How Teens Choose a Career

Theories of how an adolescent develops career choices are a relatively new and seldom studied phenomenon. Until very recently it was assumed that adolescents underwent a natural progression, first initiated at the high school level, to the world of work. This belief was widely held until 1952 when Ginzberg introduced a developmental theory involving career choice among adolescents. He proposed that career choice is a process which extends from about age ten to age twenty-one, and that the most important factor determining career choice is "the series of interlocked decisions the adolescent makes over time." (Adams, 1980) He further theorized that the process of career choice is largely irreversible. Generally, Ginzberg proposed that a final career choice usually resulted from a compromise between need and reality.

Influences on Choosing a Career

Ginzberg went on to identify four different ego functions that he associated with adolescents making their career choices. He found that those individuals who were more mature and able to project psychological future were better at choosing career options. The second ego function is what he called "delay function." Ginzberg defined delay function as "the ability to postpone immediate need gratification for longer term, highly valued goals," representing what Freud called the reality principle, which produces a more realistic career choice than does the pleasure principle. The third ego function, known as reality testing, is the process of appraising the reality of what one can do, as opposed to what one might desire to do. In other words, an adolescent may be very intellectual and talented, but may not have the financial resources to pursue a particular career. The fourth part of the ego function is an attitude of "give a little to gain a lot." Unlike other theories related to career development and identity, Ginzberg's theory unfolds and differentiates over periods and stages (Adams, 1980).

Research indicates that family background and identity is correlated with adolescent career development. Previous studies show that teenagers who reported that their mother or father was out of work tended to have higher estrangement from family members. Further, researchers have found that the break-up of parents affects identity the most. It was found that both male and female adolescents living in stepfamilies or in single parent families had reported higher levels of estrangement as opposed to males and females from non-divorced families (Banks et al, 1992).

Not surprisingly, the most influential roles on vocational choice include parents, peers, siblings, and school influences. Research has shown that adolescent boys who are close with their fathers tend to have more traditional sex-typed ideals about vocation. Furthermore, boys tend to follow in their fathers' career paths. By the same token, young women who are close with their mother tend to follow in the same career path as their mother. Parents should be careful, though, not to push their kin into particular vocational directions. Research has found that parents often do not give proper advice regarding vocational choice, and therefore need to be aware of their child's identity before directing career choice (Dusek, 1987).

Peers have also been shown to affect career choice. While the effect of peers on vocational choice is dependent upon gender and social class, research indicates that boys tend to rank peer influence low when it comes to career choice. Also, there is evidence that lower class boys who attend middle class schools tend to have higher aspirations than do lower class boys who attend lower class schools (Adams, 1980).

Siblings are also an influential factor when choosing a career path. Boys with all male siblings have been found to hold mainly masculine vocational interests, while girls with female siblings hold feminine ones. Researchers have also found that older brothers act as significant role models for younger siblings. The older brothers may also be responsible for those women who have entered traditionally masculine lifestyles (Banks et al, 1992).

Perhaps the biggest influence on vocational choice are the schools, since schools have recently been focusing more on training for occupation, than mere teaching to create more highly educated individuals. Studies have found that 39% of college students regard their high school teachers as the major influence regarding their occupational choices. Guidance counselors in schools have the ability to be highly influential when it comes to helping young teens choose a career path. Guidance counselors should have the resources and the understanding of the student's goals in order to realistically advise the adolescent in a positive manner. Although these actions should represent the norm, there has been evidence that guidance counselors are really not doing their best in these matters. Studies have repeatedly indicated that students feel they get little or no help from their school guidance counselors (Dusek, 1987).

Program for Career Decision Making

Is there any help for adolescents making career decisions? Fortunately, there is help that is known as "I-Power." Tiedemans developed the I-Power program, the major focus of which is to increase self-direction. A major portion of the I-Power focuses on an intensive examination of present personal discussion of how teenagers maintain their current system. The results of the I-Power program are impressive in that they found an increase in ego-development scores; an increase in the use of planned analytical decision-making strategies, a decrease in impulsive strategies, an increase in tests of critical thinking and finally, a decrease in aimless/delaying strategy. Miller-Tiedeman concluded that this type of educational program should be a keystone of career programs for both secondary schools and colleges. (Sprinthall, 1995)

Conclusion

Adolescents gain more freedom and responsibility with age. They have more decisions to make as they grow older. One of the biggest choices they have to make is their choice of career. Parents, families, and friends have a large impact on young adults life, especially career. With the information provided, parents will hopefully be more aware and able to help their teens navigate through the working world.