Keywords

Introduction: Career and Career Development

Adolescence stage is characterized by major and sometimes dramatic changes in different aspects of development. All these affect the adolescent identity development. She/he starts assuming adult roles involving individual and social responsibilities. Deciding about career is a step in this direction. Adolescents especially at the higher secondary education stage (around late adolescence stage) are concerned about selection of academic subjects and consequently the related careers they can enter. Career guidance forms a major part of counselling services provided to adolescents at this stage. This is crucial as it is going to be a major decision in the life of the adolescent. A careful and planned approach will enable the adolescent to progress into a successful career planning.

Career is not just a choice made by an individual to work in a particular profession at one point in time. It involves a decision process which can be understood as a complex phenomenon. “Career” and “Job” are terms which are interchangeably used but are significantly different from each other.

Job can be defined as work position offered by an organization that we choose to do in order to earn mainly monetary benefits. While, career is a plan which includes a series of connected decisions to work in a particular area or field and thus choosing a particular educational training and a particular profession. Though a profession is also where monetary benefits are involved but this is more to be related to individual’s self-concept, life goals, motivation, interest, and attitude. Career is thus more of a subjective construct that is objective in nature (Super et al., 1996, Savickas, 2002; Reardon et al., 2009).

Work has also been a term which is interchangeably used by many. Work has been defined by many researchers and theorists as a means for need fulfilment, thus indicating the objectivity as compared to career which is more subjective in nature (Blustein, 2006). Work is a productive activity leading to achievement of some goals. Various motives including internal and external motives govern the individual’s engagement in work. Work thus has a physical, psychological as well as sociological orientation to it.

Super (1976) has defined career as “the sequence of major positions occupied by a person throughout his pre-occupational, occupational, and post-occupational life; includes work related roles such as those of student, employee, and pensioner, together with complementary vocational, familial and civil roles.” In short it can be defined as “the pattern of influences that coexist in an individual’s life over time” (Patton & McMahon,  2006). It is more comprehensive and broader than work and consists of all the life roles and related work activities. As Geysbers and Moore (1975) indicated, career identifies and relates all the life roles (citizen, family member, learner, and worker), the interaction settings (family, friends, school, community, and workplace), and life events (entering school, job, divorce, marriage, retirement, etc.) in which individuals find themselves. Thus, called as Life career development, it includes the non-occupational as well as the work roles of the individual.

Career Development

Career development is a lifelong process that can be understood as making a choice furthered by decisions to prepare and train oneself to achieve and pursue professional goals (Ginzberg et al., 1951). Sears (1982) defines career development as “the total constellation of psychological, sociological, educational, physical, economic and chance factors that combine to shape the career of an individual over the life span”.

Adolescents are exposed to the world of work from early years in different ways, through their studies, television, media, friends of their parents, family members, and society. As they are developing their self-concept and identity, they also develop a concept of self at work or vocational identity (Skorikov & Vondracek, 2007) which derives from the question “Who will I become at work?” (Porfeli & Lee, 2012). This worker identity gets influenced by various factors such as gender, exposure to different professions in school and outside, peer pressure, and family expectation. Further, it is a continuous process of forming a vocational identity where the adolescent first explores the world of work, explores oneself, and then tries to fit in or match both. Thus adolescent’s vocational identity moves from a fantasy oriented and non-distinct perception to a more realistic, logical, and clear sense of self at work. The adolescent considers other social, economic, and environmental factors in addition to individual factors to gradually refine her/his vocational identity throughout life. Porfeli and Lee (2012) describe a “developmental model of vocational identity development” which consists of three stages—career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration which affect the adolescent career development.

