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Career Theory – Timeline

Career theory is a daunting subject for most people, but it doesn’t have to be. I hope the information in this section is going to help you get to grips with theory, how and why theory works in career guidance and the development of career theories and related over the last century. Maybe you’ll even grow to like or love theory, if you don’t already!

A bit of ‘career’ history

The early days…

Theory around career guidance arguably officially started in 1908 with Frank Parsons, and has since then seen major developments and, quite frankly, a lot of progress and change, as has society. Theory has generally matched developments in the world of work, education and society at large in that it always has mirrored requirements of individuals in the world of work. In Parson’s time, this meant the needs of society ‘as a machine’ in the industrialised era at the start of the 20th century Europe, which was on the brink of it’s first industrialised war.

Career guidance in the 21st century

Career theory at the start of the 20th century differs starkly with the requirements of the early 21st century, where the jobmarket is increasingly highly technological, fragmented and uncertain in a very different way to that a century or so ago. Career guidance reflects this. The difference in attitude is one from ‘the good of the nation’ to that of ‘the good of the individual’. Career guidance doesn’t focus as much on ‘what the nation needs and wants’ as it does on ‘what the individual needs and wants’ in the first decades of the century and the new millenium.

Some considerations

It’s important to make a couple of considerations around theory however:

• Different people categorise theories in a different way. No categorisation is fixed but I follow the one indicated in the learning outcomes for the Level 6 qualification in career guidance and career development, where appropriate.
• Theories are not fixed on the day they become established. Theories continue to develop over time, either by the theorist (eg. Holland) or through the interpretation of others in the context of a new reality (eg the difference between the original conception of trait and factor and the way it’s interpreted now in a very different social and theoretical/philosophical context).
• Equally, theories are not developed out of thin air but are always developed out of ‘what went before’ and ‘what is around’. They always have a history. Their development and conception can appear to be sudden, but it’s often difficult to pin down to a precise date, or even year.

The Timeline

The timeline on this page can therefore only offer a general idea of the development of career guidance theory and it is important to see it in that way, as an introduction and overview, rather than as a fixed model.

As an introduction to this, please feel free to explore the timeline below. There is a full index organised by theory and one organised by theorist on the next pages.

I have, as far as possible, classified theories using the different icons below. Classification is not always clearly possible or easy and some theories fall in between, or straddle, two or more categories. The categorisation I made is therefore slightly tenuous. It should fit in with the requirements for the Level 6 Qualification in Career Guidance, however.

		Differentialism			Theories focusing on the needs or specific sociocultural groups			Learning theories
		Developmentalism			Theories linked to uplanned events management			Motivational theories
		Structuralism			Constructivism			Transition theories and theories of change
		Opportunity Structure			Theories derived from psychology/psychotherapy/counselling			Vocational behaviour theories
		Social Learning						Theories of deicsion making and avoidance
		Community Interaction						Coaching theories

