Career Development and Gender, Race, and Class in The United States - Essay Example

?Sur Lecturer Career Development and Gender, Race, and Race, and gender have always shaped the life experience of people and society in general. This is a common concept in most researches and is widely understood to some extent by researchers. Studies interpret gender, race and class as categories of interlocking experience that impact on all life aspects, hence, they structure simultaneously the categories of the people’s experience in the society. At some particular moment, class, race or gender may feel more meaningful or salient in a specific person’s life, but they are cumulative and overlapping on their impact on the experiences of people. In career development, gender, class and race play a vital role in the life and experience of people. The analysis of race, class or gender enables us to differentiate between thinking relationally and thinking comparatively. In career development, people think comparatively upon learning the experiences other than theirs and then contrast and compare the life experiences of other groups of people. This is where the minority is suppressed especially in cases where development of career in based on majority or discriminated on the basis of race, gender or class. On the other hand, relational thinking entails seeing the existing interrelationships within experiences of diverse groups. When one thinks relationally, they see a social structure that generate history of unique groups simultaneously and together link them in the society. This does not imply that the experiences of minorities are similar to those of the majority group. Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss career development and compare the oppressions of gender, race and class. The paper also seeks to discuss the struggles of the minorities and women in general. Career development, gender, race and class are key elements in the life of the minorities who are basically discriminated against based on their limiting factors. African Americans are one of the minority groups who have continuously struggled to curb the discriminations against them by other groups based on race and even religion. For instance, in the early centuries of the republic, Jews and Catholics were denied, in some states, the right to vote. The Jews, Irish, and other immigrants continuously faced a long duration of de facto discrimination in educational opportunities, housing, and employment. In the struggle against such discriminations, the civil rights struggle only involve the racial minorities, as demonstrated by the status of homosexuals, the disabled, and women. Women have also struggle greatly to end the discriminations against them in various states formerly. For instance, until late 1860s, women were prevented or restricted from owning property in many states. The right of women to vote was not even protected constitutionally until the Nineteenth Amendment ratification in 1920. This was not until the 1964 Civil Rights Act added sex on the list of bases to which people could not be discriminated against. Among other characteristics to which people could not be discriminated according to the Civil Rights Act 1964 were age, race, religion, and national origin. The women struggled through feminism movements to run campaigns against discriminations based on gender and sex (Fitzgerald 116). Other minority groups that have struggled against discriminations included Hispanic Americans who struggled to increase their access to education and increase their voter registration numbers. Their struggle led to the amendment of the Voting Rights Act in 1975, which demanded that the materials of elections be made available in the language of the minority groups including Spanish. The other minority group is the Native Americans who also struggled to stop discrimination and long standing neglect against them. The groups struggled through the American Indian Movement that was aimed to recover their heritage, culture and land issues. Homosexuals have also continually struggled for equal rights. Since early 1980s, most municipalities and states have enacted laws that prohibit discriminations based on the sexual orientation of people. There have also been various struggles by the civil rights activists to legalize marriage among gay men and lesbians. Acts such as Defense of Marriage Act were enacted to prevent recognition of same sex marriages that are conducted in other states. However, places such as Vermont have given same rights to lesbians and gay couples as those of the heterosexual couples. Such discriminations have continuously occurred and the struggle of the minorities has not stopped. Career development and gender, race and class are among the top in the list of characteristics on which such discriminations are based (Leong 200). Theories of career development have been derived from personality theories. Such theories have made efforts to illuminate the interrelationship between people’s personality, behavior, race, gender and class with their career and work. However, some of the existing theories of career development are purely based on research on white males with upper and middle class background. However, the applicability of the same to people of color, women and other socioeconomic groups has been put to question. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the characteristics of individual personality and psychology does not consider the context of a wider environment where people make decisions on career, hence, fail to take into account the challenges and constraint that are faced by the minority groups. This concept broadly investigates the career development perspectives which are built on the emerging research which are based on race, gender, class, and ethnicity. In discussing career development, we will focus on the career development theories such as life span, trait and factor, and social cognitive. This paper section will focus on the concerns and issues that surround the applicability of the mentioned theories regarding gender, class, and race (Lundberg 212). Trait and factor theories: this career development theory assumes that there are distinctive and unique traits that can be measured reliably in order to match the traits of an individual to the requirements of an occupation. According to recent studies, people tend to seek occupations and work environment that match their preferred traits. However, some critics have questioned the accuracy of the tools and instruments that are used to measure these traits for groups apart from the white males. Some of the questions posed with respect to this include the following: are the demands for success in occupations similar to individuals of color as for the whites? Do they reflect mastery of the diverse experiences of life? Are the measured traits for men similar with those for women? Research has however indicated actual differences in the abilities of distinct racial, gender, class, and socioeconomic groups. However, questions have been raised on the factors that bring about these differences. There is no particular reason valid for anticipating or explaining consistency between the differences in groups of gender, race or class. Such variations may however be attributed to shared experiences of cultural socialization, and the differences seen in the achievements, abilities, interests, personality, and values between women and men. This explains varying career development based on gender, race, and class. Life span theories: although theories of trait and factor deal with career issues, they address them at one point in time. However, life span theories demonstrate long term perspective of career development. The most common life span theory that addresses career development based on gender, class, and race is the Super’s Theory of Vocational Choice. This theory suggests that people go through phases of vocational development that involve tasks of development at each phase. The theory also takes into account the performance of the multiple roles as well as their interactions throughout the life span. However, some researchers have proved that this theory is not particularly applicable to women. This is because their roles have not specifically changed within the last decades. The Super’s Theory of Vocational Choice considers the concept of self and vocational maturity as significant determinants in the choices of occupation and career development. However, the concept of self of the people with