List and Describe Each of the Four Stages in Gottfredson's

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The Answer is Stage I: children, ages 3-5, attend to power and to size.They notice observable differences between men and women but don't have clear expectations regarding gender roles.A career intervention at this stage would likely be incorporated in a child's preschool class or implemented by a parent.Children in this stage recognize there are different careers and that careers are a part of the adult world.Therefore, simply pointing out different careers a child encounters through their daily lives seems developmentally appropriate.Young children's books, TV programs, and songs often feature careers such as a mail carrier, a firefighter, a police officer, and a doctor.Talking with children about these different roles would be a stage-relevant practice.Highlighting that both men and women can do these jobs may be a way of helping children transition into Stage II while keeping an open mind regarding gender stereotypes and career options.
Stage II: children, ages 6-8, pay closer attention to sex roles.Their thinking is Black and White, they view their own sex as superior than the other, and define their career aspirations in terms of sex roles.During this stage, children establish tolerable sex-type boundaries.A career intervention during this stage might highlight the fact that police officers can be both men and women, that doctors are female and male, and that there are many different jobs that might be a good fit for the child's future.The goal of this intervention would be to try to keep the child from forming too narrow a field of possible careers for consideration as the child grows.
Stage III: prestige figures prominently in this stage.Children, ages 9-13, recognize social hierarchy and assign status to specific occupational categories.At this point, children recognize two dimensions--sex type and prestige.They begin to draw their tolerable-level boundary to focus on careers that are acceptable in terms of prestige and those that are attainable.Likewise, they rule out those vocations that are too low in prestige and those that are too difficult to attain.By the end of this stage, their list of acceptable careers has been reduced to include those that align with their sex, those that have acceptable prestige, and those that are within their reach and not beyond their capabilities.Because this stage corresponds with the "tween" years and early adolescence, a career intervention might help children expand their knowledge of the variety of careers, and be careful not to limit their career options by those that may feel out of reach given one's social class.Introducing students to people who are "like them," who perhaps grew up in their neighborhood or look like them, and who have attained higher levels of achievement may help children envision more options for themselves.Stage IV: adolescents (generally 14 and above) attend to their interests, values, and abilities.The limits placed on their choices during Stage III remain.In Stage IV, teens are examining their remaining alternatives taking into account their psychological selves.Traditional career development interventions would likely be appropriate here--helping students reflect on their interests and abilities, and reiterating the messages from the previous stage about one's options not being excessively limited by social class seem relevant.Gottfredson emphasizes counselors can help teens reconsider their childhood choices, while being careful not to unnecessarily call those into question and to balance realism with helping students "think big." Additionally, she notes that counselors need to find a way to help students consider complex information without exhausting students' cognitive and emotional resources.Gottfredson names two specific strategies for young people in this stage.She encourages counselors to keep the tasks assigned to clients relatively simple so as not to overwhelm them and to consider the many different ways students process information.Using worksheets, asking students to read information out loud and then discuss it or put it into their own words may be helpful in structuring and simplifying information gathering.Finally, Gottfredson describes providing students with a menu of possible experiences and helping students understand the active role they can take in shaping their own career learning.This might include helping students know how to engage in informational interviewing or learn about work options through shadowing adults.

List and Describe Each of the Four Stages in Gottfredson's

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