MODULE :IOP3703
,IOP3703 Exam
Revision Pack
Contains:
• Exam Questions & Solutions
• Essay Questions with Answers
• Assignment Questions & Solutions
,Exam Preparation Question May 2019
1
1. There is general consensus that women’s lives are fundamentally different from men’s
and that they construct their careers in different ways. As a result, women and men face
different career challenges. Explain the career development of women and men,
including the three phases of women’s careers.
Career development of men and women:
Societal changes over the last 50 years have led to work being a critically importan part of
women's lives, as opposed to unimportant and only a short period of life. Although women
now constitute a significant portion of the labour force, their work continues to be focused
on traditionally female occupations and they are less well paid than men.
The process of careed development is the same for men and women, but they face different
challenges as they advance through their careers. Men tend to follow this course:
◦ 20's: Work is the major way for them to differentiate themselves and gain independence.
◦ 30's: Seek career success. Belief that work will somehow protect them from misfortune
or maladies.
◦ 40's: Realise that work success does not make them happy. Become more in tune with
their inner selves, more likely to engage in mentoring. Either feel rejuvenated or change
careers.
Women may fear success because they believe it will cause isolation. Some forego having
children until later, when they feel the pressure of their biological clock. Others are unable
to fully commit to a career because they feel they should have children. Those who do have
children and work will need assistance to raise a child, like daycare and/or a nanny. In their
30's they tend to change the focus from career to family or vice versa. They seek balance
between career progress and the demands of motherhood.
Women's careers can be divided into three quite long phases:
1. Idealistic achievement (20's and early 30's): emphasis on personal control, career
satisfaction and achievement, as well as positive impact on others.
2. Pragmatic endurance (mid-30's to late 40's): emphasis on doing what has to be
done, whilst managing multiple relationships and responsibilities. Characterised by
less personal control and more dissatisfaction, especially with organisations and
managers. Around the age of 40 women tend to re-evaluate the career-family
balance.
3. Re-inventive contribution (around 50 on): emphasis on organisations, families and
communities without losing sight of self. Careers are viewed as learning
opportunities and a chance to make a difference to others.
Women are more likely than men to make career transitions for family reasons and to
achieve a more satisfying balance between work and family. Therefore women tend to have
more frequent employment breaks or interruptions. Men tend to keep their career and family
issues separated, making career decisions from a goal orientation, focusing on
independent action.
, 2
2. The Lifespan Development theories explain career development of individual from a
change and growth perspective over an individuals' lifespan. The premise of these
theories is that career development involves a continuous process and carries on
through the life of an individual. Discuss Super's theory on career development and
highlight the five (5) life stages, from growth to decline.
Super's career development theory:
This theory sees career development as a process over 5 life stages, from childhood to
old age. Fundamentally, career development is seen as comprising the formation and
implementation of self-concepts in occupational contexts. Self-concepts develop through
interaction with the environment, in which individuals develop concepts of themselves in
certain roles, such as that of student, worker, friend or family member. Synthesis is a
learning process in which role playing plays a part. It begins in childhood when roles
such as teacher, nurse or sales person are play-acted and continues in adulthood when
individuals imagine themselves in the role of, e.g. manager. Adjustment refers to the
outcomes of behaviour in career development. Depending on the outcomes, self-
concepts may be modified in the process of adjustment. Career maturity includes types
of behaviour conducive to adjustment. Age is a factor of maturity only in that a person is
evaluated in terms of the behaviour of other people at the same age. A person may be
mature at any age, depending on their adjustment in a stage associated with that age.
These stages are are flexible in terms of when they begin and end, as not all people
develop uniformly. The life stages are:
1. Growth (birth to age 12-14)
Children develop concepts of themselves through contact with adults who become role
models. Curiosity drives them to explore and experience the world around them.
Pleasant experiences lead to the development of interests, which, together with the
development of self-esteem, autonomy and future perspective, provide the capacity for
forward planning. If these characteristics do not develop, feelings of alienation, of being
helpless in a world dominated by other people may result, and the person may become
either a conformist, drifter or flounderer. While fantasies influence the development of
interests, experience makes children's interests more realistic.
2. Exploration (adolescence, +/- age 14-25)
Adolescents make the first tentative career choices in the form of holiday or part-time
work. These are followed by exploration of a chosen field in greater depth. Sometimes
this exploration leads to the consideration of other choices. An individual may also
pursue a particular field as a result of the inspiration or expectations of parents and other
adults. Such an early choice may, at a later stage, result in career crises when
individuals cannot cope with change because they are accustomed to seeing a career
as encompassing 'an occupation' rather than as different roles or directions.
3. Establishment (early adulthood, +/- age 25-45)
This involves a period of trial in the late twenties (a succession of job changes befor a
final choice is made or it becomes clear that the career with consist of changes) and a
period of stabilisation in the thirties and early forties (security and advancement become
pritorities, frustraion due to unsuccessful stabilisation may lead to either stagnation or
change). Some individuals, however, thrive on change, they do not stabilise and their
careers may consist of a series of trial periods.
