Mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency: a critical review

ABSTRACT

Parents’ and children’s occupations are often similar on a variety of dimensions, including income, gender typicality, and Holland’s job types [Whiston, S. C., & Keller, B. K. (2004). The influences of the family of origin on career development: A review and analysis. The Counseling Psychologist, 32, 493–568]. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood, limiting both research and application to real-world contexts such as career counseling settings. The present article has three main goals: (1) To critically examine individual mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency; (2) To propose a multiple mechanisms model that accounts for the limitations and assumptions of individual mechanisms; and (3) To propose future research directions while critically examining implicit assumptions of past research and research methodology. By addressing these goals, this paper has the potential to inform future research on parent–child occupational consistency and vocational intervention efforts.

RESUMEN

Las ocupaciones profesionales de los padres y los niños son a menudo similares en una variedad de dimensiones, incluyendo ingreso, profesiones dominante masculinas o femenino, y tipos de trabajo Hollands (Whiston & Keller, 2004). Los mecanismos subyacentes a este fenómeno no son bien comprendidos, limitando tanto la investigación como la aplicación a contextos del mundo real, como los entornos de consejería de carrera. El presente artículo tiene tres objetivos principales: 1) examinar críticamente los mecanismos individuales subyacentes entre la coherencia de padre-hijo ocupacionales; 2) proponer un modelo de múltiple mecanismo que explique las limitaciones y supuestos de los mecanismos individuales; 3) proponer futuro direcciones para investigación al tiempo que examina críticamente los supuestos implícitos de la investigación pasadas y la metodología de investigación anteriores. Dirigiendo estos objetivos, este artículo tiene el potencial de informar la investigación futura sobre la coherencia de padre-hijo ocupacionales profesionales y los esfuerzos de intervenciones vocacionales.

KEYWORDS:

• Career development
• intergenerational transmission
• occupational choices
• parent–child occupational consistency
• occupational socialization

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Desarrollo profesional de carrera
• transmisión intergeneracional
• opciones ocupacionales
• padres-hijos ocupacional coherencia
• socialización ocupacional

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Drs Ann Crouter, Fred Vondracek, Susan McHale, David Almeida, and Rachel Smith for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributors

Dr Katie M. Lawson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Ball State University. Her research interests include the associations between work, family, and gender across the lifespan.