Career Exploration

In Erikson’s development theory, childhood is characterized by the crucial developmental task of establishing a sense of industry where the child takes pride and derives pleasure from doing work. Achieving of this sense of industry will facilitate the vocational identity development during adolescence. The first step in this process involves career exploration. This includes exploring oneself—one’s abilities, skills, interests, attitudes, and aptitudes. It includes knowing one’s thoughts, emotions, liking, and disliking. Further, it involves exploring the world of work to know about the various jobs in terms of educational qualifications, working conditions, personality requirements, promotion facilities, work avenues, career prospects, perks, and other facilities including any job hazards. Thus an individual’s career path also involves exploring the self and the professional world to obtain an understanding of the general structures of the self and learn about potential career choices that might ensemble these structures (Patton & Porfeli, 2007). The adolescent assesses the work features, its nature, and responsibilities in terms of her/his abilities, skills, interests, etc. She/he also takes into account the family conditions and environmental factors while taking a decision on the career. The main focus of the career exploration stage is to explore and know about the diverse work available in the world of work and evaluate their suitability in relation to oneself.

The exploration of careers moves from a general looking around different work areas to a more focused search of specific careers that interest the adolescent. Thus there is a progress from in-breadth exploration of careers to in-depth exploration of self and career. Adolescents who are yet to establish a sense of identity will benefit from in-breadth exploration as it will help to explore things before planning their career. However, once there is a sense of self and identity formation, in-depth exploration will lead to more career planning and more career commitment.

Career Commitment

There are two components in career commitment, shortlisting a career and identifying with it (Germeijs et al., 2006). The search regarding careers in the previous stage leads to selecting a particular career and identifying with it. This choice of a particular career is influenced by many factors, mainly gender, social class, economic status, media and celebrity influence, peer group impact, etc. However, unless the adolescent gains a strong sense of self, her/his choice may get biased by other factors leading to a pre-mature foreclosure of career choice, e.g., choosing a career similar to their parents or other family members or peers. Hence it is important to achieve a sense of identity first which will help the adolescent to go for proper career planning.

Career commitment indicates a person’s connection to the career as well as the decision she/he takes regarding the career (Porfeli & Lee, 2012). The adolescent decides on a career and makes choices or behaviours as per these decisions, for instance, pursuing related education or training, and develops a vocational identity (forming a personal connection to the decisions and choices of oneself). Commitment to a career thus leads to career planning and career maturity. However, in the context of multiplicity of adolescence stage and individual variations, adolescents may vary in attaining a sense of identity and also in terms of the major influence of factors impacting their career choice. In such cases, there may be unfavourable outcomes in regard to career adjustment and career satisfaction.

Career Reconsideration

In such scenarios where the career commitment do not reflect the sense of self/identity, it may lead to re-examining of such commitments and search for suitable career alternatives. Career reconsideration has both advantage and disadvantages. It is advantageous in the sense that it reflects flexibility in career choices and long-term satisfaction. However, it may also lead to self-doubts and career indecisiveness and diminished well-being (Gordon, 1998).

Marcia’s theory of human development suggests four identity status such as achieved, diffused, foreclosure, and moratorium. Applying these to the vocational identity development, it can be seen that when there is more career exploration and more career commitment, it leads to ‘achieved’ status, i.e., there is vocational identity, career planning, and career maturity. Career reconsideration is not required here. On the other hand, less career exploration and commitment leads to a ‘diffused’ status of identity where the adolescent has neither explored careers nor committed to any. When the adolescent has explored more, but not able to commit, it is called ‘moratorium’ and signifies the need to look into personal characteristics in order to make a career choice. Finally, if the adolescent has committed to a career without exploring, it leads to ‘foreclosure’ as the career choice here is influenced by parental, peer, and other such influences. This may lead to career reconsideration at a later time (Table 6.1).

Table 6.1 Four identity statuses of Marcia (Milsom et al., 2021)
Full size table

The three processes of career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration interact in a dynamic way across adolescence and affect the development of a vocational identity of adolescent. A proper career planning highlights more career exploration and commitment and less career reconsideration. However, in the current scenario of job market fluidity and impact of technology and globalization in the career world, career reconsideration may be the norm rather than deviation. This will help lead to more adaptability in one’s career decision and planning. It will also add to the dynamics of one’s vocational identity.

