Argues that career maturity gives insufficient attention to the contexts of time and culture. Suggests the use of recent advances in developmental theory as an alternative for understanding developmental transitions. Cites findings from a study highlighting how individual differences and contextual factors contribute to the school-to-work…

This study compared the timing of early vocational preferences in young adolescents from former East Germany and West Germany. Results suggested that as the memory of the Communist system fades and as younger adolescents have had less exposure to it, East-West differences tend to disappear. The formation of early vocational preferences was…