Social cognitive career theory (SCCT)

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is a social and psychological framework meant to explain and demonstrate the processes related to investigating, choosing, and succeeding in various careers. This theory was developed by theorists Robert W. Lent, Steven D. Brown, and Gail Hackett in 1994. However, it is based on several earlier theories about learning and the psychological basis of learning. Some of these fundamental theories include social learning theory, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning.

SCCT mainly examines three facets of career selection and development. These are the development of interests that lead toward a career, the ways people make decisions about their careers, and how people ultimately achieve success in their chosen careers. To analyze these three facets, SCCT draws from three closely interrelated variables in individuals: perceptions of self-efficacy, expectations of outcome, and overall goals for careers or life in general.

Background

A career is an occupation that a person expects to hold for a significant period or the entire time the person will work. Careers also offer workers opportunities for promotion and other improvements. In modern times, learning about, finding, gaining, and succeeding in a career is a major process in the lives of millions of people. For this reason, psychologists and sociologists have dedicated extensive research to determining how the career process works and its effect on individuals and societies.

Researchers Robert W. Lent, Steven D. Brown, and Gail Hackett developed social cognitive career theory (SCCT) in 1994. In doing so, they created a new means of analyzing careers from a psychological and sociological point of view. However, they also drew from a range of older theories with applications to the educational and vocational development of humans. Their main theoretical springboard was the work of researcher Albert Bandura.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Bandura introduced the general social cognitive theory and social learning theory, a new way of looking at the social aspects of thinking, learning, and acting. Bandura’s work generally agrees with two earlier behavioral theories: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning, pioneered by theorist Ivan Pavlov, relates to how living things learn by associating stimuli. In Pavlov’s studies, dogs associated a ringing bell with dinner time, causing them to salivate at the sound of the bell. Operant conditioning relates to how living things learn by associating behaviors and consequences. Theorists such as B. F. Skinner showed how the prospect of a reward or punishment had significant effects on how people and animals choose to behave.

Bandura added two new concepts to the study, alongside classical and operant conditioning. One concept was that people learn various behaviors by observing their environments and the actions of other people. Another was that the human senses and mind process stimuli in various ways before forming responses to them. Many researchers agreed with Bandura’s conclusions, which have since established a groundwork for many studies of student performance, health practices, organizational formation, and many more features of social psychology.

Overview

Introduced in 1994, SCCT built on Bandura’s work and incorporated numerous other pertinent concepts to create a more comprehensive study of humans and career development. One of the most important of these additional concepts is the perception of self-efficacy, or how capable a person feels of handling various tasks or behaviors. The theorists viewed self-efficacy as a more specific version of self-confidence, potentially applying to very distinct situations and often subject to change based on circumstances.

Two of the other additional concepts relate to expectations and goals. The theorists noted that individuals are strongly motivated and influenced by the expectations they hold of the outcome of a behavior. Basically, they look ahead for the likely consequence of a particular choice and tend to make choices that will be most likely to yield positive results. Like expectations, goals may be subjective and unique. People set and follow goals in many areas of life, including in careers. Generally, these goals involve improving life for the individual and their loved ones, such as through fulfillment, respect, money, possessions, or fame.

The main aim of SCCT was to divide the concept of careers into three main areas and investigate each. These three areas are interest in a career, choice of a career, and performance in a career. Interest in a career occurs first chronologically and sets the basis for all subsequent activity. The process by which a person gains interest in following a particular career path may develop slowly over the course of many years. It may build through lessons and observations at school, home, or in various communities and social settings. It may also be heavily influenced by a person’s culture and socioeconomic background. In general, interest in a career stems from a person’s feelings of self-efficacy and expectations of outcome. A person is most likely to be drawn toward a career they expect to be good at and that will yield positive outcomes.

Self-efficacy and expectation of outcome also influence the second stage, the choice of a career. (Interest in the career may also be a significant factor, although many people ultimately choose careers that do not greatly interest them.) In most cases, the choice of a career is a detailed and cumulative process that involves a person setting intentions to pursue a career and then taking the necessary steps to prepare for the career. These steps most commonly involve taking classes or training programs that will help lead to the chosen career, and then following the necessary procedures to actually find employment in that career.

SCCT continues into the third stage, assessing an individual’s performance at the chosen career. Performance is a complex concept, with many possibilities for assessment. Generally, SCCT looks at two main criteria, namely the amount of success a person achieves in a career, and the ability of the person to overcome career-related obstacles. Like the previous stages, performance relates to self-efficacy perceptions and expectations of outcome. It also incorporates a person’s goals, which serve to motivate a person to succeed and persist, as well as to guide a person through the course of the career.

Bibliography

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