color is directly linked to some extent to the ethnic identity formation, and the effect of acknowledging needs in the life span theory. The low scores on the career maturity can hence be reflected on the societal barriers, limited access to job market opportunities, realistic appraisal of prospects of individuals, and the differing elements of the minority groups. Women have been at the verge of losing their careers due to the gender roles that the society has accorded to them. The theory hence explains the aspects of career development, gender, race and class as well as the struggles of women and the minority groups against the discriminations (Lundberg 203). Social cognitive career theory: this career development theory identifies the interrelations of external environment factors, personal attributes, and behavior in making decisions on career development. The theory in its attempt to address gender, race and class, focuses on the self efficacy belief’s influence and the expectations of outcomes on behavior and goals. That is to say, if a person has a strong belief in his or her personal ability to partake the attempt and have an outcome expectation of a particular behavior, they will exhibit a behavior that will aid them in achieving that goal. However, for women and the minority groups such as people of color, barriers, discrimination, or bias may be a determination of the outcome without depending on the behavior. Beliefs in self efficacy has however been undermined by sex roles and racial stereotypes. Therefore, people may close out options of career that they perceive as not open to them truly. The reality that some particular groups of minorities and women have managed to persist and achieve in an environment which is non supportive in some cases is attributable to their high expectations of self efficacy. Hence, the struggle of women and the minority groups has enabled them to achieve career development in spite of the discriminations based on gender, race and color (Leong 100). There have however been critics of these career development theories in addressing gender, race and color. The critics assert that the theories are basically based on middle class values, white; and that they make assumptions such as access to education, relative affluence, work as a central value, open and free labor market, and occupational information. The theories have also failed to address the cultural and structural variables; and have included concepts that are not generally applicable to particular groups. For instance, the notion of the theories to career development may particularly not be appropriate to some minorities of ethnic groups or women. Therefore, these theories of career development addressing the interest of the minority and women have been criticized and explained variably using different terms and concepts such as career maturity and salience (Fitzgerald 110). Career maturity is a concept that has been used widely by career development researchers to address the interest of the minorities and women in handling their discriminations based on gender, race and class. This concept indicates the readiness to make appropriate decisions on career development. It is measured based on the populations of the majority such as norm. Research on the various populations demonstrates that not all the variables used to measure this concept apply to all the groups such as women and minorities. Career maturity is hence influenced by race, class, gender, age, socioeconomic status, locus of control, and work salience. The interactions of these complex factors have impacted on the readiness of individuals to succeed in understanding the appropriate tasks of the various phases of the career developments. According to researches, increased identity of ethnicity may result into a full awareness of the potential barriers, hence leading to lower career maturity. The minorities and women have however struggled to eliminate this aspect of discriminations based on gender, race, and class. Some studies have declined to indicate socioeconomic status influence on the element of career maturity. However, others have explained that career maturity, career exploration and planning concepts do not apply to all minority groups and women who may be forced to drop out of school in order to take jobs for their economic survival. Same studies have also shown that the struggle of women and the minority groups have failed to score high on the measures of career maturity due to their lack of access to the educational and occupational information, perceived lack of opportunities for employment, and role models, which influence their choices of career. Although the minorities and women often have high ambitions, their struggles have not been fruitful due to the lack of information, influence from insufficient guidance, role models, or high school preparations, which impact on their fitness to the model of career maturity. The studies on career maturity have also indicated conflicting results for class, race and gender. Complex interactions of these influences also make development of career maturity different to men and women. However, the minority groups and women have continually fought for equality in considerations within labor markets and opportunities t advance their careers (Farmer, H.S. et al., 210). The concept of salience on the other hand is the value placed on the life roles by individuals whom may change periodically or overtime. These roles of racial identity are increasingly becoming a vital aspect of explaining career development. Women have been labeled by the society as house individuals who stay at home to perform domestic chores. This culture has resulted into struggles by women to get their rights of advancing their careers. Various cultural groups have differing conceptions of gender roles, family, and work to family relationships. Several studies have pointed out great diversity in socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, race, and class within minority groups such as Asian, Hispanic, Native and African Americans. Hence, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, race, and class should not be used as a major signifier of career development or behavior. It is also important to examine the situations and conditions on the salience of a specific group membership. Therefore, women and minority groups should be allowed the chance and opportunity to advance their career development without discrimination based on dimensions such as gender, race or class (Carter, 399). In summary career development, gender, class and race play a vital role in the life and experience of people. The analysis of race, class or gender enables us to differentiate between thinking relationally and thinking comparatively. In career development, people think comparatively upon learning the experiences other than theirs and then contrast and compare the life experiences of other groups of people. Race, class and gender shape the life experience of people and society in general. Theories of career development have therefore been derived from personality theories. The theories have made efforts to illuminate the interrelationship between people’s personality, behavior, race, gender and class with their career and work. Studies have interpreted gender, race and class as categories of interlocking experience that impact on all life aspects, hence, they structure simultaneously the categories of the people’s class, race or gender may feel more meaningful or salient in a specific person’s life, but they are cumulative and overlapping on their impact on the experiences of people. The minority is suppressed in cases where development of career is discriminated on the basis of race, gender or class. Works Cited Carter, Ryan. A Culturally Relevant Perspective for Understanding the Career Paths of Visible Racial/Ethnic Group People; Journal of career development, 2007. 398-425 Farmer, H.S. et al. Diversity and women's career development, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2009 Fitzgerald, L. Career Development in Cultural Context: The Role of Gender, Race, Class, and Sexual Orientation. Journal of career development theories, 2008. 103-117. Leong, F. Career development and vocational behavior of racial and ethnic minorities, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2009 Lundberg, D. Career Maturity and Personality Preferences of Mexican-American and Anglo-American Adolescents. Journal of career development, 2007. 23(3), 203-213 Read More