CHAPTER 8 Advances in Vocational Psychology

The emergence of vocational psychology as a field of study occurred in response to pressing social concerns early in the twentieth century: children's welfare and the resultant labor laws, the indus­ trial revolution, population shifts from rural to urban areas, large-scale immigration, and prepar­ ing youth for labor force participation. Likewise, changing economic and social conditions fueled evolution of the field of vocational psychology throughout the remainder of this century. Voca­ tional psychologists were, by definition, applied psychologists. An implication is that practice often preceded theory, as scholars and practitioners addressed real-world concerns of individuals, such as youth entering the workforce, returning veterans, or unemployed adults during economic depressions or recessions. As we enter the new millenium, we are confronted by new challenges. The very nature of the workforce is changing-increasing diversity in terms of racelethnicity, sex, and age, temporary versus permanent workers, and part-time versus full-time workers. Rapid technological changes make workers' skills obsolete. Moreover, global economic and market factors influence the nature of competition and job opportunities. Few vocational psychologists would question the significant impact of Parsons's (1909/1989) work; we are now poised to make equally significant contributions to the twenty-first century. To retain a vital role, though, we need to address these concerns in a fashion worthy of our predecessors-that is, in a way that accounts for the complexity of human experience, across the variety of intersecting roles throughout the life span, and with a balance of theoretical insight and pragmatic solutions. Our goal is to review theory and research regarding vocational psychology, keeping in mind the connections between our past and our future. We address two interconnected bodies of literature. First, we focus on established and emergent theories of career development and vocational behav­ ior, emphasizing new theoretical formulations as well as recent empirical study. Second, we sum­ marize theoretical and empirical literature regarding vocational interests. We decided to include the latter section based on the volume of work that has been conducted since the last major review of vocational interests in the first edition of the Handbook (Hansen, 1984). These two bodies of literature represent the scholarly traditions of vocational psychology: Theories of career develop­ ment were proffered in an attempt to explain observed behavior regarding vocational choice and adjustment over the life span, and the sustained focus on vocational interests exemplifies the at he­ oretical, empirically driven origins of vocational psychology.