Career Development and the Skills Shortage: A Lesson from Charles Dickens

Abstract

This paper presents a critical argument to the profession of career development for the purpose of stimulating reflexive consideration on the myriad influences that impinge upon practitioners. The paper suggests that given the current skills agenda in the Australian economy, it may be timely to reflexively consider career development practice. The paper uses Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times and the character Mr Thomas Gradgrind, who was a dedicated educator in a small industrial town set in the Victorian era, to exemplify how the influence of prevailing social philosophies and economic conditions imbue the practice of professionals. It is suggested that there are potential parallels between the practices of Mr Gradgrind and contemporary career development practitioners. Career development practitioners are asked to consider their position in and amongst high-level political, economic and educational influences and to reflect upon if and how these influences manifest in their practices.

The Genuine Scientist-practitioner in Vocational Psychology: An Autoethnography

“…Important "discoveries" and recollections that were typed into the manuscript itself, were used as notes for later analysis, and were reviewed as part of this reflective process. The streams of information were made meaningful through the processes of my own critical self-awareness, which underpins my professional practices and perspectives (McIlveen, 2007;McIlveen & Patton, 2006) and my phenomenological experiencing of the actual construction process.…”

“…I want my clients to build their own worlds and to be able to selectively choose how they construct and re-construct their history, present and future. Viewed critically, this value presents a theme of neo-liberalism and individualism; which is nevertheless contextualised within a theme of social justice, exemplified by some of my work toward enabling non-traditional students' access into higher education (McIlveen, Everton, & Clarke, 2005;McIlveen, Ford, & Everton, 2005), and through higher education (McIlveen, Cameron, McLachlan, & Gunn, 2005), and concern that the individual will not be forgotten in the broader industry of career development (McIlveen, 2007;McIlveen & Patton, 2006). This theme is manifest in my own personal struggles with class and identity discursively formulated in life and in career counselling.…”

Analysis of Factors Influencing Choice of Institution for Professional Development: A Case Study of Post- Graduate Students’ Perceptions at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Kenya

“…University graduates are prepared to sustain this employability over their lifetime, in the evolving context of the world of work, is a crucial issue pertaining to employability, and moreover, their lifelong career development. Though according to McIiveen (2007), there is a degree of scepticism among academicians about the relationship between career developments and exigencies of education and industry.…”

Career development, management, and planning from the vocational psychology perspective

“…Within some Western nations, for example, career development practice has an historical relationship with equity and social justice (O'Brien, 2001;Savickas & Baker, 2005). This relationship has been brought into view and in some respects revived (Irving & Malik, 2005), along with criticism alluding to vocational psychology's role in sustaining oppressive socio-economic structures, and the inadvertent collusion with industry that risks subversion of the commitment to the individual-client (Blustein, 2006;Collin & Young, 2000;McIlveen, 2007a;McIlveen & Patton, 2006;Richardson, 2000).…”