Super's Theory

Beginning with the first documented vocational counseling attempts of Frank Parsons in 1909, vocational counseling and research focused for nearly half a century on vocational choice—not on how or why one made a particular vocational decision, but rather on what that decision was. Donald Super's theory of [Page 1648]Supers Theory vocational development was therefore unique in being one of the first attempts to explain the process underlying vocational choice and to take a developmental perspective by looking at vocational development across the life span.

In developing his theory, Super drew on the earlier work of Eli Ginzberg, Sol Ginsburg, Sidney Axelrad, and John Herma, who presented a model of vocational choice as part of a developmental process and incorporated Charlotte Beuheler's concept of life stages. Therefore, at the core of Super's theory has always existed the idea of five predictable stages of vocational development that occur as part of a continuous process throughout the life span. The theory was tested and refined based on results from the Career Pattern Study. This large-scale longitudinal study followed the career development of a large group of boys from Middletown, New York, who were in the eighth and ninth grades in 1951. Although the culturally homogenous nature of this sample has led to concerns about the cultural validity of Super's theory, the Career Pattern Study remains one of the most ambitious studies of vocational development.

Super developed and refined the theory over the decades since it was first proposed. His final formulation of the theory, referred to as the life-span, life-space approach, is captured by two models: the life-career rainbow and the archway of career determinants. less commitment become more peripheral. People are defined by the central roles they play. As life transitions occur, central and peripheral roles are changed, added, or dropped. For example, the child and student roles become more peripheral as one becomes established with career and family. Similarly, increasing the number of roles in one's life may mean less commitment to other roles. Roles can also interact, with outcomes in one role affecting outcomes of other roles. Depending on these interactions and the amount of energy and time taken from other roles, the presence of multiple roles may be positive or negative.