super theory
Theory:
Super’s Theory of Career Development
Theorist:
Donald Super
Biography:
Donald Super was born on July 10, 1910 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was personnel specialist, his mother a writer. When his father was transferred from Hawaii to the YMCA national office in New York. Super and his older brother attended an elementary school in
Upper Montclair, New Jersey. When he was 12, his family moved to Warsaw, Poland. Super’s father founded the YMCA there. During the first winter in Poland, Super lost his older brother to a fatal illness. From this life- changing event, Super developed a rational intellect and an iron will. Those became his main coping mechanisms (Savickas, 1995). He relied on these traits while he attended boarding school in Geneva, After graduation, he enrolled at Oxford University where he received his BA in economic history with a senior honors thesis on British labor movements. His experiences at Oxford during the Great Depression, as well as observing his father’s career in personal training, made Super more sensitized to the importance of employment in people’s lives. Super decided to devote his life to helping people find fitting work (Savickas,
1995). Super’s first employment was as a job placement specialist at the Cleveland YMCA and simultaneously taught at Fenn College, which is now Cleveland State University. After two years of work, Super received a grant to allow him to develop a community- based counseling agency, the Cleveland Guidance Service. He directed the program for two years. At this time, he decided to enroll in a doctoral program in vocational guidance and applied psychology at
Teachers College, Columbia University. Once he completed his dissertation data collection,
Super became an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in which he also directed the Student Personnel Bureau. He completed his dissertation on vocational interests in
Super’s Theory of Career Development
Theorist:
Donald Super
Biography:
Donald Super was born on July 10, 1910 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was personnel specialist, his mother a writer. When his father was transferred from Hawaii to the YMCA national office in New York. Super and his older brother attended an elementary school in
Upper Montclair, New Jersey. When he was 12, his family moved to Warsaw, Poland. Super’s father founded the YMCA there. During the first winter in Poland, Super lost his older brother to a fatal illness. From this life- changing event, Super developed a rational intellect and an iron will. Those became his main coping mechanisms (Savickas, 1995). He relied on these traits while he attended boarding school in Geneva, After graduation, he enrolled at Oxford University where he received his BA in economic history with a senior honors thesis on British labor movements. His experiences at Oxford during the Great Depression, as well as observing his father’s career in personal training, made Super more sensitized to the importance of employment in people’s lives. Super decided to devote his life to helping people find fitting work (Savickas,
1995). Super’s first employment was as a job placement specialist at the Cleveland YMCA and simultaneously taught at Fenn College, which is now Cleveland State University. After two years of work, Super received a grant to allow him to develop a community- based counseling agency, the Cleveland Guidance Service. He directed the program for two years. At this time, he decided to enroll in a doctoral program in vocational guidance and applied psychology at
Teachers College, Columbia University. Once he completed his dissertation data collection,
Super became an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in which he also directed the Student Personnel Bureau. He completed his dissertation on vocational interests in
References: Beale, A. V. (2001). Emerging career development theories: a test for school counselors. Retrieved September 10, 2009 from http://ccdf.ca/ccdf/NewCoach/english/ccoache/e4a_bp_theory.htm Career Development Theory, (2003) From social learning to happenstance, (2004). Retrieved September 23, 2009 from http://www.guidance-research.org/EG/impprac/ImpP2/traditional/learning-theory Overview of Career Development Theories, (n.d). Retrieved September 23, 2009 from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=overview+of+career+development+theories&aq=f&oq=&aqi= Overview of Career Development Theory, (n.d) Understanding and applying theories of career development, (2008). Retrieved September 10, 2009 from http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_niles_career_2/25/6587/1686373.cw/index.html