Linking theory to practice The ‘Iceberg Model’ Linking theory to practice

All career development theories make claims about people. So, in order to link career development theory to practice, it is proposed that a model of a person is necessary.

The ‘Iceberg’ is an attempt to model a person in a particular way, thereby capturing the key features of a range of career development theories.

More specifically, the ‘Iceberg’ will be used to provide coverage of two distinct traditions of career development theory: the ‘objective career’ which has its roots in positivist approaches to social science; and, the ‘subjective career’, which has emerged from social constructivist and post-modernist perspectives.

The tradition of the ‘objective career’ seeks to make career an object – something that can be observed, measured, and assessed. This approach to career has a diagnostic and predictive emphasis, characterised by the use of typologies and traits.

In contrast, the tradition of the ‘subjective career’ emphasises the personal experiences of career – how career is meaningful to us. Here, subjectivity is emphasised – our values, beliefs, and morals are the focus of attention. Furthermore, the tradition of the ‘subjective career’ acknowledges that the meaning of career shifts and changes in different contexts, and through our experience of relationships within different social networks.

In summary, by using the ‘Iceberg’ as a model of a person, the intention is to map out the objective and subjective dimensions of career, thus connecting to the two traditions of career theory. The ‘Iceberg’ model is also designed to help us explore the relationship between the personal and social worlds – the private and public aspects of a person’s career.

In order to develop the Iceberg as a model of a person, we need to begin with a theory of the ‘self’ – this is because all career development theories define the ‘self’ in particular ways.

The Iceberg will be used to portray George Herbert Mead’s social psychological perspectives on self identity. According to Mead, the self is constructed by the interaction of two domains: the subjective ‘I’ and the social ‘Me’. The ‘I’ is impulsive and cannot be directly known – the ‘I’ finds its expression in the ‘Me’ which is also the domain for the attitudes and expectations of the social world.

So, using the metaphor of the iceberg, Mead’s ‘I’ and ‘Me’ can be portrayed as follows:

Mead’s work on identity is significant in that it brings together the subjective and objective worlds – the personal and social domains that construct identity. In this sense, identity is not the same as personality – rather, identity lies at the interface between the individual and the social, between personal agency and social structure, between how we see ourselves and how others see us.

As such, identity is a social constructionist term. Social constructionism acknowledges that social interchange, social relationships, and social context, are significant in terms of how individuals, groups, and communities construct meaning from their world.

As an epistemology (i.e. how we come to know the world), social constructionism has received increasing attention from career theorists, not least because it admits multiple theoretical interpretations of ‘career’. In what follows, a social constructionist model of ‘career’ will be presented and explained as a basis for integrating career theory and practice: the ‘Iceberg model’.

A first step to integrating career theory and practice The ‘Iceberg model’ A first step to integrating career theory and practice The Iceberg is presented first and foremost as a model of Self-Identity……..

Structure Objective Social Subjective Personal Agency Here, the personal and the social, agency and structure, the objective and subjective worlds, are brought together in one entity – the Iceberg. Structure Objective Social Subjective Personal Agency

Occupations Occupational Roles Role Values Morals Beliefs The social domain of identity will provide the location for social concepts in the form of presented occupational ideas and/or occupations held. In this sense, occupations are an ‘object’ of attention and reside ‘above the surface’ of the Iceberg. Occupations Occupational Roles Role Values Morals Beliefs The personal domain of identity will provide the location for personal constructs in the form of values, beliefs, and morals. These reside ‘below the surface’ of the Iceberg.

Teacher ‘I want to make a difference’ ‘People are important’

This presentation has introduced you to the Iceberg model – the Iceberg has been used here to explore the personal and social dimensions of career. We will return to the Iceberg model as a means of illustrating the links between career development theory and practice.