Drawing on Social Representations in Making Sense of Peoples Career Trajectories - Literature review Example

Drawing on Social Representations in Making Sense of People’s Career Trajectories People draw on social representations, or social knowledge, in making sense of their career trajectories. Individuals organize their experiences in the social realm, in situational dynamics between the individual and his society. People define themselves through the interpersonal roles within the social relations in which they live, the interconnections and relationships with others in their life. The individual is what he is in relation to others, such as a member of a particular profession. In looking at career trajectories, we see that there is a tremendous impact from these social representations, such as the need to conform and identify with similar groups of people, to act within the context of rule systems, and to be shaped by human relationships in our decisions. Drawing on Social Representations in Making Sense of People’s Career Trajectories Occupational pursuits structure a large part of people’s daily social relations. How, then, does one come to choose the path of one’s career? In this paper, we will explore this very question, using the concepts of social representation and examples drawn specifically from an interview conducted with Bryony, a 19-year-old second year university student (see Appendix for interview transcript). People essentially draw on social representation in making sense of their career trajectories, or career choices and advancement. Moscovici (1973) describes social representation as: systems of values, ideas and practices with a two-fold function; first, to establish an order which will enable individuals to orientate themselves in their material and social world and to master it; secondly, to enable communication to take place amongst members of a community by providing them with a code for social exchange and a code for naming and classifying unambiguously the various aspects of their world and their individual and group history. (Foreword) A social representation, then, is a kind of social knowledge which is shared by individuals through communication. It is practical in the sense that it is aimed at mastering real problems and issues, and is situated within unmistakable contexts faced by different groups of people in different positions. The manner in which one happens to be living ultimately directs the extent along which identities and relations unfold, and essentially defines social representation. Moscovici argues that there is a connection between the self-directed individual’s choices and his notions of the family, institutions, and professional categories, which determines possibilities for action, and eventually the destiny of each individual as well as society as a whole (International Balzan Foundation, 2006). Individuals essentially organize their experiences in the social realm, in situational dynamics between the individual and his society. Moscovici’s social representation theory relates how everyday interpersonal interaction and forthcoming dynamics result in the materialization of communally shared patterns of beliefs, values, and practices. In essence, people define themselves through the interpersonal roles within the social relations in which they live, the interconnections and relationships with others in their life. The individual is what he is in relation to others, such as a member of a particular profession (Frankfurt Institute for Sociology, 1972). Moscovici stated, “Most of the time we prefer one thing to another because that is what our friends already prefer or because that object has marked social significance” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 260). Bryony (see Appendix) supports Moscovici’s assumption in noting that she decided to pursue psychology because it was a subject that many people were endorsing: “I decided to do psychology cos it was a new subject and like everyone was saying, ‘oh psychology, it’s so good’ and everyone wanted to do it.” Although she notes that her father has been pressing her along a certain direction, “my dad keeps telling me I should be a doctor, cos I’ve always done maths and science subjects,” Bryony makes reference to the fact that she thinks the program would be too long. Instead, she points out that she is interested in psychology, which does not represent something as important to her family, namely her father, but that identifies more with her friends, a group more similar in age and experience. Additionally, it is worth noting that forensic psychology or criminology is a career that has become much more culturally popular with the appearances of television shows such as “CSI” (Crime Scene Investigations) which highlight the success of multiple forensic investigators and their positive impact on society as they repeatedly catch murderers using scientific forensic analyses of evidence obtained from various crime scenes. A central element in career trajectories is the long-term accumulation of education, skills and experience. An individual uses his or her competencies to try to provide the lifestyle that he or she wants for himself or herself and dependants (Valgaern, 2005). Bryony illustrates an understanding of that very point by noting that she does well in science and math and that she should be using those skills in pursuing her career. Moscovici further explains the impact of networks and social circles on the individual when he states that, the number and