Factors Affecting Career Choice and Decisions

Various factors contribute to the planning and decision of a career. During the adolescence stage it mainly pertains to career planning. Formal job/work/profession is sought at much later age in the Indian context, though it may start early during adolescence and even childhood in case of disadvantaged, poor, and lower socio-economic group. Career related planning and decisions are affected by various individual and environmental factors. Among some of the individual factors that play an important role in career decisions are personality, values, interest, abilities, aptitude, academic achievement, age, gender, and career expectation. These interact with prevailing environmental circumstances (Howard & Walsh, 2011) to affect career choices of adolescents.

Factors Related to the Individual

Personality is a characteristic way of an individual to respond to people, situations, and environment around oneself. It influences and shapes the career choice and career success of adolescents. Majority of theories of career development are based on personality in relation to career choice. For instance, an extrovert (someone who likes meeting and talking to people) will be more comfortable in a profession which requires this skill and will not be comfortable to be involved in a work where talking to people is limited or not allowed. On the contrary an introvert will be interested in such working conditions. Some other important personality related variables are self-concept, self-identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control which influence career decisions and career satisfaction.

Value system and value development also play an important role in career development of adolescents. Every individual is born and brought up in a certain culture which is driven by a set of ethics and values. Adolescents find it comfortable to work and choose a profession and career which fits into their value system. Thus, cultures, values, and ethics influence the adolescent career choices.

Adolescents have varied interests. Interest in different professions motivate them to explore possibilities of career prospects in those areas. This can be a first stage towards career planning.

Abilities enable an adolescent to experience success in task undertaken and thus motivates them to work in the field of the ability and plan career in it. It is an important aspect of an individual that contributes to career choices made during adolescence.

Aptitude is defined as potential or “talent” of an individual to perform a particular task. Along with interest, the adolescent needs to have aptitude to work in a particular field, e.g., aptitude for music or design things. Thus, aptitude is crucial in career choice and development.

Academic achievement also influences the career decision of adolescents as it motivates or demotivates adolescents to study and pursue a career based on their grades/marks.

Gender stereotypes are another factor affecting career decision and choices of adolescents. Pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects is largely dominated by males. However, globalization, societal, and attitudinal changes and women empowerment have brought in changes in the choice of careers. Females are venturing into varied career paths now. But largely gender stereotypes governed by culture impacts the career decisions and planning during adolescence.

Factors Related to the Environment

Parents and Family:

Career choice made by individuals in India differs from that in other countries and cultures. Most of the decisions in the middle and upper economic status are affected by family and parents (Levine & Hoffner, 2006; Millward et al., 2006). Parents’ personality, career, and attitude also have an effect on the adolescent career planning and decisions Howard et al., 2009). Many adolescents especially in the collectivistic society, plan their career in accordance to their parents’ choice and attitude towards particular profession (Sawitri et al., 2014). Parental pressure and family obligations influence their career decisions (Polenova et al., 2018). Higher career similarity with parents increases the career self-confidence and self-efficacy among the youth (Sawitri & Creed, 2015).

Physical factors such as environmental conditions also affect the choice of one’s career and decisions related to it. Many career are environment, region, or climate specific. Largely, unorganized sector employment is affected by environmental factors.

Social factors such as socialization, socio-economic status, family, friends, school, and teachers also have a significant impact on career choice of individuals.

Technological environment decides and defines job and career prospects across the world; thus, technological changes and advancements also have an effect on career decisions and choices made by individuals.

Factors such as government policies, which foster the career development and schemes for adolescents, also have an impact on career choices. These policies can be related to age, gender, or catering to specific groups who belong to a selected region, caste, socio-economic status, or cultural background.

Factors related to the individual and environmental factors interact to affect career development process of adolescents. Integrating all these factors, Carpenter and Foster (1977) have proposed a three-dimensional model to classify the factors influencing career choice. These relate to (a) intrinsic factors, (b) extrinsic factors, and (c) interpersonal factors.

Intrinsic factors derive from the individual factors and how these relate to the profession or career. It highlights if the person is finding the profession interesting, enjoyable, and personally satisfying (Gokuladas, 2010; Kunnen, 2013). It includes personal interests, self-efficacy, and how does the person expect to grow in the profession. Extrinsic factors refer to the external benefits and facilities provided by the employment or career (Shoffner et al., 2015), for instance, promotional opportunities, perks, financial benefits, job security, and job accessibility (Bakar et al., 2014). Interpersonal factors relate to the influence of family and significant people around the individual such as peer, teachers, and community leaders (Bossman, 2014; Gokuladas, 2010; Guan et al., 2015).