020

General trend in focus in career guidance towards:
Decreasing career guidance theory and practice around a single aspect; eg.: the economy, stages of life, skills matching, etc…					Decreasing: Positivism – Modernism – Objectivism – Central position of society
Theory	Primary category		⇓		Theorists
Environmental Theory – Matching theories			1908		Frank Parsons 1908
			⇓
			1940
			1941
Client-centred Theory			1942		Carl Rogers 1942 & 1951
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Model*			1943		Meyers and Briggs 1944
			1944
			1945
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)*			1946		Raymond Cattell 1946, 1949, 1965
Change Management Model			1947		Kurt Lewin 1947
			1948
			1949
			1950
Developmental Theory			1951		Ginzberg et al. 1951
Environmental theory – Matching theories			1952		Alec Rodger 1952
			1953
Hierarchy of Needs			1954		Maslow 1954
			1955
Theory of Career Choice and Development			1956		Anne Roe 1956
Developmental Theory – Life Span Development			1957		Donald Super 1957 and Donald Super et al. 1961
7 Stage Model of Change			1958		Ronald Lippitt 1958
Motivation Hygiene Theory – 2 Factor Theory			1959		Frederick Herzberg
			1960
Five-factor Model (FFM) or OCEAN model*			1961		Ernest Tupes & Raymond Christal 1961
			1962
			1963
Expectancy Motivation Theory			1964		Victor Vroom 1964
Client-centred Theory			1965		C.H. Patterson 1965
Environmental Theory – Matching theories			1966		John L. Holland 1966, 1973, 1985, 1992
			1967
Opportunity Structure Theory			1968		Roberts 1968 – 1997
			1969
			1970
			1971
			1972
			1973
			1974
Career Anchors			1975		Edgar H. Schein 1975
Protean Career			1976		Douglas T. Hall 1976
Social Learning Theory (SLTCDM)			⇓		Krumboltz et al 1976, Mitchell & Krumboltz 1990 & 1996
DOTS Model			1977		Law & Watts, 1977 & 1996
Social Learning Theory			⇓		Albert Bandura 1977 & 1986
Decision Making Model			⇓		Tanya Arroba 1977
			1978
			1979
Developmental Theory (further developed)			1980		Donald Super 1980
Community Interaction Theory			1981		Bill Law 1981 & 1996
Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)			⇓		Hackett & Betz, 1981; Lent, Brown, & Hackett 1994
Theory of Circumscription and Compromise			⇓		Linda Gottfredson 1981
Transition Theory			⇓		Schlossberg 1981 & 1989
The FIRST Model			1982		Tol Bedford 1982
Motivational Interviewing			1983		William R. Miller, Terri Moyers and Stephen Rollnick 1983
Stages of Change Model – Transtheoretical Model			⇓		James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente 1983
Experiential Learning Cycle			1984		David Kolb 1984
Work Adjustment Theory			⇓		Dawis & Lofquist 1984
			1985
Social Learning Theory			1986		Albert Bandura 1977 & 1986
			1987
Change Model			1988		Cynthia Scott and Dennis Jaffe
Transition Cycle			⇓		N. Nicholson and M. A. West 1988
Psychodynamic Theories			1989		Mark Savickas 1989
Social Learning Theory (SLTCDM)			1990		Krumboltz et al 1976, Mitchell & Krumboltz 1990 & 1996
Constructivist Theory			⇓		Chartrand et al., 1995; Cochran, 1997; Collin & Young, 1986; Peavy, 1992; Savickas, 1993 & 1997; Young et al. 1996
			1991
			1992
Cormier & Hackney Model			1993		Harold L. Hackney & Sherry Cormier, 1993
Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)			1994		Hackett & Betz, 1981; Lent, Brown, & Hackett 1994
Value-based Career Decision Making			1995		D Brown 1995, 1996& 2002; Brown & Crace 1995
Boundaryless Career			1996		Arthur & Rousseau 1996
Community Interaction Theory			⇓		Bill Law 1981 & 1996
DOTS Model (review)			⇓		Law & Watts, 1977 & 1996
Learning Theory of Careers Counselling (LTCC)			⇓		Mitchell and Krumboltz 1996
Social Learning Theory (SLTCDM)			⇓		Krumboltz et al 1976, Mitchell & Krumboltz 1990 & 1996
Careership Theory			1997		Phil Hodkinson and Andrew C. Sparkes 1997
Integrative Life Planning Theory			⇓		Sunny Hansen 1997
Narrative Career Counselling			⇓		Savickas (eg 1997), Cochran (eg 1997) & Peavy (eg 2000)
Skilled Helper Model			1998		Gerard Egan 1998
Cognitive Information Processing Theory (CASVE)			1999		Sampson, Lenz, Reardon, & Peterson 1999
Planned Happenstance Theory			⇓		Krumboltz & Levin 1999 – 2004; Mitchell et al., 1999
Life-is-Career Theory			⇓		Miller-Tiedeman 1999
Synergistic Theory of Organisational Career Development			⇓		Kerry Bernes 1999
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/training (ACT)			2000		Tom Luken & Albert de Folter 2000 & 2012
			2001
Contextual Action Theory (CAT)			2002		Lev Vygotsky, L. Valach & Young, R. A. 2002
			2003
Solution Focused Career Theory			2004		Judi Miller 2004
Career Construction Theory & Life Design – Narrative Approach			2005		Mark Savickas 2005
Continuous Participation Model			⇓		Danielle Rivern-Simard 2005
Systems Theory Framework of Career Development			2006		Wendy Patton & Mary McMahon 2006
Strengths-based Approach			2007		Schutt 2007
3 Step Storyboarding Model			2008		Bill Law 2008
Skills Development Scotland – A Coaching approach to guidance			⇓		Liane Hambly 2008
			2009
Career Choice and Attainment Model			2010		Kimberly A.S.Howard 2010
Sparks Theory			⇓		Minna Kattelus 2010 – 2015
Career Counseling with Underserved Populations Model			2011		Mark Pope 2011
Career Engagement Model			⇓		Roberta A. Neault & Deirdre A. Pickerell 2011
Chaos Theory of Careers			⇓		Pryor and Bright 2011
Coherent Career Practice			⇓		Kris Magnusson & Dave Redekopp 2011
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/training (ACT)			2012		Tom Luken & Albert de Folter 2000 & 2012
Culture Infused Career Counselling Model (CICC)			2013		Nancy Arthur 2013
Psychology of Working*			⇓		David L. Blustein 2013
			2014
			2015
			2016
Career Self-determination Theory			2017		Charles P. Chen 2017
Career Writing Method			⇓		Reinekke Lengelle & Frans Meijers 2017
			2018
			2019
			2020
			2021
			2022

*Even though the Psychology of Working Theory is described by Blustein himself as a theory of change, it incorporates and doesn’t exclude aspects or the application of other theories so is in effect a more holistic theory.

There seems to be a trend towards:

• A more holistic practice
• A counselling or coaching model (depending on part of the country, employer and resources, especially financial and time)
• Increasing post modernism
• Increasingly towards a holistic and subjectivist approach.

Let’s have a look at these theories in more detail to find out what they look like: