Choice and Development in Career

1. Choice and Development in Career International Study Conference ‘Career Development’ Someren, November 23-27, 2009 Drs. Tom Luken, lector Career Development Fontys Hogeschool HRM and Psychology Fontys Hogescholen

2. Programme: Two theses: • Choosing is emphasized too much • Developmental level is not enough taken into account We should not help to choose better, but we should better help develop! Fontys Hogescholen

3. I. Choice Fontys Hogescholen

4. Programma Twee stellingen • Kiezen staat te centraal • Er wordt onvoldoende rekening gehouden met het ontwikkelingsniveau van leerlingen/studenten Niet beter helpen kiezen, maar beter helpen ontwikkelen! Fontys Hogescholen

5. Fontys Hogescholen

6. “Many students stop within one week. Than you think: could they not reflect a little bit more about their choice of study?” (Doekle Terpstra, chairman HBO-raad) Fontys Hogescholen

7. Fontys Hogescholen

8. Fontys Hogescholen

9. Kiezen centraal 6 Fontys Hogescholen

10. Base: three generally accepted ideas: • Information (as much as possible?!) leads to realistic images of studies • Reflection leads to good choices • Good choices lead to success These ideas are often wrong! Fontys Hogescholen

11. Problems with the central position of choosing:too instantaneous too conscious and maybe illusionary Fontys Hogescholen

12. Further problems with the emphasis on choice • Peg-hole thinking • Too static: the future moves (more and more) • Too difficult • Too individual • Too one-sided • Leads to : forced reflection Fontys Hogescholen

13. Fontys Hogescholen

14. The risks of reflection • Ruminating • Bad thinking habits and wrong (self) concepts • Suboptimal choices! • Distorted feeling Fontys Hogescholen

15. Conclusions choice • We confront many students with a ‘mission impossible’ and blame them when it goes wrong • We should emphasize choices less and the process of career development more • Reflection should be guided better (dialogue!) • Not only information and helping to reflect is important, but as well: • perceiving, feeling, remembering, imaging, wanting and doing Fontys Hogescholen

16. II DevelopmentTo what extent are (young) people able to direct their own careers?Two trails coming together: • Recent brain research • Older theories and research about development What does this mean for coaching? Fontys Hogescholen

17. Breinresearch Fontys Hogescholen

18. Fontys Hogescholen

19. Conclusions brain research: • The construction of the brain is not finished in puberty, but continues untill well after age 20. • Development varies strongly between individuals, but • is in general faster in girls than in boys • Complex activities are carried out by different parts of the brain together Fontys Hogescholen

20. The prefrontal cortex is essential for: empathy, control of impulses, effective thinking about (moral) dilemma’s, getting an overview on complex information, thinking ahead and planning. • This part of the brain – and its connections to other parts – starts to develop around age 16 and is finished only somewhere between age 20 and 30. Fontys Hogescholen

21. Consequences: • Adolescents untill age 18 make choices impulsively. They attend much more to positive than to negative consequences of their choices. They pay little attention to alternatives, long term and risks. • They are strongly influenced by their social environment. • It’s difficult for them to integrate thinking and feeling. • These points make self-direction problematic. Fontys Hogescholen

22. Some theories about development: • Jean Piaget • Lawrence Kohlberg • Jane Loevinger • William Perry • Robert Kegan • William Torbert • Michiel Westenberg • … Fontys Hogescholen

23. Fontys Hogescholen

24. Fontys Hogescholen

25. Robert Kegan: underlying principle Knowing presupposes a subject (the knower) and an object (what is known) Subject: what we are (you cannot see your own eye, a fish only knows the world of the water) Object: what we can look at, think about, be responsible for… Develpment: what was subject becomes object in a stepwise way. Fontys Hogescholen

26. Robert Kegan: “orders of consciousness” Impulsive (“Social Perceptions”) Instrumental (“Point of View”, imperial) Interpersonal (“Mutuality/ Inter individual”, socialising, traditional) Self-directing (“Institutional”, Self-authoring”, modern) Self transformational (“Interinstitutional”, Interindividual, Dialectisch, postmodern) Fontys Hogescholen 26

27. Instrumental/ Imperial Instrumental/ Imperial (second) • Concrete (how, not why) • Directed to own interests, needs, wishes • When I give something, I expect something in return • Little empathy • Black/white, cause/effect, true/not true • Need for clear instructions, step by step procedures Fontys Hogescholen

28. Fontys Hogescholen 28

29. Interpersonal (third) • Abstract and hypothetical thinking • Self concept and values stem from others • Identification with others • Internalize (too) easily the point of view of others • Feel responsible for the feelings of others (and v.v.) • Think it’s important that other people like them (or admire etc.) • Sensitive for criticism and conflicts in his own group Fontys Hogescholen

30. Self-directing (fourth) • Realizes that knowledge is constructed and values and ethics are situational • Recognizes assumptions and thinks out of the box (double loop learning) • Autonomous, not tied to rules and conventions • Can question own ideas without loss of self esteem • Appreciate the positive side of conflict, criticism and differences Fontys Hogescholen

31. Feels responsible, also for own mood • Judges self (also) through own eyes • Can maintain limits • Creates own career on basis of own views • Can smoothly change roles • Is necessary for real competency and self-direction Fontys Hogescholen

32. Facts At most 50% of people with higher education in the USA reaches level 4. 21% of whole population Women probably more often than men Modal level of adults is 3 Fontys Hogescholen 32

33. Westpoint Military Academy, Subject-object interviews at three moments, n=52, in % (2005). Fontys Hogescholen 33

34. Loevinger: stages of ego-development 1. Pre-social No discriminationbetweenself and world Impulsive Littlecomprehension of causality and rules Self-Protective Understandsrules Hedonistic Notresponsibleforwhatgoes wrong Fontys Hogescholen 34

35. Conformist (from age about 13 or 14) Identifieswithgroup Preoccupiedwithappearance, belonging, beingaccepted 5. Self-Aware (fromageabout 17 or 18) Developing Inner Life: banal feelings in reference to others Sees differences between people better Conscientious (no special age; oftennever) Sense of Responsibility Standards are Self-Chosen Own goals and ideals Fontys Hogescholen 35

36. 7. Individualistic See difference between role and person Accept differences between people Emotional independence Autonomous Tolerate Ambiguity Integrate Ideas Concern for Emotional Interdependence Integrates Different Identities 9. Self-Actualizing Transcendence of Conflicts Fontys Hogescholen 36

37. Fontys Hogescholen

38. Conclusions • The developmental theories are confirmed by the brainresearch. The emperical facts show: • Self-direction is too difficult for many students and even adults. Education and organizations ask too much. This leads to mutual frustration. • The differences between individuals are big. • We do not know to what extent development can be accelerated. Fontys Hogescholen

39. In fostering development it is essential to depart from the present level. • Self-direction is important as a means (for learning) and as a goal (society needs more and more self-directing individuals: Fontys Hogescholen

40. “… a glance through almost any newspaper reveals that the ill-structured problems of the modern world are not effectively solved by avoiding conflicts over ideas, depending on authorities to provide solutions, and assuming that one’s own group (…) is in some essential way better or righter than those from whom we differ.”(Taylor, 2006: 215) Fontys Hogescholen

41. General conclusions • The emphasis on choosing was understandable in the 20th century, but is now more and more outdated • We should emphasize development and finding and adapting course instead of choosing • We should put ourselves more into the position of students • The educational system should be suited better to what we know now about development