counseling psychologists would need in order to incorporate sociological knowledge and theory into their professional practice.

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