Returning to a definition of career development

Last year I started thinking about my personal definition of career development, or CD (here), and mashed up the following: "a life-long process" of learning, acquiring and using roles, "knowledge, skills, and attitudes", in successive mini-stages, "necessary to make [meaningful] work a meaningful, productive, and satisfying part of [our] lives" (Chen, 1998; Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006, p. 100; Savickas, 1994).

Since my last post, I found some additional definitions in Greenhaus & Callanan (2006), which suggested that CD can be defined as "[t]he implementation of a series of career decisions that constitute an integrated career path throughout the life span" (Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006, p. 174); and that not only can "career [...be...] defined [...] as a pattern of work-related experiences, including attitudes and behaviors, that span a person’s life" but that use of such a "definition suggests that a person can change jobs, organizations, and occupations, as well as retire and then even 'unretire,' all as a part of [their] career" (p. 558). So we have a pattern of work; behaviours, attitudes, roles over time. The idea of pattern is missing from the first definition I compiled. I like it, and have included it:

"a life-long process" of learning, acquiring and using a pattern of roles, "knowledge, skills, and attitudes", in successive mini-stages, "necessary to make [meaningful] work a meaningful, productive, and satisfying part of [our] lives" (Chen, 1998; Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006, p. 100; Savickas, 1994).

An interesting point was that of hierarchy within definitions: where "A position is a group of specific tasks performed by a single worker" (Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006, p. 554); and "a job [i]s work performed in association with others performing similar work, for similar goals, and in roles defined by mutually agreeable titles. In keeping with the above examples, an example of a job is 'heart surgeon'" (p. 554); whereas an "occupation is a collection of similar jobs. Thus, it can be considered “broader” than a job. An example of an occupation is 'surgeon'" (p. 554). This is quite interesting, and not really something I had previously considered. But none of these really affect our idea of career.

Do we have only one career? Kerr Inkson (2007) thinks our career path unfurls over time which "may or may not be linear and it may span [...] several professional domains" (McDonald & Hite, 2016, p. 3); or is this having multiple careers? Is our career a single thing with us at the centre, or can it be multiple things? The definition I am using seems to assume not: that the successive mini-stages imply one career per person, but I think this is an idea worthy of more thought. 

And another issue to consider is is career an individual thing or an organisational thing? Egan et al. consider a number of CD definitions as they relate to human resource development (HRD), but don't arrive at aspects of a definition as yet unstated (2006) other than an organisational focus. Continuing this exploration, CD can be considered as "an ongoing process of planning and directed action toward personal work and life goals. Development means growth, continuous acquisition and application of one’s skills. Career development is the outcome of the individual’s career planning and the organization’s provision of support and opportunities, ideally a collaborative process which focuses on both the individual and the organization" (McDonald & Hite, 2016, p. 3, citing Simonsen, 1997, pp. 6–7). As a career development practitioner, it surprises me how uncomfortable I am with including the organisation in the definition. It feels alien to me: as to me, CD is all about the individual, and I am not used to challenging that! Additional elements here are those of planning, and collaboration. I am not sure that planning is a necessary component though: Krumboltz certainly didn't seem to think so (2009). I think collaboration feels less important than what is currently included. For now, anyway.

Hmm. Hoekstra understands career development as "interactive products of individual and environmental processes" (Hoekstra, 2011, p. 159) requiring "adaptive change of self and environment in relation to each other" (p. 160). If we take environment as the idea of 'fit' with our workplace, that too is missing from the original definition. But I am not sure that organisational fit is necessary within the idea of career. Where do entrepreneurs 'fit'? Artists? Parents? So I will discount this too for now.

I will continue to think about this, but for now will go with career development being a "a life-long process" of learning, acquiring and using a pattern of roles, "knowledge, skills, and attitudes", in successive mini-stages, "necessary to make [meaningful] work a meaningful, productive, and satisfying part of [our] lives" (Chen, 1998; Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006, p. 100; Savickas, 1994). 

Sam

References:

Chen, C. P. (1998). Understanding career development: a convergence of perspectives. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 50(3), 437-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636829800200053

Egan, T. M., Upton, M. G., & Lynham, S. A. (2006). Career development: Load-bearing wall or window dressing? Exploring definitions, theories, and prospects for HRD-related theory building. Human Resource Development Review, 5(4), 442-477. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484306294155

Greenhaus, J. H., & Callanan, G. A. (2006). Encyclopedia of Career Development (Vols. 1 & 2). Sage Publications, Inc.

Hoekstra, H. A. (2011). A career roles model of career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78(2), 159-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.09.016

Krumboltz, J. D. (2009). The happenstance learning theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072708328861

McDonald, K., & Hite, L. (2016). Career Development: A Human Resource Development Perspective. Routledge

Savickas, M. L. (1994). Measuring career development: Current status and future directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 43(1), 54-62. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.1994.tb00846.x