A Contextual Action Theory of Career

Abstract

Action has always been central to many aspects of psychology but in recent years it has received renewed attention, particularly in light of developments in cognitive neuroscience and other fields. Specifically, cognitive or behavioral explanations in themselves have been seen as incomplete, focusing too exclusively on either internal states or the external world. Action is the proposed alternative, whose meaning and definition has several iterations from intentionality through embodiment. The view presented in this chapter is that action is not just another term to use instead of behavior, cognition, construction, or process (although all are involved). Rather, human action is presented as a unit of social meaning. It involves both the participants’ subjective experience and includes manifest behavior. This view has implications for our understanding of career, the practice of career counselling, and how we conduct career-related research. In this chapter, contextual action theory, as a broad conceptual explanation, is presented as the basis for understanding and defining career differently. In this view, career is fully involved with and reflective of human action. By unpacking this approach, the basis for an innovative view of career, and by implication, for career counselling and research, is proposed. It moves away from the longstanding reliance on personality, aptitude, or context as primary explanatory factors for occupational and life choices. The temporal dimension of human action, that is, actions in the present as well as how they contribute to longer-term projects and career provide an importantway inwhich clients can and do construct the present and future. In addition, this recent conceptualization of human action shifts the focus away from the individual to the joint action between people. Others have significant places in individual career lives; human action provides such a framework for how this is done. This approach is illustrated with examples from current career research and practice.