The career rainbow is based on the concept of people playing or inhabiting a number of roles as they move through life. These roles can overlap and contradict each other, prompting the necessity for decision making and compromise. Super proposes 9 main roles throughout life in 4 different principal ‘theatres’ (Super, 1980, p.283).

9 Roles

If you have a look at the rainbow above you will recognise all 9:

1. 1. Child – daughter or son
   2. Student
   3. Leisurite – the role of being engaged in leisure activities (or nothing at all!)
   4. Citizen
   5. Worker – including ‘non-worker’, volunteer or person who is unemployed
   6. Parent
   7. Spouse
   8. Home maker
   9. Pensioner

Super recognises that not all play all roles in life and that roles may be abandoned. He admits there may be overlap but states that the order of the roles on the rainbow generally corresponds with how these roles are generally taken up. Super also doesn’t like biological sex apsect to any of these roles, stating (maybe a bit clumsily for 21st century ears) that none of these roles are ‘sex linked’ (Super, 1980, p.284).

Super’s 4 Theatres

1. 1. The home
   2. The community
   3. The school – including college, university, etc…
   4. The workplace

Super recognises that not everyone enters all theatres and that there other theatres, such as the care home, etc… (Super, 1980, p.284). Roles and theatres interact in a variety of ways. Some roles may be played in one theatre and some may be played out in different theatres. Some theatres may encompass one role and some more than one (home working for instance). Roles may have a primary theatre they are played out in and some theatres may be the principle theatre for a role.

The term ‘role’ needs to be understood in terms of expectations by different actors and observers, as well as performance by different actors and observers (Super, 1980, p.285). Super recognises that ‘roles’ can be fluid and more multi faceted throughout an individual’s life in a variety of ways and configurations.

Linked to the representation of his theory before, pre-occupational roles such as child and student begin to influence later occupational positions and how they are met. For instance: the amount and type of schooling is a determinant of future occupational choice and position. More controversially in my view, Super claims that the first occupational position is one determinant of future occupational positions open to the individual (Super, 1980, p.286). I can agree this was more the case when Super wrote this, but I do feel there is more flexibility and fragmentation in the world of work, as well as in options for career development, education, etc… Evidence for this could be, amongst many other factors, the way the world of work allows for ‘portfolio careers’ and adult educational opportunities. This still with some limitations in the time, effort and cost required for possible retraining or a change in career direction. 

Life style – life space – life cycle

Super further defines how these different roles and theatres, as well as their interaction, make up the career pattern for an individual (Super, 1980, p.288).

• • Life style – the combination of life roles
  • Life space – the sequential combination of life roles structures the life space
  • Life cycle – the life space and life roles people occupy constitutes the life cycle as a time bound structure

The total structure of all of these together is the career pattern.  The Life Cycle and Career Patterns encompass the waxing and waning of roles.

More practically, Super links his model of the rainbow to different decision points for every role throughout life. this brings us to the practical application of the theory.