Although the economic and social context of work appears to be changing for more and more people, the author argues that time-honored and empirically supported theories of career development continue to be relevant and useful. However, these theories and the core assumptions that underlie them (e.g., the "matching metaphor") may need to be…

In proposing a "work and relationship" perspective for vocational psychology, Richardson builds on a rich intellectual (social constructionist) tradition and offers incisive social commentary. In this reaction, the author examines several of her foci--in particular, the four-part division of life's social contexts, her views on relationships, and…

We tested a social cognitive model of academic adjustment in a sample of 1377 students enrolled in engineering schools at two predominantly White and two historically Black state universities. The model brought together central elements of social cognitive career theory's (SCCT) segmental models of educational/vocational satisfaction, interest,…

Lent and Brown [Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2006). "Integrating person and situation perspectives on work satisfaction: A social-cognitive view." "Journal of Vocational Behavior,69", 236-247] recently proposed an integrative model of work satisfaction linked to social cognitive career theory. The model posits that work satisfaction is predicted…

Considers several avenues for stimulating study of the contextual aspects of career behavior. Reviews literature covering career barriers, a conceptually relevant construct, from the perspective of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT); advocates for the study of contextual supports as well as barriers; and proposes additional context-focused…

Reviews emerging findings applying self-efficacy theory to career-relevant behaviors, examines a number of conceptual and methodological issues arising from this work, and offers several directions for future research and theory on the career self-efficacy construct. Self-efficacy appears to offer promise in understanding certain career-entry…

Extends social cognitive career theory by suggesting how several of its major hypotheses can be applied to counseling. Describes strategies for assisting clients in developing a broad array of career options, analyzing and overcoming barriers to career choice, and counteracting choice-limiting self-efficacy beliefs. Discusses future research needs…

Efforts to test hypotheses derived from social cognitive theory require sound measures of the theory's constructs. Because the theory is concerned with domain-specific aspects of human functioning, it raises special measurement challenges. For example, unlike traits, which can be indexed with general, all-purpose measures, social cognitive…

Presents a social cognitive framework based on Bandura's theory for understanding three aspects of career development: development of career interests, academic and career choices, and performance and persistence. Focus is on how self-efficacy, expected outcome, and goal interrelate with gender, context, and experiential factors. (SK)

Authors respond to Duane Brown's (2000) claims about the deficiencies of various theories as templates for studying and promoting the work transition of racial/ethnic minority students. Suggests that the degree to which theories are generalizable across cultures is an empirical question, and counsels against the assumption that cultures exert…

Anchored in Bandura's social cognition theory, this framework focuses on the interplay among self-efficacy, expectations, and goals in enabling individuals to act on their career development. The interaction of sociocognitive variables with personal/environmental characteristics and school-to-work transition is described. (SK)

Provides an overview of a social cognitive framework for understanding career interest, choice, and performance processes. Features several variables (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals) through which people help to guide their own career development. Discusses how these variables interrelate with other aspects of persons (e.g.,…

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett, 1994) and general social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1999, 2000) posit somewhat different relations between contextual variables and choice actions. The authors tested the predictions of these 2 model variations. Participants (328 students in an introductory engineering…

The math-related interests and academic-choice intentions of black college students (N=164) are explored. A social cognitive path model offered good overall fit to the data. Although racial identity contributed little to the model, self-efficacy and outcome expectations predicted interests, which predicted choice intentions across racial attitude…

Considers social cognitive career theory as a point from which to view the school-to-work transition process. Focuses on developmentally linked themes that unfold throughout school years. Emphasis on these themes (formation of self-efficacy and outcome beliefs, interest development, interest-goal linkages, translation of goals into action,…