It may be noted that dimensions under each factor vary in the degree of their effect on career decisions, for instance, job accessibility (nearness to employment locations) is a deciding factor for career decisions of youth in a collectivist society (Atitsogbe et al., 2018); however, it has less predictive value for career explorations than personality traits (Fan et al., 2012). Thus the factors interact and affect career decision taking into account the socio-cultural context of the individual.

The cultural values prevalent in the family and the society influence on the career choice and decision of the adolescents (Hui & Lent, 2018). Hofstede’s (1980) individualism-collectivism cultural dimension has implication for the career choice of the individual. Individualistic cultures focus on the desires and choices of the individual; it emphasizes autonomy and an ‘independent identity’ that influences the career planning process. Collectivistic cultures on the other hand, put premium on societal interdependence and communal benefits (Sinha, 2014). Here, career related planning and decisions are influenced by the family, significant others, and peers. The individualistic versus collectivistic dimensions of culture influence the career decisions among youths (Amit & Gati, 2013; Sinha, 2014). In a systematic review study (Akosah-Twumasi et al., 2018), it was found that youth from collectivist cultures mainly gets influenced by the family expectations whereas they were more independent in career decisions and were governed by personal interest in individualistic settings. Further, higher career resemblance with parents led to more career confidence and self-efficacy among them.

However, given the culture of migration today, we can find inter-influence of cultures on each other. This has both benefitted these bicultural youths and also resulted in conflicts as when there is a tussle between traditional older generation of parents with an in-group focus and the younger generation of youth having a more flexible and adaptive approach to take up not so traditional careers.

Thus career decision-making is a complex process which reflects a dynamic interaction between intrinsic factors related to the individual, external factors associated with careers, and the socio-cultural processes.

Theories of Career Development

Career development has been explained by many theorists from different perspectives. While some theorists have explained it in relation to factors affecting career choice while others have explained it as a process. Some theorists have emphasized on amalgamation of both.

  • Content theories envision career development as being influenced by certain factors which are either from within the individual or are related to the environment in which the individual lives in. Major theories that focus on the ‘content’ of career development are trait and factor theories and psychodynamic theory (Holland, 1973; Parsons, 1909; Bordin, 1990).

  • Process theories underline the various stages and changes in a career that take place in an individual’s life. Theories of Ginzberg et al., (1951) and Super (1953) are some examples.

  • Content and Process theories reflect an amalgamation of the individual and the surroundings (content theories) and the developmental stages (process theories). Theories like Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and Mitchell and Krumboltz (1996) are some examples.

Holland’s Theory

The theory emphasizes the person-environment interaction that shapes vocational choices of individuals. Advocated by Holland, it states, “The person making a vocational choice in a sense searches for situations which satisfy his hierarchy of adjustive orientations” (Holland, 1959, p. 35). Individuals usually seek environments which helps them to make use of their skills and abilities; match with their values and beliefs; and offer appropriate roles and responsibilities. The theory talks about interaction between individual’s personality and the environment resulting in six vocational personality types that can help in career planning and choice. This is described as RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional).

Finding out the particular personality type of individuals will indicate the tentative careers suitable to them. Assessment through different scales (e.g., The Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory, Holland & Gottfredson, 1994; The Self-Directed Search, The Vocational Preference Inventory, VPI; Holland, 1985) aims at finding out the personality type and interest type of the individual and is expressed as a three letter code (e.g., SIA, RIA) which symbolizes and summarises an individual’s career interest. The first letter of the code indicates the primary interest type of the individual, which is likely to play a major role in career choice and satisfaction. The second and third letters indicate secondary interest types, which also significantly affect the career choice process though to a lesser extent.