,IOP3703 Exam
Revision Pack
Contains:
• Exam Questions & Solutions
• Essay Questions with Answers
• Assignment Questions & Solutions
,Exam Preparation Question May 2019
1
1. There is general consensus that women’s lives are fundamentally different from men’s
and that they construct their careers in different ways. As a result, women and men face
different career challenges. Explain the career development of women and men,
including the three phases of women’s careers.
Career development of men and women:
Societal changes over the last 50 years have led to work being a critically importan part of
women's lives, as opposed to unimportant and only a short period of life. Although women
now constitute a significant portion of the labour force, their work continues to be focused
on traditionally female occupations and they are less well paid than men.
The process of careed development is the same for men and women, but they face different
challenges as they advance through their careers. Men tend to follow this course:
◦ 20's: Work is the major way for them to differentiate themselves and gain independence.
◦ 30's: Seek career success. Belief that work will somehow protect them from misfortune
or maladies.
◦ 40's: Realise that work success does not make them happy. Become more in tune with
their inner selves, more likely to engage in mentoring. Either feel rejuvenated or change
careers.
Women may fear success because they believe it will cause isolation. Some forego having
children until later, when they feel the pressure of their biological clock. Others are unable
to fully commit to a career because they feel they should have children. Those who do have
children and work will need assistance to raise a child, like daycare and/or a nanny. In their
30's they tend to change the focus from career to family or vice versa. They seek balance
between career progress and the demands of motherhood.
Women's careers can be divided into three quite long phases:
1. Idealistic achievement (20's and early 30's): emphasis on personal control, career
satisfaction and achievement, as well as positive impact on others.
2. Pragmatic endurance (mid-30's to late 40's): emphasis on doing what has to be
done, whilst managing multiple relationships and responsibilities. Characterised by
less personal control and more dissatisfaction, especially with organisations and
managers. Around the age of 40 women tend to re-evaluate the career-family
balance.
3. Re-inventive contribution (around 50 on): emphasis on organisations, families and
communities without losing sight of self. Careers are viewed as learning
opportunities and a chance to make a difference to others.
Women are more likely than men to make career transitions for family reasons and to
achieve a more satisfying balance between work and family. Therefore women tend to have
more frequent employment breaks or interruptions. Men tend to keep their career and family
issues separated, making career decisions from a goal orientation, focusing on
independent action.
, 2
2. The Lifespan Development theories explain career development of individual from a
change and growth perspective over an individuals' lifespan. The premise of these
theories is that career development involves a continuous process and carries on
through the life of an individual. Discuss Super's theory on career development and
highlight the five (5) life stages, from growth to decline.
Super's career development theory:
This theory sees career development as a process over 5 life stages, from childhood to
old age. Fundamentally, career development is seen as comprising the formation and
implementation of self-concepts in occupational contexts. Self-concepts develop through
interaction with the environment, in which individuals develop concepts of themselves in
certain roles, such as that of student, worker, friend or family member. Synthesis is a
learning process in which role playing plays a part. It begins in childhood when roles
such as teacher, nurse or sales person are play-acted and continues in adulthood when
individuals imagine themselves in the role of, e.g. manager. Adjustment refers to the
outcomes of behaviour in career development. Depending on the outcomes, self-
concepts may be modified in the process of adjustment. Career maturity includes types
of behaviour conducive to adjustment. Age is a factor of maturity only in that a person is
evaluated in terms of the behaviour of other people at the same age. A person may be
mature at any age, depending on their adjustment in a stage associated with that age.
These stages are are flexible in terms of when they begin and end, as not all people
develop uniformly. The life stages are:
1. Growth (birth to age 12-14)
Children develop concepts of themselves through contact with adults who become role
models. Curiosity drives them to explore and experience the world around them.
Pleasant experiences lead to the development of interests, which, together with the
development of self-esteem, autonomy and future perspective, provide the capacity for
forward planning. If these characteristics do not develop, feelings of alienation, of being
helpless in a world dominated by other people may result, and the person may become
either a conformist, drifter or flounderer. While fantasies influence the development of
interests, experience makes children's interests more realistic.
2. Exploration (adolescence, +/- age 14-25)
Adolescents make the first tentative career choices in the form of holiday or part-time
work. These are followed by exploration of a chosen field in greater depth. Sometimes
this exploration leads to the consideration of other choices. An individual may also
pursue a particular field as a result of the inspiration or expectations of parents and other
adults. Such an early choice may, at a later stage, result in career crises when
individuals cannot cope with change because they are accustomed to seeing a career
as encompassing 'an occupation' rather than as different roles or directions.
3. Establishment (early adulthood, +/- age 25-45)
This involves a period of trial in the late twenties (a succession of job changes befor a
final choice is made or it becomes clear that the career with consist of changes) and a
period of stabilisation in the thirties and early forties (security and advancement become
pritorities, frustraion due to unsuccessful stabilisation may lead to either stagnation or
change). Some individuals, however, thrive on change, they do not stabilise and their
careers may consist of a series of trial periods.
