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Society for Vocational Psychology
Biennial Conference:
The Role of Values in Careers
June 29-30, 2009
Millennium Student Center
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Schedule | Registration
Lodging | Travel | Call for Posters
Researchers, practitioners, and students are invited to this ninth biennial conference, which will address topics related to:
- career theory
- assessment
- intervention
The objective for this conference is to advance our understanding of values in vocational psychology through reflection on conceptual, measurement, and theoretical statements related to values in vocational research and career counseling. Leading scholars will address these issues from a broad array of perspectives to illuminate the place of values within our discipline through plenary sessions, symposia, and poster sessions.
The Role of Values in Careers
The concept of values is ubiquitous in vocational psychology theory and practice, yet the nature and scope of this critical factor are far from clear in the literature. Accordingly, the 2009 Biennial Conference of the Society for Vocational Psychology will focus on "The Role of Values in Careers." The full potential of scholarship in this area remains untapped. As a field, we need to harness the power of values by reflecting on the ways in which people identify, contemplate, and are guided by their values. In this conference, we seek to more fully explore the role of values in vocational psychology research, measurement, and practice. We will explore the following questions during the conference:
- What are values?
- How do we measure values?
- How are values incorporated into vocational theories?
- How can attending to values inform the practice of career counseling?
- What do we value as a profession?
Rokeach (1973) defined a value as "an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence" (p. 5). Building on the intellectual tradition examining general life values, vocational psychologists have advanced the concept of work values, or personal preferences for selected outcomes and rewards of working (Zytowski, 1994). Values are thought to serve as criteria for evaluating the relative importance of competing alternatives and focus on ends including standards or goals (Dawis, 1991) such that reasons for engaging in a particular activity can vary across individuals. At their core, they reflect what people consider important and seek to achieve in order to satisfy important needs (Super, 1973).
Values serve as a basis for establishing life goals and are considered as critical factors in guiding career choice and work life. Although vocational theorists and researchers routinely consider values as central to career decisions, this broad area of scholarship remains incomplete. The inherent difficulty in defining values, establishing taxonomies, and demarcating them from other classes of variables presents measurement challenges and lessens the impact of these factors on vocational theory and practice. Our objective for this conference is to advance our understanding of values in vocational psychology through reflection on conceptual, measurement, and theoretical statements related to values in vocational research and career counseling.
Values are addressed in major theories of our, field, including Super’s work values, as a component of Holland’s types, need/value-reinforcer correspondence in the Theory of Work Adjustment, and as outcome expectations in Social Cognitive Career Theory to name a few. In particular, Super (1973) speculated that a hierarchy exists among these variables which describes different aspects of motivation, with needs at the core, followed by values and personality traits, and interests at the surface. At the deepest level, needs represent "a lack of something which, if present would contribute to the well-being of the individual and which is accompanied by a drive to do something about it" (Super, 1973, p. 189). Values are the qualities or outcomes sought, rather than the activities or the objects that embody them.
Several existing measures (e.g., Values Scale, Work Values Inventory, Minnesota Importance Questionnaire, Rokeach Value Survey) from the individual differences tradition have demonstrated that work values relate to numerous important outcomes, including job choice and satisfaction. Moreover, recent attention to the importance of spirituality and specific cultural values affords promise for extending the purview of scholarship on values related to vocational behavior. Individuals identify and incorporate values into their lives within the context of their cultural heritage, including racial-ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, and familial influences. In his Psychology of Working perspective, Blustein (2006) attended to fundamental needs of survival, relatedness, and self-determination that can be achieved through work. These additional perspectives expand the content domain of values in career theories and enhance the utility of exploring values within career counseling practice.
The Society for Vocational Psychology is a section of the American Psychological Association Division 17: Society of Counseling Psychology.
This conference is cosponsored by:
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