Chapter 4 - Blog #3

           Chapter 4 outlines the theories of Donald Super and Linda Gottfredson.  Super’s theory is significantly more detailed and researched.  It is made of 14 propositions that he has added to over time.  Gottfredson’s theory is more concerned with how career aspirations develop and breaks it down into developmental stages.  Both theories can be used to help develop career development programs or in career counseling (Brown, 2016). 

            I think it’s interesting that Super’s theory, that has been so heavily researched and documented, only applies to white men.  Brown refers to Super’s theory as the “white bread” theory and says this theory is not “…appropriate for women, members of minority groups, people with disabilities, poor people, and sexual minorities” (Brown, 2016, p. 79).  He cites that women have interruptions in their career development due to issues such as child bearing and harassment and people with disabilities can face training delays as well as other developmental snags (Brown, 2016).

            Overall, I felt like Gottfredson’s theory was easier to understand and apply.  I don’t think that it will apply to every situation, but is easier for the one’s that it does fit.  Super’s theory, as mentioned above, has many restrictions.  It almost seems like there is too much to it and the more propositions he adds, the more it becomes too narrow to work for everyone.  Brown also mentions that Super’s theory only works in public school settings and trying to use it outside of that setting would be challenging (Brown, 2016).

            Another part of this chapter that I found interesting was table 4.1.  This table lists 25 occupations and shows their change in status over the course of 67 years (from 1925-1992).  Overall there have not been many drastic changes.  It is interesting that a banker was higher than a physician at any point, but more interesting that they were still ranked 5^th in 1992.  The job of a farmer has varied the most dramatically I think.  They went from 9^th in 1925 to 10^th in 1967, back to 7^th in 1975 and then down to 16^th in 1992.  I wonder what they would be now in 2016.  It seems like the skilled laborers have kept relatively steady in the middle of the pack (Brown, 2016).

Brown, D.  (2016).  Career information, career counseling, and career development.  Boston,

MA: Pearson.