Bordin’s Psychodynamic Model of Career Choice

Bordin’s (1990) theory focuses on the development in early childhood, especially development of personality, as a deciding factor of work motivation in later life. Principally, Bordin had suggested that individuals look out for work that they “find intrinsically interesting or from which they can derive pleasure” (Lent & Brown, 2013, p. 3). The basic proposition of the theory is that individuals seek to enjoy their work as they do in other spheres of life. They want to include play in their work so as to enjoy their work because play is intrinsically satisfying. Play and work are perceived as one during childhood, and it is only through aging and socialization that these two are viewed as separate.

Various factors including parental pressure, biological-related, economic, and socio-cultural aspects impact the development of personality of growing children. Thus both internal and external factors influence the personality development and consequently the career development and career choices of the youth. While making career choices, individuals carry out a self-assessment and analyze the chances of success based on intrinsic satisfaction, such as “curiosity, precision, power, expressiveness, and concern with right and wrong and justice, as well as … nurturance” (Bordin, 1990, p. 114).

Parson’s Trait Theory of Career Development

Frank Parson is considered to be the father of vocational and career psychology. Parson’s (1909) process involved a careful examination of the individual and matching them with career choices available; hence it was also called the trait and factor theory. The theory advocates three elements important for appropriate career selection: (a) understanding of individuals in terms of their values, weaknesses, strengths, abilities, skills, interests, aptitude, and other such qualities, (b) awareness of the conditions of work and resources needed to succeed and limitations in the desired field of work, and (c) emphasis on reasoning skills with regard to the previous two for appropriate career selection decision. Analysing and being able to compare and contrast in terms of individual qualities and work requirements is crucial in career choice and decisions.

Ginzberg’s Theory of Occupational Choice

Ginzberg et al., (1951) describes the career development of individuals in three stages such as Fantasy, Tentative, and Realistic. Fantasy stage which is from 6 to 11 years of age signifies the playful nature of children when they engage in various playful acts such as firefighters, race car drivers, and police officers. In this stage children gradually progress from just imitating and dressing up to actually mimic the key roles and responsibilities of the particular occupation.

The next ‘Tentative’ stage ranges from 11 to 17 of years where children develop further ideas related to different occupations. This period is further divided into four stages—the first stage is of ‘interest’ wherein the child develops feelings of liking and dislike to certain occupations. The second stage is ‘capacity’, referring to how much of the child’s interests and likes are in sync with his/her abilities. The third stage is ‘values’ wherein the child discovers how different occupations may fulfill his/her personal values. The final stage is known as ‘transition’ wherein the child starts to feel independent and makes choices.

The final stage ‘Realistic’ ranges from 18 to 21 years of age to early twenties. Here, the child develops more concrete plans for his/her career and often develops a backup plan. This stage is further divided into three stages—the first stage is of ‘exploration’ wherein the young adult has chosen a career path yet seeks other options. The next stage is called ‘crystallization’ in which the young adult becomes more and more engulfed and engrossed in a particular career path. The final stage is called ‘specification’ in which the young adult becomes more focused about her inclination towards a certain occupation in the desired career path.

Super’s Self-Concept Theory of Career Development

Super’s (1969) theory of career development emphasizes the role of individual’s self-concept in career choice and development. According to Super, self-concept results out of a dynamic interaction among various factors such as physical growth, mental development, personal experiences, stimulation, and characteristics related to one’s environment. The theory states that a relatively stable self-concept becomes more concrete in the late adolescence, and this guides the future career choice and development of the adolescent. It is essential to note that self-concept is dynamic in nature and it evolves throughout the course of one’s life when interacting with different situations and environment.

Self-concept keeps on evolving and when it is applied to occupational and other life roles, it results in work and life satisfaction. Super (1990) has proposed a life stage developmental framework which consists of five stages to explain the career development process: growth (0–14 years), exploratory (15–25 years), establishment (25–45 years), maintenance (45–60 years), and decline (60+ years). In each stage, an individual has to act on the work task according to the socially acceptable norms and rules, of that particular age. For instance, the exploratory stage requires the adolescent to cope with the vocational developmental tasks of crystallization (it refers to a cognitive process where one develops an understanding of one’s skills, interests, and values and looks for a career path as per these), specification (refers to making tentative yet specific career choices, based on one’s likes and dislikes), and implementation (refers to the individual undertaking relevant training to move ahead in their career choices). Super (1990) also hypothesized a mini-cycle within each of the above five stages. This mini-cycle consists of again from growth to decline or disengagement. Furthermore, individuals would also experience and undergo a mini-cycle of the stages when they are required to make expected and unexpected career transitions, for instance, being fired, unemployed, or personal factors.

Super’s theory thus provides a comprehensive approach to delineate and explain the career development process which can aid in the vocational counseling and training.

Gottfredson’s Career Choice Theory of Circumscription and Compromise

This theory focuses on gender and socio-economic status differences in career choices. It offers a developmental model of career selection in which adolescents go by the process of circumscription where they make the decision of eliminating those occupations not matching with their self-concept and zero in their career path search on to the most congruent one.

The first stage is known as “orientation to size and power” (ages 3–5), wherein the child perceives occupations to be the roles performed by the ‘big people’ (adults).

The second stage, “orientation to sex-roles” (ages 6–8), points out the importance of the sex-role norms and attitudes in defining the child’s self-concept. The child analyses and evaluates the different occupations based on the assumption of whether a particular occupation is relevant to a sex role or not. Those occupations which face sex-role conflict are ignored.

The third stage is known as “orientation to social valuation” (ages 9–13). It focuses on the social class and status in impacting our self-concept further. The value of prestige in the selection of occupation is high at this stage. The child ignores those occupations that are below his status and too above his status or prestige.

The fourth stage is called “orientation to the internal, unique self” (ages 14 and above). Here the focus is on the internal and personal traits of the adolescent’s self-concept, like personality, skills, interests, and values which influence and guide the career choice of the adolescent. External situations and factors such as economic hardship of the nation, family commitments, unfair selection, and recruitment procedure also affect career choice preferences of adolescents. They modify their choices accordingly to make it realistic and attainable.

Brown’s Value Based Theory

The central theme of Brown’s theory of career choice is values. Based on Rokeach’s work (1973), Brown (2003) defines values as “beliefs that are experienced by the individual as standards regarding how he or she should function” (p. 49). His theory highlights the trend of shifting to a more holistic view of understanding career choice. His theory has two integral parts—the role of values in career choice and career counseling. As per Brown (1996), individuals constantly compare their performance with those of others on the basis of certain values which are crucial in determining the life roles as well as the satisfaction from those life roles. Brown (1996) was of the view that motivation of decision-making is drawn through the outcomes and consequences of the comparison and the values. Brown identified values as being crucial to career choice decision-making and focus on values since prior theories had not paid much attention to this aspect.

The basic proposition of his theory is that every individual develops a small set of values, which “dictate cognitive, affective, and behavioural patterns” (Brown, 1996). Values are believed to have developed through an individual’s interaction with the environment (such as family, friends, and media). We receive value-laden messages from time to time and therefore, develop them over a period of time. With the passage of time, values become crystallized in the individual’s mind and the degree to which this occurs is related to the individual’s cognitive clarity. As per Brown (1996), it is essential that our values are crystallized and prioritized for effective decision-making. Those individuals whose choices are congruent with their values are believed to be more satisfied. Another crucial aspect of Brown’s theory is the life roles and their interaction with one another. He was also of the view that different set of values may cater to different life roles; “the result of role interaction is life satisfaction, which differs from the sum of the marital, job, leisure, and other roles satisfaction indices taken separately” (Brown & Crace, 1996, p. 217).

Social Cognitive Career Theory

The social cognitive career theory (SCCT) by Lent et al. (1994) is based on Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory. According to this theory, three social cognitive processes determine individual’s career development behaviours. These are self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and career goals and intentions. These aspects interact with gender, culture, ethnicity, socio-economic status, social support, and any perceived barriers to influence a person’s educational and career trajectories (Blanco, 2011; Lent et al., 2000).