variety of these networks and social circles to which an individual belongs was a standard for cultural measurement. A culture is all the more advanced – and let us add, all the more modern – when this number is large…In other words, the more we associate with others, and in more diverse ways, the more we become truly ourselves, and free…Individuals are continually involved in them with a large part of their personality. (Moscovici, 1993, p. 251) Bryony notes that she started psychology because ‘everyone’ was interested in the subject. However, when she got to university, she found that the topic was not so interesting for her as an individual. As part of the larger group, Bryony was able to evolve, understand, and discover that forensic psychology was the subject matter of true interest. By specializing in forensic psychology, Bryony would be able identify with the group which has socially asserted that psychology is a ‘good’ subject to study, but she is also able to become free in the pursuit of a more specialized area which interests her, personally. In essence, she is able to make a career choice that gives her personal satisfaction and yet still addresses the need for social conformity in the group without ensuing conflicts. Moscovici stated, “We know intuitively that general identification is expressed in the act of imitating, of reproducing a model” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 257). By looking at career trajectories, we see people choosing professions that allow them to imitate someone they admire, such as a doctor, police officer, or educator. By following in the footsteps of others that we admire in choosing our career, we are better able to relate to these individuals and better able to identify with them. Bryony, for example, notes that she had a really good teacher that made psychology interesting. She identifies with her peers in choosing to study psychology. By imitating their actions, she experiences greater identification and conformity within the social group of her peers, as well as greater social acceptance in her actions: Not only does the individual benefit, but the group is supported in its ideas and culture as a whole. Careers are cultural structures that unfold in accordance with institutional rule systems (Heise, 1990). This orientation still allows the individuals to build unique experiences, but suggests that these individuals do so largely by discovery along standard career trajectories in typical combinations. Orderly sharing of experiences arises because people shape similar experiences as they apply culturally given knowledge and attitudes to interpret what is happening to them during career development and transitions. Culturally defined career lines provide explicit, common knowledge about chronological unfolding of roles, and thereby individuals may develop notions about what roles they expect to acquire (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Bryony notes that she started off in a school that did not challenge her to succeed. She then pursued a better school, with the encouragement of her parents, and set herself up to obtain better grades so that she could attend a particular university that she desired. The next logical step would be for her to complete her degree in forensic psychology or criminology, and then pursue a full-time job in the community as a productive member of society. People aspire to roles that provide desired levels of social regard and power. However, social context also is a factor because status transitions ultimately are in the hands of others. Moscovici notes that, “Birds of a feather flock together, as both proverbial wisdom and laboratory experiments confirm” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 258). People look for a particular group of people who have the same job or opinions as themselves. “Identification removes the danger of group rejection or aggression, from either our superiors or our fellows. Being like others, in anonymity and synonymity, is often a form of life insurance” (Moscovici, 1985b, pp. 259-260). Bryony, for example, decided to attend a school relatively close to home, one that some of her friends were attending. By staying within a reasonably familiar geographical area and aligning herself with people that she was already familiar with, Bryony is able to identify with a particular group which brings her comfort. Given her young age of 19, this move makes sense in that she has begun formal training which will ideally lead her down her chosen vocational path, a place she may not be yet comfortable or familiar with. Moscovici puts forth the idea that, the type of human relationship involved is one of influence. Just as society is a machine that produces, consumes and distributes wealth and power, so, with its interest groups, churches and schools, society is a machine that creates, gathers and processes influence (Moscovici, 1976, p.1). Bryony’s father, for example, has been urging her to pursue a career in medicine. Although she notes she is drawn to forensic psychology, she continues to justify the reasons why she is not pursing the field of medicine. Clearly, the child-parent role continues to weigh on her decision making process in the pursuit of her career. She seems pressured to follow the urgings of her father, but at the same time feels the pressure to pursue psychology, a subject many of her peers are drawn to. Moscovici noted there is “pressure to accept and conform to a collective model.” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 25). Bryony evidently conforms to the following of her peers by choosing to pursue a career in psychology which she notes that ‘everyone wanted to do it’ and that it was such a ‘good’ career choice according to ‘everyone’. Moscovici also notes that “identification certainly gives us a chance to avoid stressful or unpleasant situations” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 261). By conforming within the subject of psychology, forensic psychology, Bryony is able to pursue a career that interests her and is still in keeping with the general focus of her social and academic group. Moscovici proposes that, “We wait to be told what we should appreciate and like before we want and acquire such things” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 262). Bryony states that ‘everyone’ said psychology was such a ‘good’ subject to pursue and that ‘everyone wanted to do it’. Her peer group painted the picture that psychology was a good career choice, and that she, too, should want to follow that career path. However, Bryony discovered, while attending courses prior to university that it was not as interesting as she had initially been led to believe. Moscovici stated that the “identification process leads to stable social links” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 263). “A young man entering adult life, for example, may identify with his age group and class and adopt their ideas, way of life and thinking” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 263). Herein, Bryony identifies with her friends and chooses a school close to home, with a course that is praised by the group: psychology. Moscovici further points out that, Identification is therefore the most important tie that an individual creates I his life, inducing him to incorporate the figure imposed on him as a prototype. Through this process he learns to assimilate and obey all the various forms of the prototype, all the father- or mother-substitutes he will encounter throughout his lifetime. (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 265) In pursuing forensic psychology, Bryony succeeds in incorporating her father’s desire for her to pursue science, and her peer group’s desire to explore psychology. She ultimately masters a career trajectory that is in keeping with both groups. Moscovici points out that “similar individuals are drawn one another (Moscovici, 1985a, p. 11). Bryony illustrates the point well in noting that she continues to study close to home and is pursuing a career in psychology, both of which conform to the social peer group she associates with. She maintains a similar neighbourhood, peer structure, and social life by remaining close to her community. She specifically points out that she enjoys the night life and that she has a few friends attending the same school. In tackling new growth with respect to career training, she reduces her stress level by aligning herself with others whom she knows and by staying in an environment in which she is somewhat familiar. Moscovici (1976) argues that the drive to reduce disharmony from amongst our attitudes, beliefs and values is less important than the drive to reduce social conflict. It is social conflict and disagreement with others that creates discomfort and we try to avoid that by normalising and conforming, in other words by reaching agreements through influence. Essentially, Bryony has reduced social conflict by choosing a career path that is accepted amongst her peers. Although she has chosen to branch into forensics, she has conformed enough with the group to avoid social conflict by studying a general subject area in keeping with the rest of the social group. Ultimately, majorities have the power to give or withhold social approval (Moscovici, 1976). It is this power which determines our compliance with the majority. Bryony, here, has obtained favourable social approval because she has chosen a field of study in keeping with her peers. And not only has she complied with the group in pursuing psychology, but she has allowed some personal growth in veering ever so slightly from mainstream psychology into forensics. Moscovici cautions that, “Most of our actions are the result of our beliefs. Critical intelligence and a lack of conviction and passion are the two obstacles to action” (Moscovici, 1985b, p. 90). Again, Bryony notes that she has many friends in medicine, and that she is really good at science. She talks about wanting to pursue criminal or forensic psychology, but notes that she is not sure if she can maintain the grade level to accomplish her desire. Her uncertainty about her grades might prevent her from actually pursuing police work. She certainly shows lack of conviction for pursuing a degree in medicine, pointing out that it is a long process, that she would have to better define what it is that she wants, and that she is not very good at writing papers and essays, much of which she would have to writing in medicine. If she continues to question her ability to obtain appropriate grades, she may in fact undermine her success in forensic psychology or criminology. Vazquez-Cupeiro and Martin (2003) argue that there is in fact a direct relationship between career advancement and patriarchal support systems. Bryony might question her career choice down the road in forensics given that her father has urged her to pursue a career in medicine. The fact that she has mentioned her father’s wishes and has attempted to rationalize why she probably should not pursue medicine raises concern. Only time