Self-efficacy can be defined as personal beliefs of an individual regarding his or her own capabilities and aptitude to perform specific tasks and behaviours. Thus they may exhibit different levels of self-efficacy related to job specific behaviours required in various occupational sectors. For instance, an individual may be extremely confident in carrying out scientific tasks, yet may not be as comfortable and competent about a task concerning sales. The theorists believe that individuals will be interested in and be successful in carrying out a task when they have the self-esteem for that task while also possessing the essential knowledge, skills, aptitude, etc. The belief about one’s self-efficacy is influenced by four aspects, namely personal performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological and emotional states.

Outcome expectations is essentially the anticipatory belief of the consequence that would follow upon completion of a task (for example, what will happen if I do this?). The choice of engaging in a task, persistence in the task and the will to complete are dependant on the self-efficacy of the individual and the outcome.

Goals refer to intentions of an individual to carry out an activity or to attain a specific level of performance. The theory talks about two types of goals, namely, performance goals and choice goals. The aim of setting goals is to keep the individuals on track to complete their tasks in time when an external feedback is missing.

Thus personal interests and aspirations interact with the external environment to influence career choices. Self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and career-related interests together influence the individual’s educational and occupational choice goals. When goals are clearly stated, specific, held dearly, and stated publicly, it becomes more intriguing for the individual to act on them. The theory also views that the kind of goals individuals set for themselves reflects the harmonious interaction between their abilities, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. In order for individuals to be successful in academics and career, the goals should be realistically set according to their abilities, such that their self-efficacy also improves. It also results in positive outcome expectations and higher levels of success.

Various theories of career development described above point out that personal characteristics of the individual alongwith the contextual and environmental factors are important in determining the career choice and aspirations of the young generation. This has implications for career intervention measures to focus on development of effective personal qualities and career-related attitudes in the adolescents and also generating conducive environments to facilitate career decisions.

Adolescent Career Decisions: Issues and Challenges

Adolescents are a growing stage characterized by various significant changes in different aspects of development. Additionally, they need to take important decisions related to their choice of subjects and careers. Many a times adolescents feel the pressure to choose subjects at their higher secondary stage as it impacts their pursuing of related subjects and careers later on.

Thus one crucial issue in adolescent career decisions relate to the adolescent feeling uncertain and less prepared in their subject choice and career choice. This highlights the need to start the career decision process early so that the adolescent will feel better equipped to take decisions related to their career. It can focus mainly on career exploration and acquiring career related values and attitudes in the early years. Early to late childhood can be considered as the ideal time for career exploration as there is relatively less burden of making an immediate commitment (Porfeli & Lee, 2012); although children from deprived and marginalized sections may not have this opportunity to explore. In general, however, children do get exposed to the world of work through various means. This can be utilized to make them aware about different career avenues, career features, and conditions vis-à-vis personality requirements. In-breadth exploration will facilitate in-depth exploration of careers during adolescence and will lead to career maturity and career commitment.

A second challenge pertaining to adolescent career decisions involves the impact of culture. Role of cultural differences in relation to interpersonal factors affecting career choices need to be examined as it may create tension and intergenerational conflict. Bicultural youths who were more acculturated to their host countries reflected more intrinsic motivation in their career decision-making (Akosah-Twumasi et al., 2018). The study also points out that further research needs to highlight the role of parental influence and cultural diversity for the career path of bicultural youth.

Thirdly, career aspirations and career development of girls are other major issues. Prevalent gender norms limit the career choices and expectations of females. Socialization process affects the achievement motivation and self-efficacy of females. The socio-cultural norms also lead to occupational sex-stereotypes, i.e., generalized views of appropriateness of occupations for males and females. Although the female participation in the workforce has increased over the years, still the crucial issues of equal participation and recognition in work responsibilities, promotional avenues, and attitudinal changes are prevalent and need to be addressed.

Fourth, the process of career development of adolescents now needs to consider the significant role of technology in career. In the advent of online era now and as highlighted by the fallout of COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents need to learn new online skills to make them relevant in the new age workforce. There are also new avenues of employment open to youth for which they need to be ready. Hence employability skills have acquired a new dimension in the advent of integration of technology in all areas of our life.