will tell as to which group, peer or parent, will have the greatest influence in Bryony’s career trajectories. She is following the cultural norms by attempting to do well in school, attending university, and studying for a professional career. The question that remains is: What individual accounts will she develop along the way in terms of her journey along the career path? We see the light beginning to shine, as she chooses the path of forensic psychology, a subject of interest to her, as an individual. References Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. (1972). Aspects of sociology (J. Viertel, Trans.). New York: Beacon Press. Heise, D. (1990). Careers, career trajectories, and the self. In Judith Rodin, Carmi Schooler, & K. Warner Schaie (Eds.), Self-directedness: Cause and effects throughout the life course (pp. 59-84). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. International Balzan Foundation. (2006). Premio Balzan. Fondazione Internatzionale Balzan. Retrieved on May 6, 2006 from http://www.balzan.it/Premiati_eng.aspx?Codice=0000000424 Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (l986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41, 954-969. Moscovici, Serge. (1993). The invention of society: Psychological explanations for social phenomena (W.D. Halls, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Polity Press. Moscovici, Serge. (1985a). Innovation and minority influence. In S. Moscovici, G. Mugny, & E. Van Avermaet (Eds.), Perspectives on minority influence (pp.11-35). New York: Cambridge University Press. Moscovici, Serge. (1985b). The age of the crowd: A historical treatise on mass psychology (J.C. Whitehouse Trans.). New York: Cambridge University Press. Moscovici, Serge. (1976). Social influence and social change (C. Sherrard & G. Heinz, Trans.). New York: Academic Press. Moscovici, Serge. (1973). Foreword. In C. Herzlich, Health and illness: A social psychological analysis. London: Academic Press. Valgaern, Elke. (2005). Gender aspects of the nomadic career: Career trajectories in the ICT-sector. Universiteit Hasselt. Retrieved May 6, 2006 from http://doclib.uhasselt.be/dspace/handle/1942/911 Vazquez-Cupeiro, S., & Martin, J. (2003). Career trajectories and patriarchal support systems at Spanish academia. Presented at Gender and Power in the New Europe, the 5th European Feminist Research Conference (2003, August 20-24), Lund University Sweden. Retrieved on May 7, 2006 from http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:Vg_4y9Zt1UwJ:www.iiav.nl/epublications/2003/Gender_and_power/5thfeminist/paper_446_531.pdf+social+representations+%26+career+trajectories&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=8 Appendix Transcript of Interview on Career Trajectories with Bryony aged 19, a 2nd year student Hi, Bryony, can you tell me a bit about how you came to Cardiff? I started off in a school that wasn’t particularly good and I left that one to go to a private one for sixth form, cos the education was a bit rubbish. Basically if you didn’t want to do anything, then you didn’t have to, and I wasn’t doing too well. So basically my parents wanted me to move to a better school. So I moved to this school where they really, like, push you to do better and that kind of influenced me as to what university I went to and it made me get better grades, like I needed to get into Cardiff. I decided to do psychology cos it was a new subject and like everyone was saying, ‘oh psychology, it’s so good’ and everyone wanted to do it. I quite enjoyed it and I think that was a lot to do with the teaching, we had a really good teacher. Then when I got to uni I didn’t find it so interesting. I decided, luckily, that I wanted to do something else as well, like in case it wasn’t brilliant and it turned out to be boring, then have to do a whole degree about one thing. I’d have something else that interested me. So I chose criminology cos I’m interested in that. So since I’ve come to uni I’ve been much more interested in the criminology side, which was lucky for me, otherwise I’d just be stuck with boring psychology. So, I want to be some kind of criminal psychologist, or involved in forensic psychology. Thinking of going into the police for 2 years, but I know you have to get, like, quite good grades to do that. What made you choose Cardiff? Well, I quite like Cardiff. Of the unis I looked at, not many did psychology with criminology and I live in Bristol, so Cardiff’s not too far away and a few of my friends go to Cardiff and I like the night life. It’s far enough away to be away from my family but not too far from home when I want to go back. There’s been so many different random fashion things I’ve wanted to do. I wanted to be a vet for ages, and my dad keeps telling me I should be a doctor, cos I’ve always done maths and science subjects and I’m really not good at writing essays and stuff. I’m much more a ‘sciencey’ person and load of my friends are medics and when I seen them revising and I’m revising my stuff, I think I would so much prefer to be revising what they’re revising, but at the end I think I’d much prefer to have a job in, like, criminology, policing and offender stuff; rather that than be a doctor. It’s such a long course as well. I’ve had a few doubts about that, whether I should move to do medicine, but medicine’s such a long degree and you’ve really got to know that you want it. Before you enter into it and its so specific whereas with a psychology degree you can do so many different things. Bottom of Form Read More