Interventions for Adolescent Career Development

Career choice, decision, and development during adolescence require proper guidance and counselling which can shape and motivate the adolescent towards good career planning and vocational identity development. This will enable them to develop accurate understanding of themselves and choose appropriate careers. Intervention programmes for career development can focus mainly on development of a vocational identity of the adolescent. Focus needs to be in which stage the adolescent is currently—career exploration, commitment, or reconsideration. Accordingly, intervention measures can be provided keeping in mind that intervention in one stage will impact the status in the other stages also. Further, the identity status of the adolescent can be assessed and accordingly measures can be provided to facilitate increase the commitment and in-depth exploration by adolescents, and decreasing the in-breadth exploration and reconsideration over the long-term (Porfeli & Lee, 2012).

Adolescence is an age where a lot of psychological changes are accompanied with physical changes. This is the time when self-concept and identity develop which have a great implication in adolescent career planning. Guidance and counselling services will help the adolescents develop a proper self-concept and avoid confusions and anxieties, enabling them to progress effectively in their career development. Parental involvement needs to be an important aspect of adolescent counselling especially in the collectivistic society.

Career counselling and guidance need to be integrated into school guidance program. Instead of being a one-off activity or session, it needs to be permeated in all the activities and curricula of the school.

There also needs to be linkage of the curricula with the outside work environment and job market. Linking school curricula to world of work and employment opportunities will increase the relevance and applicability of what the students are learning in the school.

Further, a creative schooling system will motivate and promote ability and aptitude of various types. This will help adolescents discover their abilities and interests and develop a better self-understanding, thus facilitating their career decisions.

Mentoring can also support the students in their career choices through interaction with the alumni of schools and colleges. Sharing of first hand direct experiences of alumni will help the students develop better understanding of the process of career development and facilitate them in making appropriate career decisions.

Life skill development is another important aspect that enables students to become better professionals. These skills occupy an important role as most of the professions require social skills and life skills to effectively interact with people, manage their self and emotions and perform to optimum level at workplace.

Conclusion

This chapter provides an understanding of career development process in adolescents. It explains the factors and theories of career development having implication for career planning and career choices among adolescents. Career development and counselling for adolescents is a crucial need across the globe. It may start at different stages in different societies and cultures, but it has great implications for the future success and satisfaction of the adolescent. In Indian context of education, important decisions regarding career are made when a student is required to make a choice after tenth grade to choose between various disciplines broadly science, commerce, and humanities/arts stream. With the advent of changing paradigms in the education system within these streams varied choices are offered to the students. And this choice defines the future career of the students. Thus, it is very necessary that at this stage these students are guided through systematic career assessment and guidance and counselling based on scientific tests and facts related to the attributes of these students based on their personality, attitude, aptitude, and interest.

The issues and challenges related to career decision need to be looked into and intervention measures provided. Awareness of various provisions, schemes to extend support to the adolescents from the disadvantaged group, and deprived sections of the society are crucial for the utilization of these services for their benefit. School-industry partnerships enable students to learn through internships and apprenticeships which later on help in providing wider placement opportunities to students. The initiatives under National Education Policy (NEP, 2019) of the Government of India guides and promotes bridging of gap between skills and employability. Thus the policy encourages skill based courses and focus on applicability of education in the industry.

Adolescent career planning and decisions need to be given utmost importance as they form a major chunk of human resource of any country, and a proper career choice will play a key role in adult career success and satisfaction.

Time to Reflect

Career is one important aspect of human being’s life and adolescence stage is the crucial stage to decide on one’s career path. New career avenues and paths have arisen in twenty-first century due to advancement in the field of knowledge and technology. Adolescent needs to be ready for these careers in terms of attitudes, skills, and values. At the same time there is a need for the adolescents to focus on the local and indigenous aspects of work and vocations and turn these to successful employment opportunities, thus bringing in the inclusivity and sustainability dimensions into the career field. Adolescents need to find out their ‘Ikigai’—the purpose and meaning—in relation to their career, this will enable them to achieve success as well as happiness in whatever their career pursuit may be.